New Year's Greetings of the President

Dear Member of the International Association of Environmental Analytical Chemistry,

let me first briefly look back to the second half of 2009, to what happened after my last message to you in issue no. 38 of our Newsletter.
One of the good news is that the „scratches“ to our investments caused by the world economic crisis turned out not to be as deep as we were afraid of. Actually there is a development back to our former financial status, and we can be quite optimistic as to the long-term economic stability of the IAEAC and consequently the fulfillment of its statutory tasks.
The other good news is the great success we had with three events held between June and November 2009. The 9th Biosensor Workshop (June 14-17, 2009; Montreal/Canada) and the TraceSpec2009 (September 15-18, 2009; Mainz/Germany) have shown to be of high interest for specific scientific communities and will certainly be followed by further editions in the respective series. Whereas these two workshops - by the number of participants - may be classified under „small is beautiful“ the attendance of the Food Analysis Symposium has increased dramatically. The 4th edition, RAFA2009 (November 4-6, Prague/CZ), has attracted about 560 participants such reaching, in this respect, the level of our Montreux LC/MS symposia. Furthermore the European Commission headquarters considers the RAFA series as the most relevant one worldwide in the field of food analysis. To achieve a reputation like RAFA and such high esteem as the two workshops tremendous efforts have to be made by the respective on-site organizers. I feel obliged to use this opportunity to thank again very much those colleagues for their collaboration with the IAEAC and for making these events so successful.
You may have missed in our last Newsletter a commemorative notice on Roland Frei, founder of the IAEAC and its first President, who died 20 years ago. Please, note that we have published one in our journal, IJEAC (Vol. 89, 557, 2009), in order to assure a larger dissemination.
On September 16, 2009, on occasion of TraceSpec2009, the Extended Executive Committee (EEC) met in Mainz/Germany. Besides financial, editorial (IJEAC), and membership issues the outcome of past and the organization of future events were discussed. Major emphasis was placed upon our flagship-meeting, ISEAC 36, which is going to be held in Rome/Italy October 5-9, 2010 (www.iseac36.it). This symposium is of particular relevance for the IAEAC, because here the President and the members of the EEC for the next term need to be elected, and a significant change in the makeup of the managing board and the EEC is going to occur. Therefore I would like to ask you again, as I did already in our Newsletter no. 38, to make use of your right to propose a suitable candidate whom you would like to see in a responsible function of our Association. Your nomination should be accompanied by a declaration of consent of the candidate together with a photograph and a short CV. It must reach the Secretariat in Allschwil/Switzerland not later than March 31st, 2010, so that we can present all candidates in the forthcoming issue of the Newsletter.

With the Rome event another change in personnel with far-reaching importance will take effect, namely the change in the management of the IAEAC Secretariat. Fortunately we could find a favorable solution which promises a smooth transition and continuity. You will be informed about that matter also by the next Newsletter.
What else is on in 2010? For the first time in our history we got offered the possibility to organize a symposium at PITTCON, next year held at Orlando/Florida (February 28th-March 5th, 2010). The topic will be „New Miniaturized Spectroscopic Techniques for Environmental Analysis“. Please, inform your friends and colleagues in the United States and Canada to make use of this opportunity to learn more about the IAEAC.
Another highlight in 2010 will be again the Montreux LC/MS Symposium, the 27th edition, which will be held November 8-12, 2010, in Montreux/Switzerland. The first steps into the organization of this great event are done and have already shown exciting results. Don't miss it!
Enough now of Association business. Rather soon Santa Claus is knocking at the doors, and you and me should be prepared to receive him properly, this means relaxed and with hectic and aggressive behavior left far behind. I wish you peaceful and enjoyable Christmas Days with many good moments for you and the ones around you, and a new year fulfilling a great bunch of your wishes.

Sincerely yours

(Dieter Klockow)

Minutes of the General Assembly of IAEAC
June 25th, 2008 in Gdansk, Poland
to download

PDF

IAEAC NEWSLETTER 2009
to download
PDF

Article published in IJEAC on the 20th
Anniversary of the death of Roland W. Frei
PDF

Taylor & Francis