In the world of scientific publishing, AGU is a mold breaker. Each year, AGU publishes more than 6000 original research and review articles across 20 highly respected, peer-reviewed scientific journals covering the Earth and space sciences. I am proud to announce a new addition to this suite of publications: Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists, an initiative that was created as part of AGU’s Centennial celebration.

A Gold Open Access collection of memoirs, essays and insights, Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists will occupy a unique niche in AGU’s publishing spectrum. On its pages, AGU Fellows and other invited authors will have the opportunity to reflect upon important scientific discoveries, advances, and events in Earth and Space science. The work of AGU’s Fellows represents what Earth and space science can achieve and their voices and stories will inspire future generations of scientists. As AGU members well know, scientific advances are made by committed scientists and teams who face many challenges on their path to achievement. Thus, the personal stories in Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists will help reveal the values and the humanity of prestigious scientists and provide insights into what drives them.

Michael Wysession, Professor of Earth & Planetary Science, Washington University in St. Louis will serve as Editorial Chair of the publication. About his new role, Dr. Wysession observed that “in the spirit of AGU’s 100th Anniversary, it is fitting that we should provide an opportunity to look back at our rich history and highlight some of the amazing accomplishments and scientific journeys of our honored geoscientists. Even more important, however, is to look forward to the next 100 years of AGU and to make these stories available as a source of inspiration for our young scientists as they carve out their own journeys and accomplishments.”

AGU will collect and share Perspectives from our Fellows on an on-going basis – creating a lasting body of work that reveals the story of Earth and space science and the people who have contributed to its advancement. Telling the stories of the people and the achievements of the past is a critical part of understanding the possibilities of the future, inspiring the world to see the value of science and making the connections needed to drive sustainable solutions for our future.

John Farrington, College of Fellows Steering Committee member and Dean, Emeritus, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution noted that “Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists will provide a much-needed venue for publication of articles with a storytelling flavor of the how, when, where and why of careers of AGU Fellows and invited contributors written for a general audience of Earth and space scientists. These articles will provide a broad range of insights about career approaches and trajectories, and the stories of important discoveries and advances that should be of use to students, postdocs, and early career scientists.”

As we work to build a diverse, inclusive and supportive workforce, we look to the inspirational voices and stories of the leaders who have paved the way connects people and bridges communities. This begins with the stories that will be shared in Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists. I am so excited to share this next journey with you.

Check out the Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists website. For questions, contact perspectives@agu.org.

The post Announcing “Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists” appeared first on From The Prow.

A Coronal Mass Ejection on 24 May 2010 seen by two STEREO spacecraft separated by about 120° in longitude; (left) STEREO‐A/COR2 and (right) STEREO‐B/COR2

One hundred years ago when AGU was founded there were still large unmapped places on our planet and the idea of a person stepping on the moon was a dream. Discovery and wonder have characterized the last 100 years of science as we learned the plates shift, the climate changes, and scientists are studying the Moon, Mars, and beyond in detail. Our species now has a global view of how our planet was formed, how it works, and humans’ role as a planetary process. This fundamental earth and space science has fostered technology we all depend on from GPS to Velcro and a global understanding of earth systems that have improved economic security, public health and safety around the globe. Looking forward earth and space science will be the science for the coming century informing the future of our species on this planet and exploration beyond.

As part of AGU’s Centennial celebration, we are publishing a special collection of papers across AGU journals, exploring where major research and discovery are needed to address fundamental questions in our understanding of Earth and the solar system.

These crucial Centennial topics range from the future of our dramatically changing polar regions to how climate change is affecting disease transmission, from improving earthquake prediction to understanding the amount of water in the Moon’s interior, from predicting weather on Mars to forecasting solar eruptions.

We are proud to announce that the first six papers of this Grand Challenge special collection have been published. They include:

Observing and Modeling Ice Sheet Surface Mass Balance By Jan T.M. Lenaerts et al.

