Media Advisory 2: 2009 Joint Assembly

15 April 2009

Joint Release

Abstracts and Sessions Online and Searchable

Contents of this message:

  1. Abstracts and sessions now online and searchable
  2. Field trip to Niagara Falls planned
  3. Press conferences in development
  4. AGU journalism awards to be presented
  5. Hotel reservation deadline
  6. News Media Registration Information
  7. News Media Registration Form
  8. Who’s coming

1. Abstracts and sessions now online and searchable

All 379 sessions and 2,548 abstracts for the 2009 Joint Assembly have been posted on the AGU web site.

A. Searching for Abstracts of Interest to You

The 2,548 Joint Assembly abstracts may be accessed by a search tool.

Reporters and public information officers may search for abstracts of particular interest to them by looking up any of the following parameters on the search tool above:

  • Name of a scientist
  • Name of an institution (e.g., university, government agency)
  • Geographic location (e.g., city, state, province, or country)
  • Topic (e.g., Mars, thermohaline, climate)

Up to three search parameters may be combined. Full instructions are available from the search page.

Hint: In searching for abstracts from an institution, it is often more effective to search by e-mail address than by the name of the institution. The latter may be written in different ways by various authors (e.g., UCLA; University of California, Los Angeles; Univ. of Cal. at Los Angeles; etc.), but all of their e mail addresses will presumably include “ucla.” The search category “Affiliation” covers names of institutions and their locations; the category “E-mail” will find institutional domains (e.g., look under Affiliation for Columbia or New York, under E-mail for @columbia.edu).

B. Finding Sessions at Joint Assembly

To browse sessions under any AGU scientific discipline, first click on the link directly below. Then, scroll down to section headings (Union, Atmospheric Sciences, Biogeosciences, etc.) and click on the section of interest to see a chronological listing of times, session numbers, room numbers, and titles of all sessions in that section. Clicking on any session number in the list will open a sublist of oral presentations or posters associated with that session. For a particular presentation, clicking on the link labeled “Abstract” will open a brief summary of the talk, including author names and contact information.

Meeting at a Glance

In order to search sessions by keywords, use the search engine.

In the room listings, “CC” refers to the Convention Center. Presentations in Exhibit Hall E are posters; all other room assignments are oral sessions.

C. Joint Assembly’s detailed scientific program and abstracts in digital media only

AGU has discontinued the use of printed books that describe the detailed scientific program of its major meetings. Instead, the full scientific program and abstracts are provided on CDs and on the meeting web site only.

AGU is continuing to provide one printed book only, with a summary schedule, session overviews (‘Meeting Highlights’), an author index, maps, floor plans, and other general information about the meeting. Copies of that book for the 2009 Joint Assembly will be available to members of the news media in the Press Room.

For anyone who would like to create their own digital copy of the detailed scientific program in advance of the meeting, the downloadable file of the meeting program and abstracts (plus instructions for burning it onto a CD) should be available next week.

Copies of CDs of the detailed scientific program and meeting abstracts will also be available in the Press Room.


2. Field trip to Niagara Falls planned

Saturday, 23 May
Time to be determined (all day)

Come to Niagara Falls and discover an amazing geological epic that began thousands of years ago. We are working with two prominent Niagara Falls experts to offer a tour of the Canadian side of the falls that will include insights into the site’s Paleozoic history, the story of glacial advances and retreats that helped shape this natural wonder, and an adventurous hike down the gorge.

Details of this field trip will be provided in subsequent advisories, but space is limited, so it is advisable to sign up in advance.

To register for the field trip, send a short message to Maria-José Viñas: [email protected]

You must first register for News Media credentials. (See Items 6 and 7, below.)


3. Press conferences in development

We are in the process of developing a program of press conferences related to some of the newsworthy discoveries being presented at Joint Assembly. Subsequent media advisories will provide detailed information about press conferences.


4. AGU journalism awards to be presented

AGU will present two journalism awards at Joint Assembly, as part of the Honors Evening on Tuesday, 26 May:

  • Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—Features to Jim Lebans, Jim Handman, Zerah Lurie, and Bob McDonald, CBC Radio — Quirks and Quarks
  • Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism to J. Kelly Beatty, Sky & Telescope

News Media registrants are encouraged to attend the awards ceremony, which begins at 1900h in the Westin Harbour Castle’s Frontenac Room.

After the awards ceremony, an Honors Banquet will take place in the Westin Harbour Castle’s Harbour Ballroom. The banquet costs $55 per person. Members of the news media who wish to attend, please call the AGU Member Service Center at +1 800 966 2481 (toll free) or +1 202 462 6900, and request seating at the press table. For further information, contact Peter Weiss ([email protected], 202-777-7507) or Maria-José Viñas ([email protected], 202-777-7530).

The Westin Harbour Castle Hotel is a short walk from the convention center.


5. Reminder: Hotel reservation deadline

Please note that the deadline for booking hotel rooms at preferential meeting rates is next week, Wednesday, 22 April.

For full information on available hotels, rates, amenities, and a map of the area, see the hotel reservation information.


6. News Media Registration Information

Reporters working for foreign newspapers, television channels, news agencies or companies involved in reporting news events can work in Canada without a permit if they are reporting on events in the country.

However, nationals of some countries need a visa to enter Canada. For a list of countries whose citizens require visas to travel to Canada, see Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

For more information, visit the Canadian Citizenship and Immigration-Important Notices.

News Media registrants receive a badge that provides access to any of the scientific sessions of the meeting, as well as to the Press Room and Press Conference Room. No one will be admitted to press conferences, sessions, or the exhibition hall without a valid badge.

To enter the Convention Center, you will need to show a government-issued picture ID (passport or driver’s license). Please proceed next to the Press Room (MTCC, South Building, Level 700, Room 709) to receive your badge. Preprinted badges will be waiting there for News Media registrants who have preregistered. Be prepared to show professional identification (see below).

If you have not preregistered, you may fill out a News Media Registration Form in the Press Room (Room 709), presenting appropriate identification (see below). Your badge will be made while you wait.

Eligibility for press registration is limited to the following persons:

  • Working press employed by bona fide news media: must present a press card, business card, or letter of introduction from an editor of a recognized publication.
  • Freelance science writers: must present a current membership card from NASW, a regional affiliate of NASW, CSWA, ISWA, or SEJ; or evidence of by lined work pertaining to science intended for the general public and published in 2008 or 2009; or a letter from the editor of a recognized publication assigning you to cover 2009 Joint Assembly.
  • Public information officers of scientific societies, educational institutions, and government agencies: must present a business card.

Note: Representatives of publishing houses, for profit corporations, and the business side of news media must register at the main registration desk at the meeting and pay the appropriate fees, regardless of possession of any of the above documents. They are not accredited as News Media at the meeting.

Scientists who are also reporters and who are presenting at this meeting (oral or poster session) may receive News Media credentials if they qualify (see above), but must also register for the meeting and pay the appropriate fee as a presenter.


7. News Media Registration Form

The News Media Registration Form is set up for online submission.

The last day for advance News Media registration, assuring that your badge will be waiting for you when you arrive, is Friday, 8 May 2009. You may also register onsite.


8. Who’s Coming

The online list of journalists who have preregistered for the Meeting is updated daily.