BOZEMAN, Mont. -- An international group of experts on subglacial Antarctic lakes will gather June 6 and 7 in Big Sky, Mont. The media is welcome to attend at no charge.

The meeting will be important given the recent release of the National Research Council's report on environmental and scientific stewardship during subglacial lake exploration, said organizer John Priscu of Montana State University. The authors of many new articles published in the journals Science and Nature will attend the meeting, as well as the head of the Russian Antarctic program who directs drilling efforts at Lake Vostok. Scientists from the United States, Russia, France, Belgium, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy will give updates on their Antarctic activities.

The Big Sky meeting brings together a subgroup of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, called the Subglacial Antarctic Lake Environments (SALE) group.

The media is invited to cover any of the sessions on June 6 and the morning of June 7, Priscu said. The meetings will be held at the Yellowstone Conference Center at the Big Sky Resort between Yellowstone National Park and Bozeman, Mont. The schedule is:

Wednesday, June 6:

• 9:30 to 9:40 a.m. -- Welcome and opening remarks.

• 9:45 to 10:30 a.m. -- U.S. National Research Council report.

• 10:30 to 11 a.m. -- Update and future plans of the Lake Vostok Drilling Program.

• 11 to 11:30 a.m. -- Open meeting.

• 11:30 a.m. to noon -- Update on Lake Ellsworth Program.

• Noon to 12:30 p.m. -- Report on France's SALE activities.

• 12:30 to 1 p.m. -- Modeling the Stability of subglacial lakes and episodic drainages.

• 1 to 2:30 p.m. -- Open meeting.

• 2:30 to 3 p.m. -- Update on Germany's SALE activities.

• 3 to 3:30 p.m. -- Update on Italy's SALE activities.

• 3:30
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