date: Wed Feb 6 16:49:24 2008 from: Keith Briffa subject: Re: Invited paper for 2008 GSA (Houston)- apology to: "George Stone" Dear George and Andy I have really considered this at some length (sorry for that) and unfortunately I have to conclude that my teaching and research deadlines are such that I really can not commit. I appreciate the significance of the event and I am sure that you will find others even better qualified than myself ( Malcolm Hughes at Tucson and Mike Mann are names that come quickly to mind). Please forgive my reluctance , but work pressures at this time of year really will make such a trip not feasible. Very best wishes Keith At 01:50 04/12/2007, you wrote: Dear Dr. Briffa, Andy Buddington and I have organized a proposal for a symposium at the Houston GSA next October (5-9). The title of the proposed session is Global Warming Science: Implications for Geoscientists, Educators, and Policy Makers (please see attachment). You were highly recommended to us by Joe Koch. As noted in the proposal rationale, the principal goal of this session is to provide geoscientists and geoscience educators reviews of hard science that document global warming and its current and projected impacts, and clarify policy implications for mitigation and adaptation. Through its program of authoritative papers, the session will tacitly emphasize the importance of rigorous standards of scientific objectivity. (An unstated purpose is to counter presentations of disinformation and contrarian non-science that have been foisted on GSA -- and, frankly, detracted from the Society' reputation -- the past two annual meetings!) We are greatly heartened by the enthusiastic response of our invited sponsors. Confirmed sponsors to date are the American Quaternary Association (AMQUA), and GSAs Geology and Health, Geoscience Education, and Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology divisions. Additional invited sponsors are GSAs Geology and Society Division and the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT). Jim Hansen has agreed to keynote the symposium. Because of your stature and the relevance of your research, we respectfully request that you consider giving an invited paper in the proposed session. We are confident that you recognize the importance and urgency of communicating current global warming science throughout our diverse geoscience community, particularly to researchers, educators, students, and policy makers. Please let us know your initial response to our invitation at your very earliest convenience. Of course, we will be delighted if you can confirm your intention to participate, or if you can indicate tentative confirmation. We apologize for this short notice. (GSAs earlier-than-usual proposal deadline, Tuesday, December 4 -- tomorrow! -- did creep up with a rush after this years recent Denver meeting!) If you feel that you will be unable to commit at this time, we will be disappointed but certainly understanding. Thank you very much for your consideration. Yours for the betterment of GSA and the geosciences, and for a highly successful Houston meeting! Sincerely, George Stone and Andy Buddington George T. Stone, Ph.D. Instructor of Natural Science Milwaukee Area Technical College 700 West State Street, Rm. C472 Milwaukee, WI 53233-1443 (414) 297-7430 [1]stoneg@matc.edu FAX (414) 297-6329 -- Professor Keith Briffa, Climatic Research Unit University of East Anglia Norwich, NR4 7TJ, U.K. Phone: +44-1603-593909 Fax: +44-1603-507784 [2]http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/people/briffa/