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BAMOS 2021 / 2022 Summer
President ’ s report
Angela Maharaj
Happy summer . Whilst La Niña has provided most of us with some respite , extreme weather in the form of storms , floods , fires and cyclone warnings have been peppered across Australia this season in addition to the Omicron surge . I hope you and yours have managed to stay weather and covid safe as we again end a year navigating our way through a variety of hazards .
Our community was rocked with more sad news over the holidays as we learnt of the death of Rebecca Harris and Leanne Armand . And also Bill Budd this month . All were incredible scientists , leaders and role models . Their untimely passing , within such a short space , is a huge blow to the Australian and international earth science community . They leave a legacy which AMOS intends to acknowledge and celebrate in 2022 .
The AMOS awards were announced in December and I would like to extend my congratulations to Jiawei Bao ( Uwe Radok award for best PhD thesis ), Scott Power ( Zillman Medal for senior researcher ), Shayne McGregor ( Priestley Medal for mid-career researcher ) and Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick ( Science Outreach Award ) for their significant contributions to the Australian and AMOS community . I would also like to congratulate our new AMOS Fellows Greg Ayres , Diana Greenslade and Jochen Kaempf . Fellows are chosen for their major contributions to the AMOS disciplines over a number of years and appointed following a multi-stage election process involving the AMOS Awards Committee and the existing AMOS Fellows .
We won ’ t have our usual annual conference this year , instead partnering with the New Zealand Meteorological Society to host the 13th International Conference on Southern Hemisphere Meteorology and Oceanography ( ICSHMO ) which will be held in Christchurch from the 8th to 17th February . It was our hope that a trans-Tasman bubble would allow AMOS members to take part in this event in person , however that was not to be . The online model of the conference will still allow us to participate , and we look forward to an engaging and exciting conference .
The AMOS Annual General Meeting ( AGM ) will be held online on 25 February at 12:30pm , in keeping with the tradition of timing the meeting around our conference . I hope to see you all there virtually . Meeting details and documentation will be available on the AMOS website and via a member mailout .
As my term will end at the AGM , this will be my last President ’ s column . I want to give my heartfelt thanks to the executive , national council , the BAMOS team and the various AMOS committees and groups for their knowledge , skills , camaraderie , and constructive efforts in keeping the good ship AMOS steering through the murky COVID waters . I would also like to thank the many Past Presidents , AMOS Fellows and members who have offered me their input and advice on key issues whenever requested and for those who have reached out to me when they saw a role that AMOS could play locally , nationally and internationally .
I have said it before , and I will say it again . It takes teams of people and collaborative work to do anything substantial in an impactful way and AMOS is a great example of this . I would like to urge you all to consider taking an active role in the society to help ensure that AMOS continues to provide support to and represent the interests of our entire national community . A healthy and vibrant scientific sector requires multiple players and engagement with AMOS helps to build that broader healthy and vibrant community- beyond individual research centres , institutions , agencies , companies or consortia .
AMOS has always made me feel welcome within its community , that there was space for me , my input was valued , and I had a role to play — frankly , far more than any of my employers have . I hope AMOS continues to effectively serve future generations of members for many years to come .