Scripps Institution of Oceanography and UCLA are among participants in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP-15), which began today (Dec. 7) in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Scripps will attend the conference as part of the UC Revelle Program on Climate Science and Policy. The conference is anticipated to produce a successor or companion emissions agreement to the 1998 Kyoto Protocol, the first commitment period of which expires in 2012. Delegates will publish a blog from the conference. The Scripps delegation includes:

• Tony Haymet, director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
• Victoria Fabry, professor of biological oceanography and visiting research associate
• Andrew Dickson, professor of marine chemistry
• Veerabhadran Ramanathan, distinguished professor of climate and atmospheric sciences
• Ray Weiss, distinguished professor of geochemistry
• Tamara Beitzel, student, Applied Ocean Science curricular group
• Brendan Carter, student, Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry curricular group
• Grant Galland, student, Marine Biology curricular group
• Kristina Pistone, student, Climate Science curricular group

UCLA's delegation includes several students hand-picked for a law class taught by Cara Horowitz, executive director of the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment. They include Jed Ela, Bianca Zambao da Silva, Dustin Maghamfar, Jesse Swanhuyser and Maya Kuttan. They too will be blogging on UC's environmental law blog Legal Planet and posting to their Facebook group page.

UC Santa Cruz sophomore Gemma Givens will attend the United Nations international conference on climate change as a "backpack journalist," reporting on events for a nonprofit youth sustainability network, SustainUS, and the Indigenous Environmental Network. Follow her on the It's Getting Hot in Here blog.

Daniel Kammen,  Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor of Energy at UC Berkeley, also is in attendance, posting on the Berkeley Blog.