A better understanding of the processes that affect the addition and removal of snow and ice at the top of ice sheets is critical to predicting future behavior of the ice sheets and their effect on sea level, Jan Lenaerts et al. write in Reviews of Geophysics. The authors suggest that, aided by new field, airborne, and satellite observations, improvements to regional-scale models in the past decade have allowed good simulations of ice sheet surface processes. The next step is to extend this knowledge to models that work at a global scale.

Thirty years of regional climate modeling: Where are we and where are we going next? By Filippo Giorgi

Over the past 30 years, regional climate models that allow for more focused analysis of climatic processes and change at regional to local scales have been able to handle ever more detailed and complex data. In a paper in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Filippo Giorgi, one of the pioneers of regional climate modeling, writes that there is still additional scope for regional climate models to be refined and developed further to improve the accuracy and reliability of projections of regional to local climate change. This information is needed for impact and vulnerability assessments, and scientists also need to be able to effectively explain the relevance of the models and data they produce to those responsible for making policy decisions and for implementing practical responses to climate change, he writes.

Forecasting the Structure and Orientation of Earthbound Coronal Mass Ejections By E.K.J. Kilpua

Nearly all strong and extreme space weather disturbances are caused by coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. Forecasting whether a given CME will impact the Earth and how severe the impact will be is essential for our society, but our ability to do so is currently quite modest, Emilia Kilpua et al. write in Space Weather. Improved space weather forecasts will require higher quality observations of CMEs and advanced modeling, according to the authors.

Extracting Auroral Key Local Structures from All-sky Auroral Images by Artificial Intelligence Technique By Qiuju Yang et al.

All-sky auroral imagers (ASIs) that record hundreds of millions of images of aurorae and other electrical activity in the ionosphere around the world are very important for studying space physics, but it is tedious to manually process the large amounts of data. Qiuju Yang et al. write in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics that researchers could use artificial intelligence techniques to automatically recognize and classify aurorae, significantly improving the field.

Forgotten Legacies: Understanding and Mitigating Historical Human Alterations of River Corridors By Ellen Wohl

Deforestation, agriculture, urbanization, altered topography, land drainage and river engineering cause imbalances in river networks, leading to a decline in animal and plant biodiversity and abundance. Understanding past alterations to river networks and their historical impacts will improve our management and restoration strategies, writes Ellen Wohl in Water Resources Research.

Please be sure to check out the in depth article in Eos, Forgotten Legacies: Understanding Human Influences on Rivers

Each of the dozens of topics addressed in the Grand Challenge special collection reviews the history of the topic and the current state of knowledge, while also focusing on the future by describing major unanswered questions and challenges, and discussing what is needed to provide solutions over the next decades.

The papers, which will continue to be published in the coming months, are free to access and are accompanied by additional information to make them accessible to the general reader. Many of the issues have a direct impact on or benefit to society. AGU will use the collection to showcase our science to policy makers, funders and the public.

Earth and space science can have an immeasurable impact on society, but only if it is valued and supported. By reading and sharing articles that are part of the Grand Challenge special collection, you can be part of a global effort to bring public attention to the value of science and accelerate the advancement of science. By reading and sharing articles, you can also be a part of a concerted effort to build support for scientific funding across governments and institutions around the world.

AGU’s commitment to continue pushing the boundaries of knowledge in the Earth and space sciences through these Grand Challenges publications — paired with strong public support for scientific research and collaboration — is essential to the research community’s ability to embark on the next transformative era of Earth and space science.

Editor’s Note: On 7/25, the article by Y. Fan et al. “Extracting Auroral Key Local Structures from All-sky Auroral Images by Artificial Intelligence Technique”  was erroneously identified as a Grand Challenge paper. It can now be found in JGR Space Physics. 

The post Scientists Tackle Grand Challenges In the Earth and Space Sciences In New Special Centennial-Themed Collection appeared first on From The Prow.

AGU CEO/Executive Director Chris McEntee

As we celebrate our Centennial year, AGU strives to promote and support the Earth and space sciences, and this includes increasing access to journal content. Starting 17 October, the AGU journal Space Weather: The International Journal of Research and Applications (SWE), devoted to the understanding and forecasting of space weather, will transition to an open access model with all articles accepted after that date accessible free of charge to readers. Space Weather will become a fully open access journal by January of 2020 when all articles will be freely accessible to read, download and share. The focus, aims, and scope of the journal will remain unchanged and the editorial team will continue to apply the same rigorous standards of peer review and acceptance criteria.

