The Eastern Snow Conference (ESC) is a joint Canadian/U.S. organization founded in the 1940s originally with members from eastern North America. Today, Our members come from the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany, as well as North America. Our current membership includes scientists, engineers, snow surveyors, technicians, professors, students and professionals involved in operations and maintenance. The western counterpart to this organization is the Western Snow Conference (WSC), also a joint Canadian/US organization. Every fifth year or so, the ESC and WSC hold joint meetings.
At its annual meeting, the Eastern Snow Conference brings the research and operations communities to discuss recent work on scientific, engineering and operational issues related to snow and ice. The location of the conference alternates yearly between the United States and Canada, and attendees present their work by giving talks or presenting posters. Authors can choose to have their papers reviewed if they desire feedback on ways to improve the manuscript prior to publication in our yearly Proceedings of the Eastern Snow Conference Papers may also be submitted for a special annual ESC edition of the journal Physical Geography. These manuscripts are subject to a standard academic journal peer review process.
Volumes of the Proceedings can be found in libraries throughout North America and Europe; papers can also be found through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) in the United States and CISTI in Canada. The conference's proceedings are indexed in the Cold Regions Bibliography Project.
In recent years, the ESC meetings have included presentations on snow physics, management and hydrology, snow and ice loads on structures, river ice, winter survival of animals, remote sensing of snow and ice, glacier processes, snow science as a teaching tool and socio-political impacts of winter. The ESC encourages students to submit their work to Student Paper Competition which will also be considered for the general session.
The ESC and its annual meeting is kindly supported by a number of Corporate Members.
We have just started a $30 sustaining membership for those members who are unable to attend the Annual ESC Meeting, but would like a copy of the proceedings. For information please visit our organizational information page.