9424301 SPILHAUS In order to facilitate regional examinations of the causes and consequences of global change around the world, many nations have worked together to identify scientific issues and to develop plans for collaborative efforts to study and address problems. To facilitate these efforts, the International Geosphere- Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), and the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme (HDP) have established a Global Change System for Analysis, Research, and Training (START). START is an evolving system of regional research networks, each of which will consist of at least one regional research center and a number of regional research sites. Among the most developed of these networks is the Inter-American Institute for Global Change (IAI). Also under development are the European Network for Research In Global Change (ENRICH) and the Asian-Pacific Network for Glmbal Change Research (APN). In addition to encouraging and supporting the involvement of leading U.S. scientists in the IAI and other regional research networks, the federal agencies participating in the U.S. Global Change Research Program (US/GCRP) have sought to facilitate these valuable international collaborations by sponsoring the international START secretariat. For the past few years, operations of this activity have been supported by the Consortium for Interdisciplinary Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN). Changes in CIESIN's budget have forced it to focus on other activities, however, and as a result, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) will provide core support for START secretariat operations. Funding for these activities is provided by the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Department of Energy on behalf of all participating agencies in the US/GCRP. During its initial years of operation, the START secretariat has played an important rol e in building the international linkages necessary to increase the involvement in global change studies of researchers from around the world, and especially from developing nations. The regional research networks are at critical stages of development, and a strong START secretariat is essential to continue this essential work. AGU's sponsorship of the START secretariat should strengthen START's foundation and enable it to effectively attain its goals of promoting research on the regional origins and implications of global environmental changes and of enhancing indigenous scientific capacities for global change research.
