MPE2013-Net 5: December 2012 An Email Newsletter from Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013 Editor: Christiane Rousseau, Centre de recherches mathématiques 1. MPE2013 International release 2. MPE2013 in Africa 3. Workshop on Mathematics of climate change, related hazards and risks 4. MPE competition and launch of the MPE Exhibition at UNESCO 5. MPE2013 LAUNCHES AROUND THE WORLD 6. MPE2013 in Australia 7. Series of MPE public lectures around the world 8. MPE2013 at the US House of representatives 9. MPE2013 Newsletters and Blogs 10. Beyond MPE2013+ 11. Posting events on the web and contributing to MPE newsletter 12. Subscribing to MPE2013-NET _____________________________ 1. MPE2013 International Release 2013 is fast approaching and MPE2013 continues to spread: there are now more than 100 partners! An international announcement of MPE2013 is planned for December 7 2012, a date which coincides with the Canadian launch (which will take place in Montreal on December 7-10 2012; see http://cms.math.ca/Events/winter12/). We invite you to visit the Newsroom http://mpe2013.org/newsroom from December 7 onwards. _____________________________ 2. MPE2013 in Africa Launch of MPE2013 in South Africa with a Public Lecture : The Annual Conference of the South African Mathematical Society took place in Stellenbosch from 31 October - 2 November 2012. On Tuesday 30 October on the eve of the SAMS conference a special MPE2013 public lecture was presented by AIMS and the Mathematical Sciences Department of Stellenbosch University. The popular mathematician John Baez (University of California, Riverside), delivered a live streamed video public lecture on the MPE2013 theme from California. The event was open to members of the public as well as SAMS delegates. The event began with an opening address by Professor Mark Swilling, head of Sustainability Institute at Stellenbosch and was followed by discussion and live streamed interaction with the John Baez, which was most interesting. Other MPE2013 events to be hosted or co-hosted by AIMS can be found on our website (http://www.aims.ac.za/en/about/news-and-publications/aims-news/mpe2013). These include MPE2013 designated activities with involvement by other African Universities and scientific organizations, some of which are listed below. 1. MISG-SA 2013: The Tenth Mathematics in Industry Study Group in South Africa will take place at the University of the Witwatersrand as follows from 14 - 18 January 2013. 2. Summer School in Mathematical Finance 2013: The 6th Summer School in Mathematical Finance is being held at AIMS from 21 to 23 February 2013. This workshop presents a unique opportunity for local practitioners, academics and students to interact with international leaders in research on topics and modelling techniques current in the South African and international financial markets. 3. Mathematical Modelling of Geophysical Fluids: To be held at AIMS from 13 - 17 May 2013. The organizers, including both local and international scientists from the University of British Columbia, will present a workshop around a coherent theme designed for an audience which includes graduate students and interested researchers from and around Africa. 4. Workshop on Women in Mathematics to be hosted at AIMS from 17 - 19 July 2013 and co-organized with the African Mathematical Union Committee on Women in Mathematics and representatives from CIMPA. 5. CIMPA Research School on EVOLUTIONARY EQUATIONS WITH APPLICATIONS IN NATURAL SCIENCE: to be held at AIMS from 22 July to 2 August 2013. ----------------------------- 3. WORKSHOP ON MATHEMATICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, RELATED NATURAL HAZARDS AND RISKS This is the first announcement of a 5-day workshop that is organized as a satellite activity of the 2013 Mathematical Congress of the Americas at CIMAT in Guanajuato (Mexico) during July 29 -- August 2 2013. The workshop will bring together about 40 young researchers, mainly from Latin America and the Caribbean and a dozen distinguished scientists, each of which will give several lectures on a chosen topic. The workshop is jointly organized by the International Mathematical Union (IMU) together with the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) and the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM). Hopefully the workshop will be funded by the International Council of Science (ICSU). It is supported by the International Council of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ICIAM), by the ICSU Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, by two interdisciplinary bodies of ICSU, namely IRDR (Integrated Research