Canadian to Chair Big Science Committee

Gordon McBean will be the first Canadian president of the International Council for Science.

It’s official: a Canadian climate change scientist has been elected president of the International Council for Science. Gordon McBean, a professor at the University of Western Ontario, beat out an Italian rival candidate at the general assembly vote in Rome on Friday. The ICSU is tasked with determining which issues are of global scientific importance and developing workshops and research networks. McBean, whose Panel on Climate Change report won a Nobel Peace Prize, says he wants to focus research on environmental change and adaptation. He will be the first Canadian to lead the ICSU since its founding in 1931, and plans to host an ICSU conference in Canada in 2017.