PYRN kick-off meeting, Abisko 22-24 February 2007
The Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN) held its kick-off meeting at the Abisko Scientific Research Station, Sweden on the 22nd to 24th of February 2007.
Following on the success of the first phase of the PYRN project, which saw more than 300 young researchers from 31 countries joining the network, 11 of the PYRN national representatives met to review the PYRN process and set directions for the years to come. For the first time, a core group of young researchers committed to the success of PYRN could meet and thereby firmly engraved further commitments.
The meeting took place just prior to the official launch of the International Polar Year (March 1 st, 2007) and came at a crucial moment for the network. Its success, as well as its outreach within the polar community emphasized some critical issues. These issues were addressed to maintain the level of involvement of the members both in the broader science community and also to enhance the visibility of permafrost research. One focus of the meeting was to review the current management system and the development of a new structure for the upcoming years. Involvement in other projects, development of new activities and planning of events for the upcoming permafrost conferences were also discussed.
This meeting couldn’t have been possible without the tremendous help of our sponsors. In addition we would like to thank Terry Callaghan (Director) and Christer Jonasson (Deputy Director) at the Abisko Scientific Research Station for all their help and support with this meeting.
Workshop report and other relevant documents