この度、日本海水学会の会長職を、前任の上ノ山先生から引き継ぐことになりました九州大学の後藤です。どうかよろしくお願い申し上げます。
日本海水学会は、1950年に設立された日本塩学会を母体とし、1965年にさらに対象領域を拡大して発足した伝統ある学会です。当学会は、海水を資源として取り扱う「資源科学分野」、海水と地球環境との関わりを取り扱う「環境科学分野」、海水と生命活動との関わりを取り扱う「生命科学分野」によって成り立っています。この海水を、資源から生命科学まで幅広く捉える考え方は、欧米やアジア諸国の他の学会にはない日本独自のものであり、この理念を大切に、本学会のさらなる発展と活性化に尽力したいと考えております。そのための具体的な抱負を下記のように４つ掲げました。
1. 年会の対面開催の実現
コロナの発生から1年以上が経過し、コロナは収まるどころか、ますます世界中に猛威を振るっています。コロナの影響で、学会活動もこの1年で大きく変化しました。最大の変化は、間違いなくオンライン会議の普及です。今や誰でもオンラインソフトを使いこなす時代となりました。このような中、第72年会もオンライン開催となり実行委員の皆様の努力によって一定の成功を収めました。しかしながら、学会の最大の楽しみは、会員の皆さんが一堂に会して議論する年会ではないでしょうか。やはり、皆さんと親しく対面で、密な時間を過ごすことが、学会の重要な役目だと思います。来る第73年会では、是非とも大阪での年会開催を実現させたいと願っています。
2. 学会誌の充実とSSSTの発展
本会の学会誌は、これまで編集委員の皆様のご尽力で、大変魅力ある雑誌となっています。なかでも昨年、新たに論文誌として刊行されたSalt and Seawater Science & Technology(SSST)は、J-STAGEによるOpen Access化によって、原著論文へのアクセス数も増加しています。そこで今後は、本学会が有するこの２つの学会誌の役割分担を明確にし、それぞれをさらに充実させたいと考えています。会誌においては、これまで多くの優れた総説記事が紹介されてきました。特に、毎月のアクセス数ランキングを見ているとその上位は、食品科学の総説が多くを占めていることがわかります。この様な総説誌としての機能は本会誌の最大の特徴ですので、今後も魅力あるテーマで総説記事を発信することが重要だと考えます。一方で、論文誌のSSSTは、今後IFの取得が最大の目標になると思います。
3. 産学連携の強化とさらに魅力ある学会へ
学会というと主にアカデミア（大学研究者）の集まりと思われがちですが、海水学会には、現在多くの企業研究者も参画しています。これは、本学会の大きな特徴でもあります。産学連携の考えを大切にし、さらなる活性化を図ることが重要です。これまで、年会における企業からの発表は限られていましたが、さらに工夫を凝らして、多くの企業研究者が喜んで参加いただける学会にしたいと考えています。可能であれば産業部門委員会を設立し、アカデミアおよび企業会員の双方に有益な活動に発展させたいと思います。
4. 若手会の活性化と次世代人材の育成
2001年の福岡の年会で発足した若手の会は、海水学会に取って、今や大きな財産になっています。最近では、毎年若手会の研究発表会が開催され、その活動も活発化しています。いずれの学会も団塊の世代の引退に伴い会員の減少が目立ってきており、次を担う若手の育成が急務となっています。本会も若手の育成のために惜しまず予算をつぎ込んで、次世代の人材育成に注力したいと考えています。一方で、定職を引退されたシニア世代の活用も重要と考えます。会誌を利用して、これまでの貴重な知識や経験を次の世代に残して頂くことも一案かと思っています。
皆様と一緒にこれから本会の発展に尽力していきたいと思いますので、どうか強力なご支援をお願い申しあげます。
I am Masahiro Goto of Kyushu University, and I took over the presidency of The Society of Sea Water Science, Japan from the previous president, Prof. Kaminoyama. I look forward to working with you.
The Society of Sea Water Science, Japan is a traditional academic society that was established in 1965 by expanding the scope of its activities from The Japan Salt Society, which was founded in 1950. Our society is composed of the "Resource Science", which deals with seawater as a resource, the "Environmental Science", which deals with the relationship between seawater and the global environment, and the "Life Science", which deals with the relationship between seawater and life activities. This broad view of seawater, from resources to life sciences, is unique to our society in Japan and not found in other societies in Europe, the U.S., or Asia, and I would like to devote myself to the further development and revitalization of this society, keeping this philosophy in mind. I have set forth four specific aspirations for this purpose, as follows.
1. Realization of Face-to-Face Annual Meeting
More than a year has passed since the outbreak of COVID-19, and instead of subsiding, the corona virus is increasingly raging around the world. As a result, conference activities have changed dramatically over the past year. The biggest change is undoubtedly the proliferation of online meetings. Nowadays, everyone is familiar with online software. In this context, the 72nd Annual Meeting was also held online, and thanks to the efforts of the organizing committee, it was a certain success. However, I believe that the most enjoyable part of the conference is the annual meeting where all the members gather together to discuss. I believe that it is an important role of the society to spend a close and intimate time with you face to face. I hope that the upcoming 73rd Annual Meeting will be held in Osaka.
2. Enhancement of the Journal and Development of SSST
Thanks to the efforts of the editorial board members, the journal of the Society has become a very attractive publication. In particular, Salt and Seawater Science & Technology (SSST), which was newly published as a journal last year, has seen an increase in the number of accesses to original papers thanks to the Open Access system on J-STAGE. In the future, we would like to clarify the division of roles between these two journals and further enhance each of them. In the journal, many excellent review articles have been introduced so far. In particular, the monthly ranking of the number of accesses shows that many of the top articles are reviews on food science. This function as a review journal is one of the most important features of our journal, and we believe it is important to continue to publish review articles on attractive themes. On the other hand, I think the main goal of SSST as a new journal will be to obtain IF status in the future.
3. Strengthening Industry-Academia Collaboration and Making the Society More Attractive
Many people tend to think of academic societies as gatherings of mainly academics (university researchers), but many corporate researchers are currently participating in our activities. This is one of the main features of our society. It is important to value the idea of industry-academia collaboration and to further revitalize it. In the past, the number of presentations from companies at the annual meeting has been limited, but we would like to make further efforts to make the meeting a conference that many company researchers would be happy to attend. If possible, I would like to establish an industrial division committee to develop activities that are beneficial to both academia and corporate members.
4. Revitalization of the Young Researchers' Association and Training of Next Generation Talent
The Young Scientists Society, which was established at the 2001 Annual Meeting in Fukuoka, has become a great asset for our society. Recently, the Young Scientists Society has been holding research presentations every year, and its activities are becoming more and more active. With the retirement of the baby boomers, the number of members of all societies has been decreasing, and there is an urgent need to nurture the next generation of young people. Our society also wants to devote its budget to the development of young people and focus on fostering human resources for the next generation. On the other hand, we also believe that it is important to utilize the senior generation who have retired from their regular jobs. I think it would be a good idea for them to leave their valuable knowledge and experience to the next generation by using our magazine.
I look forward to working with all of you for the development of our society, and I ask for your strong support.
July, 2021
日本語
English