AGU is a proud supporter of open science, which seeks to make scientific research and its dissemination more accessible to all. Articles in open access publications are more widely read and used. With this shift, Space Weather will join AGU’s five fully open-access journals: AGU Advances, Earth’s Future, Earth and Space Science, GeoHealth, and Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems. In addition to increasing the number of open access journals to six, AGU has increased access to journal content including opening all papers within two years after publication for our subscription journals, offering open access options for all of our journals, allowing  authors to deposit accepted manuscripts into preprint servers including our own ESSOAr, and permitting authors to post the “version of record” into their institutional repository after six months. AGU currently has 100,000 freely available articles and our content is continuously expanding.

From its beginnings in 2003, Space Weather has featured a diversity of work, including the interactions of solar processes with the Earth environment; the impacts of these processes on telecommunications, electric power, satellite navigation; and comparisons of these types of interactions with the atmospheres of neighboring planets and Earth’s moon. Published by Wiley, papers include original research articles as well as feature articles and commentary.

“The recent growth in space-related and space-affected businesses highlights the need for space weather research to reach an even wider range of professionals. As such, it is natural that Space Weather becomes an open access journal to further expand and diversify its reach,” said Space Weather Editor in Chief Noé Lugaz. “This also better reflects the journal’s philosophy of making publicly funded research and privately collected data available to the largest possible population to enable research and advance our understanding of the causes and consequences of space weather.”

The post AGU’s Journal Space Weather to Become Open Access appeared first on From The Prow.

AGU CEO/Executive Director Chris McEntee

It is with mixed emotions that I am announcing that Chris McEntee, our CEO and executive director, has informed us that she will be departing AGU at the end of the first quarter of 2020.  During her tenure, her remarkable leadership has positioned AGU as the leading voice and convener of Earth and space science globally. She has led key initiatives that have increased the relevance and value of Earth and space science to humanity. As a result of Chris’s efforts, AGU is stronger than ever, is well positioned for a vibrant and successful future, is celebrating its centennial year, and is creating its next strategic plan. The organization is poised for continued success.

Although we had hoped Chris would stay with us longer, she has decided that now is the time for her to enter the next phase of her career and life and pursue a balance of professional and personal interests. We will miss her energy, commitment, and friendship, and we are sure she will continue as a strong advocate for our work in whatever future path she pursues. This is an opportunity to have a new CEO as an integral partner in guiding the priorities of the next strategic plan that will enable another century of discovery science and connecting our science with the needs of society.

AGU’s Board of Directors is now organizing the search process, which will be overseen by a committee that draws broadly from our community. As President, I will chair this search committee. More information about the process will be forthcoming in the next several weeks. In the meantime, Chris will continue to focus on the society’s business and strategic priorities and work with the board and staff to ensure a smooth transition.

Questions for now should be directed to me at president@agu.org. Thank you for your ongoing support of AGU and our global community of Earth and space scientists.

—Robin E. Bell, AGU President

The post AGU CEO Announces Leadership Transition appeared first on From The Prow.

AGU CEO/Executive Director Chris McEntee

We are pleased to announce the inaugural Austin Endowment grantees, 15 student recipients who represent the diversity, depth, and breadth of the Earth and space science community. Last October, AGU kicked off the Austin Student Travel Grant Challenge, a historic campaign intended to grow AGU’s capacity to support student travel to meetings. Scientist and AGU Development Board member Jamie Austin pledged to match all donations made by AGU membership and the Earth and space science community to the Austin Endowment for Student Travel up to the amount of $1 million. AGU members, Board of Directors, Council, Development Board, Centennial Steering Committee, and staff took the challenge to heart, donating over 2,800 gifts totaling more than $410,000.

