In January 1949 the American Geographical Society, the Arctic Institute of North America, and the American Alpine Club jointly sponsored a series of meetings to discuss various aspects of glaciology. During the meetings Mr. Walter A. Wood showed a film dealing with the Arctic Institute’s expedition in 1948 to establish a research station and conduct glaciological studies on the névé of the Seward Glacier in the St. Elias Mountains of Alaska.

A conference to discuss various aspects of glaciological research was held. Representatives of the Society, the Arctic Institute, the Department of Geology at Columbia University, the United States Geological Survey, the Office of Naval Research, the Bureau of Mineral Research at Rutgers University, the Departments of Geology at Tufts and Lafayette Colleges, and the American Alpine Club attended.

Three prepared statements were presented. Mr. P. D. Baird, director of the Montreal Office of the Arctic Institute and Secretary of the International Commission on Snow and Ice, gave a report of the Oslo Meeting in 1948. Dr. Henri Bader of the Bureau of Mineral Research at Rutgers University and formerly of the Weissfluhjoch Snow and Avalanche Research Station, Switzerland (Forschungsinstitut Weissfluhjoch), spoke on “Current Trends in Glaciology.” Dr. Walter H. Bucher, Professor of Geology at Columbia University and President of the American Geophysical Union, discussed “Structural Features of Ice Bodies.”

Mr. Baird outlined the plans for a co-operative scientific expedition to Baffin Island in 1950, a feature of which will be the study of its ice cap, remarkable in that it occupies relatively low ground of little relief. Mr. Field described the Society’s Glacier Research Project, with its studies of the Juneau ice field in Alaska and the glaciers of Patagonia. He also spoke of the work of the Committee on Glaciers of the Section of Hydrology of the American Geophysical Union and its long-term programme to promote various glaciological studies.

The second half of the conference was devoted to a general discussion on many subjects. These may be divided into three wide groups: theoretical considerations, specific suggestions in regard to glaciological research in general, and comments on the current ice field researches in Alaska and the Yukon.