The third official meeting of the U.S. National Assessment Synthesis Team (NAST) took place November 16-17 at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia. The meeting was chaired by Jerry Melillo and Tony Janetos.

The objective for the meeting was to make additional progress in developing the Synthesis Report outline based on comments that had been received on the Woods Hole draft. In addition, the next steps in drafting the Synthesis Report were outlined, including writing assignments and a timeline for the completion of the work.

The Synthesis Team Outline provided the framework for the meeting. Following the Woods Hole meeting in August, the outline was distributed broadly to National Assessment participants. Comments were then collated and redistributed to the Synthesis Team. These comments provided the basis for revising and further developing the outline.

Significant thought was given to interactions with the regional and sectoral teams. It was concluded that a NAST member should serve as liaison with each of the 6 "mega-regions" identified in the Synthesis Report and with each of the 6 cross-cutting issues (the five sectors
conducting assessments as well as Native Peoples/Native Homelands). This liaison will work with the regional and sectoral teams in developing the sections over the next few months to ensure that each was cohesive and fairly represented the issues and major impacts for the regions.

The next meeting of the National Assessment Synthesis Team is scheduled for April 12-14, 1999, in Annapolis, Maryland.