Each year, nearly 7,000 students attend AGU’s Fall Meeting. Many more would like to attend, but the expense of traveling to and registering for the meeting can be prohibitive. However, student applications for travel grant support to the Fall Meeting far exceed the number of available grants. Annually, student travel grant applications have grown to approximately 1,500 each year. AGU is currently able to support only 220 student travel grants each year. When complete, the Austin Student Travel Grant Challenge will permanently increase the number of grants awarded to students wishing to travel to Fall Meeting by 40%.

“I have been a member of AGU since the mid-1970s. I joined the Union as a graduate student. Nothing has been more important to me professionally through the decades than regular attendance at the Fall Meeting,” said Jamie Austin. “In these challenging times for scientific research, an investment in the next generation is paramount. I urge all of you to join me in getting a larger cohort of young scientists to the Fall Meeting. They are our future.”

As AGU Development Board chair Carlos A. Dengo noted, “Fall Meeting is much more than an annual science meeting. It is the largest annual gathering of international Earth and space scientists in the world where researchers who span generations and scientific disciplines join together to advance the scientific enterprise. It is a place where a young scientist can hear about the latest work of leading researchers in their field and also present their own work—some for the first time—to their peers. It is a place where lifelong professional connections and relationships, some of which influence their professional careers, are built and strengthened. It is a place to discover career opportunities and find support. Virtually nowhere else can a young scientist—or for that matter a scientist of any age or career stage—experience all of these opportunities in one place.”

This year’s grantees hail from seven countries and represent the wide spectrum of the Earth and space sciences, including atmospheric sciences, biogeosciences, hydrology, paleoceanography and paleoclimatology, space physics, and aeronomy. Grantees are in all stages of their education, with undergraduate, graduate, and Ph.D. students represented among the cohort.

“I am delighted to receive the Austin Student Travel Grant. It has actually made my decision of attending the Fall Meeting 2019 more firm. The grant I have received will help me cover my expenses and aid me financially,” said Nirashan Pradhan, a student at St. Xavier’s College, Maitighar, Kathmandu, Nepal. “I hope to learn a lot more and be exposed to other areas of science. It is a huge opportunity for me.”

“Becoming one of the fortunate recipients for an Austin Student Travel grant is very exciting! My decision to attend AGU this year was already determined, but I am grateful to now have financial help to assist me with getting to San Francisco,” said Jonese Pipkin, a student at University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

For Antonia Fritz, a student at the University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany, the Austin Student Travel Grant “means that I can actually attend the world’s largest conference for environmental scientists this year! The AGU Fall Meeting also opens up many opportunities for me including getting to know new fields of research in the environmental sciences, especially atmospheric sciences, which I may not yet have properly heard of and to find out which research questions fascinate me the most. I will also use AGU Fall Meeting to get to know scientists from all over the world, to learn from their experiences, and to benefit from their knowledge.”

As climate change and other challenges facing humanity become ever more pressing and the scientific enterprise continues to be under attack, the fact-based solutions provided by Earth and space scientists are more important than ever. To help turn this tide, I can think of no better way to do this than by supporting AGU’s Austin Endowment for Student Travel, which helps ensure that young Earth and space scientists entering the field become connected to our members and our community.

As we enter the final stretch of Jamie Austin’s challenge, I urge you to remember your first Fall Meeting and remember the excitement you felt, the opportunities you learned about, and the relationships that you built. Act now and double your impact by making a donation to the Austin Endowment for Student Travel of any amount that will support the next generation of Earth and space scientists. Thank you for your support thus far, and know that your efforts are making a difference to the future of Earth and space science.

The post First Class of Austin Student Travel Endowment Grantees Awarded appeared first on From The Prow.

AGU is pleased to announce that its individual members will have free access to all of our digitized journal content through 1996, some of which go back more than 100 years, effective in January 2020.

In January 2020, access to the “AGU Digital Library” will be a membership benefit. We thank our publishing partner, Wiley, for their support in extending this benefit. AGU journal content starting in 1997 is already available for free access 2 years after the publication date, as described here.

It is also special to all of us at AGU that this announcement is made during our Centennial celebration.

