Form V
Annual Report* of IGCP Project No.588
*NOTE: MAXIMUM LENGTH OF THE TEXT REPORT IS 5 (FIVE) Send to UNESCO
PAGES. SINGLE SPACE, 12 POINT FONT. REPORTS EXCEEDING m.patzak@unesco.org
THIS LENGTH WILL BE RETURNED TO THE AUTHOR(S) WITH THE by 15/12/2010
REQUEST OF REDUCING THE TEXT TO THE ABOVE STANDARD.
The scientific information in this report will further be used for publication on the IGCP website
under the new electronic version of 'Geological Correlation' (please feel free to attach any
additional information you may consider relevant to the assessment of your project).
IGCP project short title: Preparing for coastal change
Duration: 2010-2015
Project leader(s):
1. Dr Adam D. Switzer
Singapore NRF Fellow, Nanyang Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator,
Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS), Nanyang Technological University
50 Nanyang Avenue, Block N2-01a-15, Singapore 639798
Tel: (65) 6592 1762
Fax: (65) 6790 1585
Email: aswitzer@ntu.edu.sg
2. Dr Craig Sloss
Lecturer in Geosciences, School of Natural Resource Sciences,
Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 4001
Tel: (61) 7 3138 2610
Fax: (61) 7 3138 1535
Email: c.sloss@qut.edu.au
3. Dr Benjamin Horton
Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Science
University of Pennsylvania
240 South 33rd Street, Hayden Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6316
USA
Tel: (1) 215 573 5388
Fax: (1) 215 898 5724
Email: bphorton@sas.upenn.edu
UNESCO-IUGS-IGCP
1 rue Miollis – 75732 Paris cedex 15, France
Tel: +33 (0)1 45 68 41 17 – Fax: +33 (0)1 45 68 58 22
www.unesco.org/science/
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4. Dr Yongqiang Zong
Associate Professor, Department of Earth Sciences,
The University of Hong Kong,
Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
Tel: (852) 2219 4815
Fax: (852) 2517 6912
Email: yqzong@hku.hk
Project Secretary:
Name: Ms Maggie Chan
Address: 50 Nanyang Avenue, Block N2-01a-14, Singapore 639798
Tel: (65) 6592 7538
Fax: (65) 6790 1585
Email: maggie.chan@ntu.edu.sg
Date of submission of report: 15 Dec 2010
Signature of project leader(s):
Form V
Annual Report - IGCP588
1. Website address(es) related to the project: www.coastal-change.org
2. Summary of major past achievements of the project: N/A - First year of the project
3. Achievements of the project this year only
Seven key achievements of 2010
Launch of project, information dissemination and call for interest
Design and launch of new website www.coastal-change.org
First meeting of IGCP588 in Hong Kong 30 Nov – 4 Dec 2010
Formation of three working groups based on the three project themes (working groups
contain senior academics, junior researchers and postdocs or postgraduate students)
Plans established for two meetings and a workshop in 2011
Special Issue planned in Quaternary Science Reviews
Initialisation of pre/post-print, data and presentation repository on www.eprints.org
planned for launch in March 2011
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I - Launch of project, information dissemination and a general call for interest
Upon acceptance of the project, an initial draft of information about the project and information
on the joint meeting planned for December was circulated in April and May of 2010 (see
appendix 1).
II - Preparing for Coastal Change: Webpage and Newsletter
Several delegates at our first meeting in Hong Kong expressed a desire for more proactive and
concentrated effort to enhance communication amongst the IGCP588 community beyond email
and a periodically updated website. We aim to achieve this via a more interactive IGCP588
webpage, a Facebook page and an annual newsletter that will be distributed to all members.
The newsletter, blog and Facebook page will include any relevant information and progress
associated with the IGCP588 program including information on forthcoming meetings and
workshops along with research highlights and discussions on key papers relevant to the project.
The webpage already provides information regarding the context of IGCP588 including
information of its aims and objectives. Details regarding past (e.g. 2010 Hong Kong meeting),
present and future IGCP588 meetings will be found on the webpage, including an archive of
conference abstracts. To enhance communication, there is an opportunity on the website to
make interactive entries/updates (‘blog’), where it will be possible to advertise information on
recent academic and researchers’ movements, post-doc appointments, PhD and research
positions, opportunities for collaboration, recent publications related to the IGCP588 etc. The
webpage is already ‘live’. It can be found at http://www.coastal-change.org. Simon Engelhart,
(University of Pennsylvania, USA) is the IGCP588 communication officer and will be the
editor of the newsletter. Fengling Yu, (Earth Observatory of Singapore, Singapore) will be the
webpage and ‘blog’ administrator.
