2020 - 2021 President's Welcome

Welcome to the website of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society! CMOS is Canada’s principal learned society dedicated to advancing atmospheric and oceanic sciences and related environmental disciplines involving climate, hydrology, limnology, and cryospheric research. It is a privilege to lead this organization, which has more than a half-century of accomplishments and a large and devoted membership. You can read more about the society on our “ About” page.  If you’d like to be a part of CMOS, it is easy – just sign up here to join at relatively low cost – and student membership is free. There are many benefits of CMOS membership, including reduced registration fees for Congresses, reduced fees and free electronic access to our publications, and member-only access to our accreditation programmes. In addition to holding the annual scientific Congress and publishing   Atmosphere-Ocean   and the   CMOS Bulletin  , our Society awards   prizes and scholarships  , endorses   weathercasters   and accredits   consultants  , supports participation of teachers in   Project Atmosphere and Project Ocean  , and issues scientific   position statements  .  Many CMOS activities take place at the local level, at the 14 Centres across the country.  Our Centres organize science and policy talks, tours, and luncheons, host talks by the CMOS   Tour Speakers  , provide judges for science fairs, visit schools, and award travel bursaries to students.

 
As a CMOS member, you can join the   American Meteorological Society   (details   here  ) and the   Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society  (details   here  ) as Affiliate Members, which entitles you to benefits associated with these societies. A similar partnership has been established with the  Royal Meteorological Society   (details   here).

All of these CMOS activities rely on the participation of our members and volunteers, who come from universities, government, the private sector, and the public. I encourage you to get involved in the CMOS community, whether in your local Centre, on CMOS Committees and Special Interest Groups, which are responsible for aspects of research, education, and industry linkages in our professions, attending the AGM, or in other ways.  Having been a CMOS member since 2004, I whole-heartedly believe that our Society is vital to the promotion of atmospheric and oceanic science in Canada and that engagement in its activities can be deeply meaningful and highly rewarding.

Our 54th Congress was our first to be held in an electronic form, and provided an exciting, open forum for various strands of science. While the nature of future Congresses remains uncertain at the time of writing, our Centres are busy planning for future Congresses and I invite you to attend Victoria 2021, and Saskatoon 2022 whatever form they take. These conferences will showcase new scientific results across a range of topics, highlight the latest activities in the private sector, and explore new means for scientific communication.

CMOS’s scientific work and the broader research enterprise in atmosphere-ocean, climate, and related sciences are more important than ever for Canadian society. We continue to focus on a variety of activities related to three broad themes: Membership and Student Involvement, Outreach and Visibility, and Education and Mentorship. To maintain the relevance of CMOS, we continue to need your support through your membership and engagement in our activities. To keep in touch, keep an eye on the CMOS Bulletin , the CMOS website , and our Twitter feed , and join the ARRCU Special Interest Group announcement list . Let us know what you think of our online content by sharing/liking/retweeting and generally spreading the word about our posts.

I am looking forward to serving you throughout the year, and I hope to see you online.

Marek Stastna