on Disaster Risk) and WCRP, by the US National Academy of Sciences, by the Academia Mexicana de Ciencias, and by CIMAT (Centro de Investigación en Matemáticas) in Mexico. The members of the Scientific Committee are Susan Friedlander (IMU), Ilya Zaliapin (IUGG) and Paul F. Linden (IUTAM). The website will be ready to receive applications by January 15 2013. More details at: http://cams.usc.edu/mathgeo/ _____________________________ 4. MPE COMPETITION AND LAUNCH OF THE MPE EXHIBITION AT UNESCO ON MARCH 5th 2013 It is not too late to participate to the "Mathematics of Planet Earth Competition for an open source exhibition of virtual modules" (museum-quality exhibits). The modules submitted will form the basis of the permanent Mathematics of Planet Earth Open Source Exhibition. They could be reproduced and utilized by many users around the world from science museums to schools under a creative commons license. Examples of modules or themes to be covered are available on the website. The competition is open until December 20, 2012: www.mpe2013.org/competition The Open Source MPE Exhibition will be hosted through the IMAGINARY project by the Mathematischen Forschungsinstituts Oberwolfach (MFO), an international research center based in the Black Forest of Germany. The International Mathematical Union together with MPE2013 will be the host of the launch of the exhibition will be launched at at the headquarters of Unesco in Paris on March 5 2013. The winners of the competition will be honored at the same time. ______________________________ 5. MPE LAUNCHES AROUND THE WORLD New countries are organizing their national MPE2013 launches. If your own country has not yet panned organizing a national launch, it is still time to do so. And send us the details: we will post them on the website. The South African launch of MPE2013 took place on October 30 2012 with a public lecture of John Baez during the 55th Congress of the South African Mathematical Society. www.sams2012.org/public-lecture/ The Canadian launch of MPE2013 will take place during the Winter Meeting of the Canadian Mathematical Society on December 8-10 2012 in Montreal: http://cms.math.ca/Events/winter12/ The program will comprise several MPE components: plenary talks by Graciela Chichilnisky and Martin Nowak, special sessions, one event for college (lycées) professors and two public lectures by Ivan Ekeland and Doyne Farmer. The UK launch of MPE2013 will take place on December 17 2012 in Cambridge (http://www.newton.ac.uk/mpe2013/), with the title "Modelling Extreme Climactic Events: Prediction, Health and Financial Implications". Speakers will include Lord Julian Hunt, Virginia Murray et David Spiegelhalter. The US launch of MPE2013 will take place during the Joint Mathematics Meetings on January 9-12 2013 in San Diego: http://jointmathematicsmeetings.org/jmm The program will comprise several MPE components: a plenary talk by Emily Shuckburgh, special MPE sessions and the Porter Lecture by Ken Golden. The Australian launch of MPE2013 will take place on January 29 2013 with the first MPE2013 Simons Public lecture of Simon Levin in Melbourne. The Australian Chief Scientist, patron of the year, will launch the Australian participation in an opening address. The lecture will be followed by a formal reception: http://mathsofplanetearth.org.au/ The Portuguese launch will take place on March 5 2013 at Pavilion of Knowledge, Lisbon at the same time as the launch of the MPE exhibition at UNESCO in Paris. _____________________________ 6. MPE2013 IN AUSTRALIA The Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute AMSI and its partners are gearing up for a major stampede in the Maths and Stats arena: www.MoPE.org.au. Kicking off the public lecture series in January is Professor Simon Levin, and many more talks on topics as diverse as the mathematics of body surfing, and the impacts of the Black Saturday smoke plume on global weather patterns. Online puzzles an resources for both primary and secondary school teachers will bring MPE to Australian classrooms. The first photography competition "Singling out Symmetry" has been launched. Submissions from keen bloggers are flowing in, and AMSI is enjoying interviewing Australian mathematicians for our A coffee with… segment. _____________________________ 7. SERIES OF MPE PUBLIC LECTURES AROUND THE WORLD The first three lectures of the MPE2013 Simons Public Series will take place in Australia and California. Simon Levin will give the first lecture on January 29 2013 in Melbourne, Emily Shuckburgh will give the second lecture at San Francisco on March 4 2013 and Inez Fung will give the third lecture in South Africa. The Canadian Mathematical Society and the Canadian Institutes have organized a Cross-Canada Series of Lectures on Mathematics of Planet Earth, with 13 public lectures to take place all around Canada in 2013 (http://cms.math.ca/Events/MPE2013/index.html). _____________________________ 8. MPE2013 AT THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Speech by Mr. McNERNEY On November 16 2012 (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r112:H16NO2-0011:/). Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring your attention to an exciting new project, Mathematics of Planet Earth, which begins in 2013. More than 100 different organizations from around the world have come together to outline mathematics' integral role in solving real-world issues, including energy freedom, medical challenges, and weather events. As someone who has earned a Ph.D. in mathematics and went on to work in the renewable energy sector for two decades, I know mathematics can be an essential feature to finding solutions to many challenges facing humanity. The Mathematics of Planet Earth projects will spotlight the importance of mathematics. A national focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education will ensure the United States remains a competitive force in the global marketplace. People across our Nation are working together to create a better world, and it is important that their efforts be recognized and supported. I encourage my colleagues to join me in recognizing the benefits and goals of the Mathematics of Planet Earth project. _____________________________ 9. MPE2013 NEWSLETTERS AND BLOGS AROUND THE WORLD. Australia published its first MPE newsletter: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r112:H16NO2-0011:/ In parallel to the general MPE2013 blog, several countries will hold their national blogs. So far, this includes Australia and France. If you are interested to contribute to the general blog, then choose your date(s) and favorite topic(s) and send a message to register to blog@mpe2013.org, with an indication of preferred dates and topics. The French blog will start beginning of January. If you are interested in writing a brief contribution, then send a message to register to 1jour1breve@mpt2013.fr. The website of the blog, still in construction, will be at http://mpt2013.fr/. __________________________ 10. MPE BEYOND 2013 As MPE has gained members, it has become clear that there is momentum to propel it beyond 2013. The problems facing our planet will persist, as well as the need to involve mathematical scientists in laying the groundwork for a long-term effort to surmount them. In view of this, the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the US has already funded a proposal, MPE2013+, that aims to sustain MPE activities beyond 2013 by: 1) conducting five research workshops that each defines a set of future research challenges; 2) establishing a research and education forum associated with each workshop that involves follow-up smaller group meetings to flesh out the challenges, identify potential follow-up activities, and begin collaborations; 3) holding an education workshop that helps to identify how to integrate themes identified in the research workshops into undergraduate and graduate curricula; 4) finding ways to involve the next generation of mathematical scientists in the effort, especially through an introductory conference that will prepare participants for involvement in the following research workshops; 5) disseminating information about the mathematics of planet earth by creating a website and other publicity materials for the project. __________________________ 11. POSTING EVENTS ON THE WEB AND CONTRIBUTING TO MPE NEWSLETTER Partners are invited to post their events on the MPE website and to build their own MPE2013 webpage. Groups of partners and countries are also invited to communicate to us information on the MPE activities they are planning, and that could be presented in one of the next newsletters. You can follow the example of Africa. __________________________ 12. SUBSCRIBING TO MPE2013-NET Click on http://www.mpe2013.org/ with a Web browser and go to the "Subscribe" button to subscribe to MPE2013-Net online. You will get an e-mail to confirm your subscription, so that misuse will be minimized. MPE2013 will not use the list of MPE2013-Net emails for any purpose other than sending MPE2013-Net, and will not make it available to others. Previous issues can be seen at: http://www.mpe2013.org/MPE2013-Net MPE2013-Net is the electronic newsletter of Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013: http://www.mpe2013.org