CSDMS Meeting 2010: "Modeling for Environmental Change"

Meeting Announcements

Model Documentation

On this thumb drive, we have compiled available published papers for all models in the CSDMS Model Repository provided on our website. This draft documentation is current as of October 11, 2010, and is intended to be used for educational and research purposes in conjunction with model metadata provided on our website. Please go to the "Models" folder on your thumb drive to view these papers. Each model has a folder that contains the most relevant documents (.pdf) about the models’ theory, structure, input and output files, validation, and their main applications. These documents are often peer-reviewed papers and other publications. We were unable to locate documentation for four models (CarboCAT, CellularFanDelta, CrevasseFlow, and Lake-Permafrost w/Subsidence). If you identify any incorrect or missing information in these model folders, please contact Fei Xing (Fei.Xing@colorado.edu).

CSDMS Modeling Course Questionnaire

The CSDMS Integration Facility is interested in making our products and tools accessible to the college classroom. To help us understand the needs of both instructors and students in undergraduate and graduate courses, we are gathering information about how surface process modeling is currently being taught. We have already reviewed the course catalogs of 36 universities in the U.S. and identified CSDMS-relevant courses in a range of departments (click here for the results).

We would appreciate direct feedback from instructors to supplement and verify these results as we continue to expand our educational and modeling tools. Ultimately, one of our goals is to provide user-friendly, hands-on modeling exercises using the CSDMS Modeling Tool and the CSDMS High Performance Computing Cluster. Course instructors can then easily adopt these exercises for their own earth surface processes courses.

If you currently teach or have recently taught a course that incorporates some quantitative study of earth surface processes, please take the time to complete our brief survey. Even if those processes are not currently addressed in the CSDMS model, data, or educational repositories, we are still interested in learning about your course. The survey should take about ~20 minutes for EACH course you choose to share information about. The results will be most useful if you can complete as many questions as possible.

After completing the survey, please contact Maureen Berlin (maureen.berlin@colorado.edu) or Irina Overeem (irina.overeem@colorado.edu) if you have questions or would like direct feedback once we compile the survey results. You may either access a pdf version of the questionnaire, or go to our website to complete the questionnaire.

Travel Reimbursement Process

Confirmed and qualified participants have received details regarding their reimbursement amount. Qualified participants are those who have met the criteria for reimbursement. (Exceptions have been previously made with some participants. If you are unsure of your arrangement, please contact CSDMS at: csdms@colorado.edu)

Airfare Reimbursement: We might be able to accommodate a few participants over the stated airfare amount depending on others receiving fares well below that amount. Please note that we are constrained to only provide reimbursement after the meeting (a process that may take 4-5 weeks), and we require original receipts. Email proof is fine -- but proof of payment must be evident. Thank you.

Miscellaneous Expense Reimbursement: Reimbursement of the stated amount for miscellaneous expenses follow the same guidelines as stated in the Airfare Reimbursement section. Additionally, meal reimbursements must include an itemized meal ticket along with the payment receipt, and we are only able to reimburse meal amounts according to the federal regulations regarding limits for breakfast, lunch, and dinner per U.S. city. We are unable to reimburse alcohol expenses.

Following the meeting, original receipts that demonstrate proof of payment may be mailed to CSDMS at this address:

CSDMS
University of Colorado at Boulder
UCB 545
Boulder, Colorado 80309

Student Modeler Award 2010 - Call for Entries

The Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS) promotes the modeling of earth surface processes by developing, and disseminating software modules that predict the movement of fluids, and the flux of sediment and solutes in landscapes and their sedimentary basins.

CSDMS invites graduate students from earth and computer sciences to compete for the annual “CSDMS Student Modeler Award”. If you have completed an outstanding research project in 2010, which involved developing an earth science model (terrestrial, coastal, marine or biogeochemistry), a modeling tool, or module linking technology, you can qualify for this award! Entries will be judged on the basis of ingenuity, applicability, and contribution towards the advancement of geoscience modeling by a panel of experts in the field. We’ll have a prize! In addition, CSDMS will fund your visit to Boulder, Colorado to learn all about the CSDMS and work with CSDMS scientists to develop your model into a CSDMS component.

Please submit a 1-page abstract highlighting your results, a digital copy of your thesis or research paper and contact information of your supervisor to the CSDMS Facility: csdms@colorado.edu

Deadline for applications: December 1, 2010.

Recipient of this year's award will be announced at the end of the year.

Meeting Feedback

We value your feedback and use it to make future meetings more effective and comfortable for our members. Please take a few minutes -- preferably before you depart the meeting, to fill out this form and email it to csdms@colorado.edu.