Through the AGU Digital Library, AGU members will be able to analyze the history (or even the origin) of a finding; review classic papers, for example, showing the development of plate tectonics and exploration of the moon and other planets; or re-read their first published paper. These PDFs of papers will be a treasure trove of information and valuable resources for all AGU members. The Digital Library includes many thousands of papers published in Journal of Geophysical Research (starting in 1897), Geophysical Research Letters, Tectonics, Water Resources Research, Paleoceanography.

AGU will also continue to offer a free book annually as another member offering.

Today’s announcement is only the latest example of AGU’s support of open science. Additional offerings include:

• 6 open access journals;
• Opening all papers within two years of publication;
• Offering open access publication options for all AGU journals;
• Allowing authors to deposit accepted manuscripts into preprint servicers;
• Open sharing for major media and researchers;
• Permitting authors to post the “version of record” into their institutional repository after six months; and
• ESSOAr—The Earth and Space Science Open Archive (ESSOAr), a community server where scientists can share early research including preprints and posters presented at major scientific meetings.

We will alert people when this benefit is officially available via social media and AGUniverse. You may also check your member profile page, where a link will be provided for access.

If you already purchased an individual subscription for 2020, please contact service@agu.org to receive a refund. This offer is not applicable to institutions or organizations.

The post AGU Digital Library: 2020 Added Membership Benefit appeared first on From The Prow.

In a revised climate position statement released today, based on the overwhelming research and scientific evidence, AGU is declaring the world to be in a climate crisis. In a concurrent updated data position statement, AGU describes scientific data as a world heritage and calls for a culture that supports, enables, and nurtures data that is equitable, accessible, and ethical.

AGU position statements articulate the views of our community on key issues, help inform the organizational stance on timely policy issues, and are referenced by the media, policymakers, and other Earth and space science organizations. Every four years, AGU’s Position Statement Committee reviews the existing statements and decides which should be reaffirmed, retired, or revised. It also considers any proposals for new position statements that our members may have submitted.

In 2019, the Position Statement Committee decided that that our understanding of the science and impacts of climate change and how to treat scientific data and promote open science had evolved significantly enough to require revisions of AGU’s stance on these issues. Two writing panels and panel chairs were chosen—one for data and one for climate change—with an eye toward diversity of expertise, geography, career stage, and gender. Those panels worked through the summer to prepare draft texts of the new statements. Feedback from AGU members was solicited and received in September and October, and the committees considered the hundreds of comments received in preparing the final position statements. In November, after a review by the Position Statement Committee, the AGU Council and then the AGU Board approved both revised position statements.

We decided to release the two position statements to coincide with the opening day of AGU’s Fall Meeting 2019, which is occurring simultaneously with the United Nations Climate Convention Conference of the Parties (COP25) in Madrid, Spain. Today, climate writing panel members Donald Boesch and Robert Kopp and I met with reporters in the Fall Meeting press room to talk about the new statements.

Climate Position Statement: “Society Must Address the Growing Climate Crisis Now”

The revised climate position statement opens: “Immediate and coordinated actions to limit and adapt to human-caused climate change are needed to protect human and ecological health, economic well-being, and global security.”

The position statement lays out, as succinctly as possible since the process requires a two-page limit, the Challenge, the Evidence, the Predictions, the Consequences, and the Needed Responses to the climate crisis. It emphasizes the role of human activities in causing the impacts and related hardships associated with climate change, along with the need for serious action. It also states that “[D]one strategically, efficiently, and equitably, the needed transformations provide a pathway toward greater prosperity and well-being, while inaction will prove very costly for humans and other life on the planet…These actions must involve individuals, communities, businesses, governments, acting at local, regional, national, and global scales.”

Also, regarding our role as the scientific community: “Scientists and engineers must continue to engage with policy makers, communities, businesses, and the public to undertake solution-oriented research and analysis. Scientific institutions, including academia and governmental agencies, should expand and prioritize their support for research, application, and knowledge dissemination to address the climate crisis.”