Facebook page
Many young scientists expressed that they use Facebook as a communication medium. As a
result, we have set up a Facebook page dedicated to IGCP588. Delegates in Hong Kong have
been asked to upload conference photos, links to relevant work and keep in communication
with friends and colleagues involved in IGCP588. The page can be found at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Preparing-for-Coastal-Change/174798935881220
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III - Formation of Working Groups
One of the outcomes from the Hong Kong meeting was the establishment of three working
groups. These working groups will be responsible for the following:
Assisting in convening sessions at the annual IGCP588 meetings, including suggesting
keynote speakers.
Contributing to the organisation of field trips.
Helping to attract additional funding to support early career researchers and researchers
from developing countries to attend annual meetings.
Where appropriate, promoting and supporting IGCP588 Sessions in other meetings as a
means of disseminating the work of IGCP588.
The three working groups (organisers listed below) meet the aims and objectives of IGCP588.
The working group members are:
1. Sea-level and coastal evolution (ZhuoZheng, Sun Yat-sen University,China; Carl
Stattegger, University of Kiel, Germany; Yongqiang Zong, University of Hong Kong,
China; and Craig Sloss, Queensland University of Technology, Australia).
2. Rapid sea-level change (Antony Long, Durham University, UK; Juliette Harrington,
Australian National University, Australia; and Ben Horton, University of Pennsylvania,
USA).
3. Catastrophic events (Daria Nikitina, West Chester University, USA; Adam Switzer, Earth
Observatory of Singapore, Singapore; Kruawan Jankaew, Chulalongkorn University,
Thailand).
IV - Meetings planned for 2011
There will be two IGCP588 meetings in 2011. The business meeting will be held at the INQUA
Congress in Bern in July 2011, as many members will be attending the Congress. Three co-
sponsored sessions at INQUA have been proposed and are heavily subscribed. The sessions
have received more than 110 abstracts as of 15 Dec 2010. IGCP588 plans to hold a business
meeting and social gathering in the evening after one session. This will be scheduled with
INQUA executives and local organisers in early 2011.
To maintain continuity and to allow those not attending the INQUA congress to participate in
IGCP588, a second meeting will be held in Bangkok, Thailand in mid-November 2011
(tentative dates 21-25 November). The meeting will be hosted by Chulalongkorn University
and organised by a team led by Dr Kruawun Jankaew of the Department of Geology, Faculty of
Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. The meeting will also hold a half-day
workshop on monitoring, assessing and managing coastal erosion to be presented by Claude
Hillaire-Marcel (l'Université du Québec à Montréal) and Tomasz Boski (FCMA/ CIMA,
Universidade do Algarve).
V - Special Issue of Quaternary Science Reviews
At the Hong Kong meeting, an offer for a special issue of Quaternary Science Reviews (QSR)
was presented by Craig Sloss on behalf of QSR editor-in-chief, Colin Murray-Wallace. The
group agreed that this would be a good idea and 15 people confirmed an intention to submit
papers. Talks with QSR about the time-table for submission to a special issue tentatively titled:
'Coastal change during the Late Quaternary'. At the time of writing this report, a tentative
schedule for the end of April 2011 has been proposed for submissions.
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VI - Establishment of pre- and post-print repository
Throughout the duration of the project (2010-2015), the pre- and post-print repository will
provide the platform for the free dissemination of material to IGCP members. This will greatly
enhance the availability of information for non-specialists including government agencies,
teaching institutions and the general public as well as institutions in developing countries that
do not have access to full electronic journal publications.
The pre-print repository which is currently being constructed, will likely be housed
electronically at www.eprint.org. Users who acknowledge IGCP588 will be able to upload
PDFs of their un-proofed pre-prints or post-prints depending on the copyright policy of the
relevant publisher.
