UMass Amherst professor wins Tinker-Muse Prize

KUALA LUMPUR: The 2016 Tinker-Muse Prize was today awarded to Professor Robert DeConto of University of Massachusetts-Amherst for his outstanding work on past and future Antarctic climate and for research integrating geological data with modelling to reveal likely consequences for future sea level rise from ice sheet melt.
The US$100,000 unrestricted award was presented at the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Biennial Meetings and Open Science Conference which is being held from Aug 20 to Aug 30.
Malaysia is the first country in Asia to host such a conference.
DeConto, in the last fifteen years, has focused his work on the climate of Antarctica, the dynamics of ice sheets, and the sensitivity of the Antarctic Ice Sheets (and sea level) to conditions warmer than today.
The event, held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, had enabled Malaysia to conglomerate the world's attention on Antarctic's issues and provide an opportunity for scientists from various disciplines and countries to present their work, establish networks and become more involved in SCAR activities.
The main objective of SCAR is to conduct an administrative business at the SCAR conference, while the meeting includes three sets of meetings that occur consecutively in even numbered years.
SCAR is a committee of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and it is charged with the initiation, promotion and coordination of scientific research of the Antarctica.