David and his wife were originally from South Africa, a country to which they remained strongly attached. After his university studies in Cape Town, David joined the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory near New York in 1963. The Lamont was created after the second world war and represented the lead of the United States in oceanography.

An InterRidge Working Group is currently being proposed on seamounts and volcanic islands located close to mid-ocean ridges. This will address a wide range of science and practical questions that range from solid earth to biology. At the moment, the group includes researchers studying the Azores, Ascension, Tristan da Cunha and the Foundation Seamounts.

Following an invitation by SCOR (Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research), the InterRidge Steering Committee has decided to support the organization of the Joint InterRidge-SCOR Workshop on the Indian Ocean Ridges. Discussions with SCOR on the workshop organization are currently starting.

At this beginning of the year 2018, we wish to all the members of InterRidge community a very happy new year, hoping to see you joining our efforts in the promotion of mid-ocean ridge research.

The InterRidge Office

The 3rd European Mantle Workshop will take place in the historical University of Pavia, situated approximately 40 km South of Milan, from Tuesday 26th to Thursday 28th June 2018. The workshop aims at providing a framework of advanced knowledge on the evolution of the Earth’s mantle. The workshop is mainly intended to discuss the mantle beneath Europe and neighboring areas; presentations from other parts of the world are welcome. Oral and poster presentations are scheduled.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is explicitly mandated to promote and encourage the conduct of marine scientific research in the Area (UNCLOS, art.143), and accordingly, the coordination and dissemination of the results of such research analysis. In line with the above, the ISA Secretary-General Award for Research Excellence is one of seven voluntary commitments made by the Authority at the 2017 UN Ocean Conference.

The InterRidge Office is pleased to announce the launch of the second call for Student and Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in 2017. As part of InterRidge’s mission to promote international, collaborative, and interdisciplinary studies of oceanic spreading centers, we invite proposals for InterRidge Student and Postdoctoral Fellowships of up to 5000 US$ each.

InterRidge News is published annually by the InterRidge Office. The next - 23rd Volume shall be published in November 2017. Our newsletter contains brief research articles, the world ridge cruise schedule, updates from the InterRidge Working Groups and from our National Correspondents, and a calendar of upcoming meetings of interest to the InterRidge community. InterRidge News is intended for the rapid publication of preliminary results and cruise reports that do not appear in other publications.

The next AGU Fall Meeting (American Geophysical Union) will be held on 11-15 December 2017 in New Orleans (Louisiana, USA) at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
The abstract submission is now open, the deadline is on 2nd August, 2017 (23:59 EDT/03:59 +1 GMT).

The InterRidge Steering Committee is an assembly of representatives from the Principal and Regular Member Nations of InterRidge. Principal Member Countries have two voting representatives while Regular Member Countries have one. Each Corresponding Member Country has a national correspondent who is welcome as observer at the annual Steering Committee meeting. Working Group Leaders are also invited at the meetings to report on their activity.

InterRidge supports Cruise Bursaries to help early career ridge-crest scientists to participate in international mid-ocean ridge research cruises. Bursaries are awarded for travel and subsistence costs required to join the cruise. Please see the recipients of awards since 2011. We invite graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to apply.

The InterRidge Office is pleased to announce the launch of the 2017 Student and Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. As part of InterRidge’s mission to promote international, collaborative, and interdisciplinary studies of oceanic spreading centers, we invite proposals for InterRidge Student and Postdoctoral Fellowships of up to 5000 US$ each.

InterRidge plays a major role in triggering ridge-related science through its Working Groups (WG). Such WGs are appointed for a limited time on specific ridge-related scientific topics. The InterRidge Office is pleased to announce a call for proposals of new InterRidge Working Groups.

Dear InterRidge members,

My name is Kamil Szafrański and I am the new coordinator of our program. In close cooperation with the program co-chairs Jérôme Dyment and Nadine Le Bris, I will coordinate the InterRidge activities and I will be your contact person until the IR Office stays in France.

The InterRidge Office is hosted by the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (see www.ipgp.fr) and is led by two co-chairs Jérôme Dyment (IPGP) and Nadine Le Bris (Université Pierre et Marie Curie - UPMC). The coordinator is Kamil Szafrański.