All uploads will be checked with RoMEO
(http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/index.php?fIDnum=|&la=en) for legality as various
institutions and publishers have different rules and guidelines to this process. Alastair Clement
(Massey University, New Zealand) is coordinating this process with an aim of launching the
pre-print in early 2011. Information on copyright issues has primarily been gleaned from
institutional websites such as:
http://www.carl-abrc.ca/projects/institutional_repositories/setup_guide-e.html and
http://www.rsp.ac.uk/start/policies-and-legal-issues/copyright-issues/
In addition, the website will provide a ‘blog’ platform and enable free discussion of topics of
interest across the basic sciences, applied sciences and technology and to the general public and
education professionals.
3.1. List of countries involved in the project
China, Hong Kong SAR, Thailand, Taiwan (ROC), Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, Canada,
United States of America, Italy, Poland, France, Japan, England, Ireland, Republic of Korea,
Puerto Rico, Philippines, Germany, New Zealand, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Spain, India, Mexico,
Oman, Tunisia, Israel, Malaysia, Lebanon, Netherlands, Poland.
3.2. General scientific achievements and social benefits
The scientific achievements of the project this year, although not best measured by research
outputs, are, however, more adequately reflected in management, outreach and the
development of a meaningful structured communication platform for the ongoing years of the
project. Many of the scientists involved had significant scientific outputs that could be tied to
IGCP588. Following the meeting in Hong Kong, the leaders of IGCP588 met to discuss our
2010 reporting. We feel that, although we see clear scientific outputs from the members of
IGCP588, we feel it would be unjust to credit them to the program in its first year. A
management and reporting structure for the project is now in place. Project members have
been encouraged to acknowledge IGCP588 in future publications, to provide pre/post-prints for
the repository and to use the webpage, ‘blog’ and Facebook page to promote their papers and
research opportunities to members.
3.3. List of meetings with approximate attendance and number of countries
The first IGCP588 conference, business meeting and fieldtrips were a resounding success.
There were 71 participants from 14 countries who presented 48 talks and 9 posters which were
organised under five themes: Catastrophic Events, Sea-level History, Response of Coastal
Environments to Changes in Sea-level, Coastal Change and Human Adaptation, and Coastal
Dynamics and Management.
The two and a half days of presentations were followed by two fieldtrips. The first visited a
popular (Ramsar) wetland area, where participants were given a tour of some well-protected
Form V
mangrove forests and well-managed wetland habitats; donated in kind by the World Wildlife
Fund (WWF). A second fieldtrip took delegates to a coastal beach where coastal erosion and
typhoon-generated wave deposits are preserved. Wave-cut platforms were also investigated
along with biological indicators of higher Holocene sea levels. These two fieldtrips provided an
opportunity for participants to see evidence of coastal processes and human activity in the
coastal lowlands of southern China.
Following detailed scientific discussion, the group provided a clear outline for leaders on
strategies for promoting international collaborations among scientists from different continents
i.e. working groups with specific scientific focuses and organisations for future activities (see
below). In addition to science, the participants also enjoyed the social events which gave them
a glimpse of the way of life in one of the world’s most densely populated international cities.
3.4. Educational, training or capacity building activities
Not applicable in first year (Workshop planned in year 2)
3.5. Participation of scientists from developing countries, and in particular young, female
scientists
The initial call for interest in IGCP588 generated considerable interest in many developing
countries particularly those in Asia. This was reflected in the attendance at the initial meeting.
The IGCP funds were primarily used for keynote speakers. The presence of those invited
speakers was key to the securing of additional funds from the Stephen Hui Trust,
Earth Observatory of Singapore and the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA)
(see below). The Hong Kong meeting was also well attended by PhD students and early career
researchers, with several being incorporated into the specific working groups.
3.6. List of most important publications (including maps)
As this is the first year of the project the only reportable publications were promotional papers
and project summaries posted on the websites listed at the top of section 3
3.7. Activities involving other IGCP projects, UNESCO, IUGS or others
None this year, although many delegates were previously involved in IGCP 495 and 475.
4. Activities planned
4.1. General goals
1. Special publication in Quaternary Science Reviews from initial meeting with papers
from the 3 project themes, 3 sessions and an IGCP588 business meeting to be held
at the quadrennial International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) meeting
in Bern, Switzerland, 20 - 27 July 2011.
2. Further development of the website and launch of the pre/post-print repository.
3. Session at Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) 2011 meeting in Taipei,
Taiwan including keynote lecture by YQ Zong.
