2009 Assembly of Delegates:
Northwest Regional Representative to the Committee on Nominations

2009 Sigma Xi Annual Meeting & International Research Conference

November 12-15, 2009
The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel
The Woodlands, Texas (near Houston)

Name: Martin Mendelson

Present Position: Clinical Professor
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

E-mail: mendelso@alumni.caltech.edu

Chapter Affiliation: Columbia-Willamette

Candidate's Statement: With a nation and a world on a course toward overpopulation and environmental degradation on a scale never before seen, the need for science to inform public discourse has never been greater. I believe that Sigma Xi, as a voice for science, must make itself heard in the public arena, and that the President of Sigma Xi must be capable of and willing to be that voice. I would seek to choose candidates who will devote the needed enthusiasm, energy and time to this critical pursuit.

I am aware of the many challenges that Sigma Xi is facing as an organization at this time; these challenges are by no means unique to us. Sigma Xi's culture, mission, and vision are still valid, but the way they are made manifest to our various constituencies of the public and other scientists, can perhaps be re-imagined. In addition, there are issues of structure, activities, and governance that may have been appropriate in the past, but would benefit from a careful re-evaluation as to their current relevance. I am ready and willing to take part in these difficult, yet ultimately rewarding, discussions.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: Martin Mendelson became an associate member of Sigma Xi as a graduate student in 1960, and a full member in 1962. In Tacoma he served as at-large Trustee for the Tahoma Chapter. More recently he has served as a judge at the Intel Science Fair, held at Portland State University, attends meetings of the Columbia-Willamette chapter, and volunteers at the Tualatin Hills Nature Center, assisting in the interpretation of science for visitors.

Biographical Information: Martin Mendelson, M.D.,Ph.D., earned his Bachelor's degree at Cornell University in 1958 and went on to graduate work at the California Institute of Technology. His doctoral dissertation was on the subject on mechanoreceptors in crab legs, and subsequently he completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons with work on the Pacinian corpuscle - a mechanoreceptor in mammals. He taught Physiology at N.Y.U. Medical School and at S.U.N.Y., Stony Brook, while continuing to be an active member until 1976. During this period he pursued research in neurophysiology, and become a regular summer researcher at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. While at Stony Brook he was lured into clinical medicine and acquired the M.D. degree in 1976. This was followed by a residency in Family Practice in Portland, Oregon and two and a half years of private practice in rural Oregon, after which he returned to academe as director of the Family Practice Residency Program at the U.C., Davis, College of Medicine in Sacramento, CA. In 1985 he moved to Tacoma, Washington to join the faculty of Tacoma Family Medicine - a residency program affiliated with the department of Family Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and joined the Tahoma Chapter of Sigma Xi, a multi-institutional chapter. He was appointed Clinical Professor in the Department of Health Services of the School of Public Health and Community Medicine of U.W. in 1993 and taught courses in the Health Information Management Program. In 2005, following a three year Fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, he returned to Portland, Oregon, where he joined the Columbia-Willamette chapter. He is currently Clinical Professor in the Department of Health Services, School of Public Health of the University of Washington, Seattle, and also holds a research appointment in the Department of Family Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, in Portland. He is a lifelong member of A.A.A.S, and believes wholeheartedly in the need for scientists to contribute their expertise to the benefit of the public.

Name: Christopher N.K. Mooers

Present Position: Research Professor
Organization: Portland State University

Address: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Portland State University
POB 751
Portland, OR 97207-0751
United States

Telephone: 503-954-2772
E-mail: cmooers@cecs.pdx.edu

Chapter Affiliation: Columbia-Willamette

Candidate's Statement: Ironically, at a time of rapid and profound scientific advances and increasing societal dependence on scientific understanding and guidance, Sigma Xi is facing challenging problems with membership and finances. I would like to help Sigma Xi survive as our leading society devoted to promoting scientific research. In particular, I think it is essential to identify candidates for Sigma Xi's leadership who are committed to engaging the present and lapsed membership through re-invigoration of its unique network of chapters.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: I had served as the President of the University of Miami's Chapter for two years prior to moving to Portland, Oregon and joining the Columbia-Willamette Chapter. I have served as the Secretary, President-Elect, and President of the Ocean Sciences Section of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). I chaired the US National Committee (USNC) of the International Geophysical Union (IUGG). I was one of the founders of The Oceanography Society (TOS). I have served on AAAS and American Meteorological Society (AMS) committees. I have been a journal editor for AMS, a book editor for AGU and others, and a convener for numerous meeting sessions, conferences, and workshops. Thus, I have a broad background in scientific and professional societies which will help me appreciate the qualifications and characteristics that should be sought in the next Sigma Xi leadership team.

Biographical Information: I am a coastal physical oceanographer engaged in ocean circulation modeling and prediction, with a history of interacting with marine ecologists. I received my BS in Naval Science (alias General Engineering) from US Naval Academy, MS in Physics from University of Connecticut, and PhD in Physical Oceanography from Oregon State University. I have served on the faculties of University of Miami (twice), University of Delaware, Naval Postgraduate School, University of New Hampshire, and now Portland State University, after retiring from the University of Miami in 2008. For seven years, I chaired the Oceanography Department at the Naval Postgraduate School and then became the founding Director of the Institute for Naval Oceanography under the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research (UCAR). My research has included projects off the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts of the USA and the coasts of Peru and Northwest Africa, in the Japan (East) Sea, Intra-Americas Sea (i.e., the combined Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico), and Prince William Sound, Alaska. I have collaborated with many international colleagues, especially from Russia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Latin America, Europe, and the British Commonwealth. Hence, I have broad national and international perspectives to bring to the tasks of the Sigma Xi Nominations Committee.