Roland Buresh named 2001 SSSA fellow

In recognition of his research contributions in soil science, IRRI soil scientist Roland Buresh has been selected as a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). He will receive the award on 23 October at the annual meeting of the SSSA in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2000, he was selected as a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy.

A few years ago, the Cagayan Valley suffered a severe drought caused by El Niño, followed by repeated typhoon flooding. This double-barreled disaster caused the loss of its traditional rice varieties. Today, IRRI is playing a key role in helping farmers regain the region's pivotal roles in rice production and the conservation of rice biodiversity in the Philippines. Early last month, a team of anthropologists and researchers from the Institute and their counterparts from PhilRice in Isabela Province trekked to the Cagayan Valley, now considered the country's new rice granary, and talked with farmers. 

The scientists aimed to encourage farmers from selected municipalities in Cagayan to adopt a double-cropping pattern, growing modern and traditional rice varieties (MV-TV) including the aromatic Wagwag rice, and to train them in seed management and conservation. For t2 days, on 4 and 5 June, 118 farmers from eight barangays in Tuguegarao stayed at the Agricultural Pilot Center of the Department of Agriculture Region II Lowland and Marine Outreach Station, in barangay Iguig, for an IRRI-organized workshop on valuing and promoting indigenous rice varieties in the Cagayan Valley. Also attending were municipal farmers and a representative from the Green Core Foundation, Inc. (GCFI), a nongovernmental organization.  

Captions: (Top to bottom) MV-TV rice seeds for distribution to farmers; Steve Morin in a one-on-one discussion with GCFI's Rom Vildzius. Click on the photos for a bigger image. 

Click here for more photos.

Rheena Bakker-Dhaliwal explains to extension workers how to access information from the IRRI-developed database "TropRice."	NGO officer David Ingles stressing a point to farmers.	GRC consultant Marlon Calibo presents a plastic container to a farmer for seed storage.

Library Corner

Internet resources

Nature Cell Biology OnLine. FREE access to the Nature Cell Biology Web site for all of July.  The July 2001 issue of Nature Cell Biology contains a special focus on development. The journal will feature a diverse and complementary selection of articles by leaders in the field. To highlight this important area of cell biology research, Nature Cell Biology is providing FREE, unrestricted online access to the complete issue. Simply visit http://cellbio.nature.com to access this information.

Earthtrends: The Environmental Information Portal at http://earthtrends.wri.org. 

The World Resources Institute's new interactive Web site, EarthTrends, is intended to be the first place to go for timely and accurate global environmental and sustainable development information. You can also access EarthTrends through WRI's newly re-designed Web site at http://www.wri.org/wri/.


Cartagena protocol on biosafety. Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol, 2001. Go to http://www.biodiv.org/biosafety/protocol.asp. 

Contains articles of the protocol plus documents pertaining to the Convention on Biological Diversity on 29 January 2000. The protocol seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology.

Current greenhouse gas concentrations. Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center. Go to: http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/pns/current_ghg.html.  

Gives a comparative table of greenhouse gas concentrations during the pre-industrial era (1860) and the present, plus global warming potential and atmospheric lifetime.

Development Gateway. Go to http://developmentgateway.org/topic/?page_id=3661 

"... a knowledge-sharing initiative about development that is taking shape in collaboration with the private sector, civil society, international agencies, and governments. It consists of a global portal where people and organizations can share knowledge, engage in dialogues, and work together to reduce poverty. The gateway platform is also being used to launch country gateways so that people and organizations in developing countries are connected. .." In addition to food security, other topics covered include education, law, culture and development, government, disaster management, gender, etc. 

IRRI sports tournament update

Men's volleyball: Schedule of championship games between Unit VII and Unit IV is as follows: Game 1: 4 July; Game 2: 6 July; Game 3 (if necessary) 9 July.  

Team standings after semi-final round:

Calendar of events

Click here to view IRRI workshops, conferences, meetings, and training.

Position Announcements

Click here to view the IRRI position announcements

Click here to view position announcements from other CG Centers 

Delegation of Authority

While Michael Jackson is on home leave combined with official travel 22 June- 2 August, the following are acting on his behalf: 22 June- 31 July, Gordon MacNeil; 1-2 August, Corinta Guerta.

While Paul Marcotte is on an official trip 25 June to 22 July, Madeline B. Quiamco is acting on his behalf.

While Gene Hettel is on home leave and attending professional meetings 2 July-7 August, the following will act as head of CPS: Bill Hardy, 2-10 July, and Albert Borrero, 11 July-7 August.

While Paul O'Nolan is on home leave, Joel Macatangay is Acting Head of IT Services (from 11 June), alternating with Ogie Alvarez on a weekly basis or as needed. 

While Mahabub Hossain is on home leave 9 June-14 July, with combined official trips to attend meetings/workshops in Bangladesh, Thailand, Netherlands, and India, the following are acting on his behalf: Sushil Pandey, acting head, Social Sciences Division from 9 June to 9 July; Suan Pheng Kam, acting head, SSD, 10-13 July, and acting PL of Program 4.

While James Hill is traveling, the following are acting on his behalf as acting division head for CSWS and leader for Program 2, Enhancing productivity and sustainability of favorable environments: Guy Kirk (10-27 June) and Martin Mortimer (28 June-5 July). 

While Ian Wallace is on home leave 15 June-7 July, Douglas Avila is acting on his behalf.

David Mackill will be on official travel to the U.S. from 29 June to 23 July. The following have kindly agreed to act on his behalf: acting head, PBGB Division: John Bennett, 29 June to 3 July; D.S. Brar, 3-14 July; and Glen Gregorio, 15-23 July. Acting leader, Program 1: Hei Leung, 29 June -8 July; Graham McLaren, 9-13 July, and Glen Gregorio, 14-23 July.

Hei Leung has kindly agreed to be the acting division head of EPPD while Tom Mew and K.L. Heong are on an official trip 28 June-15 July and 2-7 July, respectively.

Visitors
 

Date	Time	School/Organization
Visitors
Monday, 2 July	9:30 a.m.	Dr. R. Gnanam, on-the-job Trainee, PBGB
	2:00 p.m.	9 students and staff, Buklod Biyayang Kistiyano, Inc., CCHP Building, Tanalega St., Bay, Laguna
	4:00 p.m.	Ms. Retno Utaira, Finance Manager, CIFOR, Jakarta, Indonesia
Tuesday, 3 July	10:00 a.m.	Messrs. Russell Ford, Ian Mason, Derek Schulz (Australia) Dr. Belida Clarke (UK), Mr. David Rose (UK), Nuffield Farming Scholars Association, Australia
	1:00 p.m.	Mr. Michael O. Billington, The Larouche Society's Expert for Asian Affairs, c/o UP Ranchers' Club, UPLB
Thursday, 5 July	9:30 a.m.	Ms. Isabelle Meienberger, Intern, PBGB
Friday, 6 July	8:30 a.m.	Dr. Osamu Ito, Director, Crop Production and Environment Division JIRCAS
Guesthouse visitors
1-5 July	Ms. Utaira Retno, CIFOR Finance Manager
2-7 July	Nuffield Scholars c/o VIS
3-4 July	Dr. Bruce Linquist c/o IPMO
4-7 July	Dr. Osamu Ito c/o APPA/SWS
7-14 July	Kitta Mac Pherson and  1 Photographer c/o VIS

Travel

International travel schedule

Weather Updates
 

Click here for the holidays of countries cooperating with IRRI for July 2001.

Status of Publications

Click here for the status of IRRI publications in CPS.