4. Discussion of development of a new e-book on ‘Techniques for Studying Coastal
Systems’ and possible contributions from the group to a new Wiley book
‘Handbook of Sea Level Science’.
4.2. Tentative list of specific meetings and field trips (please list the participating countries)
Meeting 1 - The business meeting will be held at the INQUA Congress this year as many
members will be attending the INQUA Congress in Bern in July 2011. Three co-sponsored
sessions at the congress have been proposed and are already heavily subscribed, having
received more than 110 abstracts as of 15 Dec 2010. IGCP588 plans to hold a business meeting
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and social gathering in the evening after one session. This will be scheduled with INQUA
executives and local organisers in early 2011.
Meeting 2 - To maintain continuity and to allow those not attending the INQUA congress to
participate in IGCP588, a second meeting will be held in Bangkok, Thailand in mid-November
2011 (likely dates 21-25 November). The meeting will be hosted by Chulalongkorn University
and organised by a team led by Dr Kruawun Jankaew of the Department of Geology, Faculty of
Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Workshop - A half day workshop on monitoring, assessing and managing coastal erosion to be
presented by Claude Hillaire-Marcel (l'Université du Québec à Montréal) and Tomasz Boski
(FCMA/ CIMA, Universidade do Algarve) will be held in association with the Thailand
meeting.
5. Project funding requested
The project seeks funding of US$10,000 for 2011. The funding breakdown is as follows;
- 10% (USD1,000) for the adminstration, development and initiation of the pre/post-print
repository. Such work involves significant storage space and funds requested here will be
used to obtain this server space through www.eprint.org.
- 30% of the funding (USD3,000) will be used as partial travel funding or accommodation
funds for students or developing country delegates to attend the INQUA meeting and the
business meeting of IGCP588. Applicants, particularly those from developing nations,
will be encouraged to seek additional funding from their parent institution, national
research body or other avenue.
- 60% of the funding (USD6,000) will be used as seed funding to allow organisers of the
Thailand meeting to invite students, keynote or international speakers to attend the events.
The funding will be given as fee waivers, partial travel funding or accommodation funds.
For both meetings, larger assistance grants may be offered in special cases such as candidates
from war-torn regions, disadvantaged situations/countries, developing nations or those affected
by natural disasters. Such offers will only be made in return for a guaranteed significant
contribution to the IGCP project.
6. Request for extension, on-extended-term-status, or intention to propose successor
project
Extensions requested.
7. Financial statement (USD only)
The IGCP (USD7,000) was used primarily to fund keynote speakers. The presence of several
eminent speakers and the co-hosting of INQUA (€3,000 ~ USD3,900) allowed for a very
detailed program of keynote presentations. The international reputation of the speakers allowed
the organisers to obtain an extra HKD50,000 (~USD6,430) from the Stephen Hui Trust and
HKD18,000 (~USD2,315) from the Earth Observatory of Singapore. A breakdown of IGCP
funds is provided in Appendix 2.
8. Attach any information you may consider relevant
See appendices.
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Appendix 1
Emails and advertising
The project and initial meeting announcement was circulated using email lists of IGCP495 and
475, along with lists from INQUA Coastal and Marine Processes, American Quaternary
Association (AmQUA); Australian Quaternary Association ( AQUA): Asian Quaternary
Association (AsQUA); and Japan Association for Quaternary Research (JAQUA).
The first meeting was also advertised in:
INQUA e-bulletin
http://www.unr.edu/anthropology/people/faculty/haynes/forms/2010_QuatPers18.pdf
IUGS e-bulletin http://iugs.org/uploads/IUGS%20Bulletin%2054.pdf
Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ)
http://www.loicz.org/imperia/md/content/loicz/print/newsletter/inprint_online_2010_3.
pdf
OZCoasts bulletin http://www.ozcoasts.org.au/pdf/Initial_Notice_for_IGCP588.pdf
Past Global Changes (PAGES) Calendar
www.pages-igbp.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/calendar
Société géologique de France http://sgfr.free.fr/reunion/geosciences-recherche.php
IGCP Japan http://www.yg.kobe-wu.ac.jp/wu/igcp/news_2010.html
Indonesian Science Blog
http://www.elvinmiradi.com/topik/igcp+project+leaders+2010.html#
Geological Society of China http://www.geosociety.org.cn/N_Detail.asp?nid=1187
Form V
Appendix
2