Significant progress has been made in our understanding of current and past climate change since the previous climate position statement was adopted in early 2013, and there have also been major international discussions and agreements. The 15 scientists on AGU’s climate panel decided to frame the new statement around the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) goals of keeping temperature increases to no more than 2 degrees Celsius by mid-century. The resulting statement describes the challenges and needed responses to meet those goals, by accurately explaining the evidence, predictions, and both near term and future consequences of the climate crisis. The term “climate crisis” was chosen and discussed deliberately, because as one panel member explained, “if this isn’t a crisis, I don’t know what is.” However, the panel strived to highlight the hope and myriad opportunities that come by standing together to pursue climate action.

The statement can be found here.

We also thank the climate panel members:

• Donald Boesch (Chair), University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
• Amy Snover, College of the Environment, University of Washington
• Bob Kopp, Rutgers University
• David Easterling, National Climatic Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• Drew Shindell, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
• Scott Mandia, Suffolk Community College
• Gerald Meehl, Climate Change Research Center, National Center for Atmospheric Research
• Heidi Cullen, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
• John Balbus, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
• Mele Wheaton, Stanford Woods Institute of the Environment, Stanford University
• Scott McGrane, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow (United Kingdom)
• Susan Trumbore, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (Germany)
• Thomas Knutson, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, NOAA

Data Position Statement – “Supporting Data as a World Heritage”

AGU’s revised statement on data reaffirms that “Earth and space science data are a world heritage, and an essential part of the science ecosystem.” The statement calls upon all those engaged in advancing the scientific enterprise—from researchers, to funders, to institutions—to take measures to “ensure that relevant scientific evidence is processed, shared, and used ethically, and is available, preserved, documented, and fairly credited.”

The revised statement also provides best practices for working with and sharing data, methodologies to balance data accessibility with preservation, and a basic framework designed to drive a culture change with respect to data management in the Earth and space science community through comprehensive community education and training.

In view of the immense changes in data generation, processing, and availability over the past four years since the AGU data position statement was last revised, the panel faced a major task in its rewrite. They decided to broaden the scope of the statement, because of the importance and interconnection with data, software, samples, materials, and research workflows making the topic increasingly complex. By focusing on the larger data ecosystem, the panel wanted to make the point that data doesn’t stand alone. The resulting statement focuses on three key sections: working with and sharing data, enabling a robust data ecosystem, and the need for real culture change around data.

The statement can be found here.

We also thank the data panel members:

• Kathy Fontaine (Chair), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Wade Bishop, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• Helen Glaves, UK Research and Innovation (United Kingdom)
• Simon Goring, University of Wisconsin–Madison/ University of British Columbia (Canada)
• Jessica Hausman, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Simon Hodson, Committee on Data for Science and Technology (France)
• Sarah Jones, Digital Curation Centre (Scotland)
• Mark Parsons, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Pedro Luiz Pizzigatti Corrêa, University of São Paulo (Brazil)
• Julian Reyes, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Karen Stocks, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• Elisha Wood-Charlson, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The post AGU Revises Climate and Data Position Statements: Declares World in Climate Crisis and Reaffirms Data as a World Heritage appeared first on From The Prow.

When I announced I would be leaving AGU in October 2019, 31 March seemed so far away. But now that it’s only a few days from now, I realize time flew by so quickly!

With the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, I know many of us are spending more time with our loved ones and reflecting on what is important. I am fortunate that my family and friends – including all of you and the team at AGU – are doing well.

In fact, AGU’s staff have not missed a beat and have been working overtime to keep things moving forward. AGU is facilitating knowledge and resource sharing for teaching online, adapting publications deadlines for those impacted and encouraging the use of ESSOAr as a virtual poster hall for Earth and space science conferences that have been canceled or postponed. We also created a Google doc so that anyone can donate or add local drop-off/pick-up details for PPE so they get into medical professionals hands ASAP.

We’ve also heard from many of you about how you are adapting classes and field trips to be done virtually, setting up home offices to continue your work and looking for innovative ways to collaborate with colleagues. Please continue to share how you are coping during this time so others can benefit from what you are learning.

