help_outline Skip to main content
HomeFAQ Categories

FAQ

Click on an individual question to show / hide the answer for that particular question. Click the "collapse all / expand all" links to display the content for all questions. Click the "search" link to search for text or tags.
Expand All Collapse All Search FAQ
Who are the CNIRS officers and board members?
Officers
President -Nanning Cao

Secretary - Steve Delwiche

Treasurer - Susan Foulk 

Past President -Benoit Igne

Board Members

Zhenqi (Pete) Shi
David McIntosh
Dongsheng Bu
Igor Kovalenko
Ryan Lerud

Newsletter Editor
Gary E. Ritchie
What is IDRC?
IDRC is the International Diffuse Reflectance Conference.  The IDRC had its beginnings in 1982 as organized by Gerry Birth.   Gerry's original idea was to hold the conference as a Gordon Conference, but the Gordon Conference people didn't consider the content to be of sufficient scientific merit. So Gerry organized it on the same theme as a Gordon Conference, with morning and evening sessions and free afternoons. The afternoons originally were the time when informal meetings were held, often by people who had gotten into a good discussion over lunch. There are other afternoon activities (volleyball, golf, PYOT race) in addition to the occasional workshop. 

The conference is held on the even years in early August.  The location is at Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA.  
Who are the IDRC organizers?
Each IDRC has a conference chairperson responsible for the overall conference.  The chair delegates work to various people / committees.  For 2018:
  • Chair -Charles Hurburgh
  • Short Courses -Art Springsteen, Steve Delwiche
  • Exhibit - Howard Mark
  • Shootout - Benoit Igne
  • Awards - Nancy Cao, Benoit Igne
  • Posters -
Who are the previous Gerald S. Birth award winners?
The Gerald S. Birth award has been presented since 2004.  It is awarded every two years for an outstanding publication describing innovation in diffuse reflection or diffuse transmission spectroscopy.  The award is administered by the CNIRS and sponsored by Unity Scientific in memory of Gerald Birth.  The late Dr. Birth was the founder of the IDRC.  Dr. Birth also made many contributions to instrument technology related to diffuse reflection.
2004 Peter R. Griffiths
2006 Yukihiro Ozaki
2008 James Burger
2010 David H. Burns
2012 Michael L. Myrick
2014 Donald J. Dahm
 2016 Eric B. Brauns