Professor joins Arctic commission
President Barack Obama has appointed James J. McCarthy, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, to the U.S. Arctic Research Commission (USARC). McCarthy joins the Honorable Edward Saggan Itta of Alaska as the only two new appointments to the independent federal agency. “James McCarthy has been recognized internationally for his fundamental contributions to oceanography and Arctic science,” said Fran Ulmer, current chair of the USARC. “I am pleased that the president has appointed two extremely well-qualified individuals to the commission. Both gentlemen will undoubtedly bring great expertise and valuable perspectives to our work.” “No place on Earth is changing faster than the Arctic,” McCarthy said. “How Arctic warming affects weather in adjacent regions across North America and Eurasia is an important and increasingly timely research question. Summer sea ice is melting faster than could have been expected only a few years ago, with new records set just this year,...