I am fortunate to have a few moments to reflect on my near decade of serving as AGU’s Executive Director and CEO. While I am saddened that we must fight this pandemic, it also serves as a reminder of how invaluable science is going to be in the future. It is also heartening to remember that the reason we are all staying at home is so that the most vulnerable are hopefully able to avoid contact with anyone who is affected with COVID-19 and to keep the healthy from overwhelming the medical community.

The world is taking this step because people trust science. And we need to be good stewards of this trust because we need everyone around the world to take more steps to protect the Earth and its environment. I know that the strength and perseverance of our Earth and space science community is integral to getting us through this time, and AGU will continue to advance science, as we have done for the past 100 years.

Pride in what we have accomplished
Over the past decade, AGU has helped to advance the depth and breadth of the scientific fields encompassed by our Earth and space science community. New sections, journals and meeting topics were formally introduced, such as GeoHealth, education and science and art.

There’s also been greater support for open science and open data. For example, AGU has been a leader in the Enabling FAIR Data project. We’ve also expanded open access options[PDF], such as making 96% of our content free and making all new journals, including our new flagship AGU Advances, open access.

AGU has been a leader in improving the culture within the science community. We were the first scientific society to declare harassment and bullying scientific misconduct, akin to plagiarism. We’ve also put community science front and center to help develop solutions to local issues through initiatives like the award-winning Thriving Earth Exchange.

Excitement for the future
As we speak, AGU leaders on the Board and Council are developing our new strategic plan that will guide us through the next decade. The strategic plan envisions how AGU will serve as the global scientific society that represents and defines what it means to be a responsible scientist.

AGU has the challenge and opportunity to continue to shape Earth and space science into a culture that embraces and supports both fundamental deep discovery and values acceptance and inclusion of voices outside the core Earth and space science disciplines. Together with all of you, we built the foundation so that communities around the world use science-based information to make informed decision to solve societal grand challenges. We will continue to support scientists who are undertaking fundamental and multi- and transdisciplinary research as well as those who want to engage in scientific careers outside academia.

We also see an opportunity for AGU to lead our community in rising above the geopolitical barriers that could stall scientific innovation and progress, while also valuing the courage it takes to continue leading, advancing, innovating, experimenting, convening and collaborating.

This is the course that AGU has charted. Future scientists will look back again in 100 years and be proud of our visionary foresight.

Parting thoughts
During last month’s Ocean Sciences Meeting in San Diego, Calif., I was inspired by our plenary speaker, Nainoa Thompson. Nainoa is best known as the first Hawaiian to practice the ancient Polynesian art of navigation since the 14th century without the aid of western instruments. The theme of his speech was how humanity and society can thrive when science, technology, culture and values exist in a symbiotic relationship.

Nainoa hit on the point of what AGU is looking to accomplish through our next strategic plan. We want to express that science is essential and can only be held back when isolated from the knowledge, experience, values, insights and viewpoints of others.

We, as humans, still have much to learn and understand about our Earth and other planetary systems. We have allies around the world who want to work with us. That’s why Earth and space science is the science of the 21st century. Science, especially your science, is integral to humanity’s future.

Thank you for the opportunity to work alongside all of you and to be a part of this community for the last ten years. It has been my honor.

The post The State and Future of AGU appeared first on From The Prow.

[Editor’s Note: This morning, AGU sent the following email to its members. We wanted to make sure everyone received the information, so we posted it here too.]

By: Robin Bell, Board President and Susan Lozier, Board President-Elect and Council Chair

Thanks to input from many of you and the rest of our members, AGU has a new strategic plan that sets the vision for the future of Earth and space science and our community by accelerating both discovery and solution-based science.

Fundamental to everything AGU does now and reflected in our new strategic plan are our values of integrity, respect, diversity, collaboration and education and outreach. These are not new to any of us – the strategic plan cements their importance.

With AGU’s new definition, vision and mission, we are thinking beyond our current collaborators to develop ideas, generate research and lead to action.

AGU’s three strategic goals will help serve as our guiding lights when we navigate these new paths:

1. Goal 1: Catalyze discovery and solutions to scientific and societal challenges.
2. Goal 2: Promote and exemplify an inclusive scientific culture.
3. Goal 3: Partner broadly with other organizations and sectors to effectively address scientific and societal challenges.

Collectively, AGU has been working through the strategic plan for almost two years, when the board and council started with a lot of data and information on the trends in politics, economics and culture. While no one predicted our current situation, we discussed what would happen around the globe if there was a rise in nationalism and how would this impact international collaboration.

We continued working internally and externally to AGU to solicit ideas and suggestions for the future of our community with member activities, focus groups and surveys. This served as the basis of our four scenarios where we mapped what could happen if the public’s levels of trust in science were high or low as well as how science would progress if it was closed and competitive or open and collaborative.

We combined all of this work and shared our drafts at various in-person and virtual gatherings, from Fall Meeting to our board and council meetings to spontaneous one-on-one and group discussions and surveys.

This was the easy part. Now, the real work begins with developing the tactical plans of how we accelerate the strategic plan to broaden the understanding and value of Earth and space sciences.

Over the next few months (and years), we will solicit your ideas and suggestions for how we achieve our ambitious, yet achievable strategic plan. We will also be calling on you to lead or participate in various efforts.

We are at the precipice of a movement and that will affect and effect not only this current generation, but future generations. If we do this right, we will catapult Earth and space science to the next level where people truly consider their actions for how it will impact our delicate ecosystem.

Let’s work together to make the vision we have for the strategic plan into our reality.

We need YOU.

The post AGU Announces New Strategic Plan appeared first on From The Prow.

By: AGU President Robin Bell and AGU President-elect Susan Lozier

We are excited to announce Randy Fiser will be AGU’s CEO and executive director, effective 17 August 2020.  

Randy was the clear choice for this position because he is passionate about AGU’s mission and vision, has a demonstrated ability to creatively lead organizations and shares AGU’s commitment to advancing diversity and inclusion. Randy is a skilled executive with strong collaborative and administrative skills, has a proven track record of working with membership organizations to advance their mission and has worked throughout his career to advance sustainability practices and goals. 

Photo credit: Cedric Terrell

Randy is eager to work with the AGU community to build upon the last 100 years of scientific advances by expanding both discovery and solution-based sciences through new partnerships. Like all of us, he recognizes the challenges and opportunities presented by the pandemic. He is motivated to work with the AGU community to ensure that future global challenges are met with a stronger foundation for decisions based on sound science.  

Randy joins us from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) where he was the CEO and president. By creating values-based messaging on the impact of design, Randy turned ASID into a leading professional society. During his eight-year tenure, his accomplishments included:  

• grew membership, non-dues revenue and the awareness of organization with the community.  
• developed new conferences and programs based on gaps in the community’s needs.
• repositioned the organization as a thought leader through strategic alliances and partnerships.  

ASID’s headquarters are the world’s first WELL and LEED Platinum office. As president and CEO, Randy worked with scientists and engineers as well as interior designers to install features in the headquarters to improve productivity, engagement and staff retention, all of which ultimately enhanced the organization’s visibility. We are confident that he will be impressed with our award-winning building as the first net zero renovation in D.C.! 

Julie Freeman and Randy will be working closely to ensure a smooth transition along with the senior team. I know that we, along with the AGU staff, appreciate Julie’s leadership during this time.  

We are grateful to the search committee who donated a lot of time and energy to find the best person to move the Earth and space sciences community forward.  

• Eric Davidson, AGU Past President, Board member 
• Carol Finn, AGU Past President 
• Greg Goldsmith, early career 
• Michele Koppes, Cryosphere section president-elect, Council member, mid-career 
• Rick Murray, Board member
• George Tsoflias, past Near Surface Geophysics section president, past Council member & past Leadership Development/Governance Committee member
• Susan Lozier, AGU President-elect, Board member & Council chair
• Robin Bell, AGU President, Board member 

We will soon share some opportunities so you can get to know Randy and welcome him aboard. Please leave welcoming comments for Randy (and the world) to see below.   

The post AGU’s next CEO and Executive Director will be Randy Fiser appeared first on From The Prow.