#AGU20 week 2 kicks off with a former astronaut, named lectures and COVID-19 sessions

Whew! The first day of the second week of #AGU20 was busy with scientific sessions, town halls, named lectures, union sessions and events.

Although sessions run throughout the day this week remember that you can see the sessions later on your own time, and the oral presentations and posters at any time. Here’s a brief recap of some :

• President Robin Bell announced the teams of “A Call for a Robust Anti-Racism Plan for the Geoscience,” led by Dr. Hendratta Ali and “No Time for Silence,” led by Dr. Vernon Morris were the 2020 Presidential Citation Recipients. 
• Leland Melvin then shared his inspirational story from college football to NASA astronaut to STEAM advocate during the Presidential Forum lecture. This was followed by a real-time “rap” up of the AGU meeting so far from Baba He will also be hosting the Virtual-ale Happy Hour on 8 Dec from 3-4 pm PT.
• Outstanding Student Presentation Award winners from Fall Meeting 2019 shared their research in lightning talks.
• Scientific sessions on COVID-19 and the impact of changes in the Earth system off, with many more COVID-19 sessions to come.
• A press conference examined the impacts of COVID-19 on people and the environment, as seen from space.
• Some other scientific session highlights include:
  • G002 – Continuous Measurements of Earth System Mass Change: GRACE, GRACE-FO, and Beyond III Posters
  • P001 – Enceladus: A Habitable World Beckons I
  • PP007 – Exploring the Evolution of the Earth System During the Miocene I
  • DI003 – Mantle Evolution, Dynamics, Chemistry, and the Role of the Transition Zone I
  • A019 – Dust in a Changing Climate: From Small-Scale Insights to Large-Scale Understanding II
  • S003 – Social Seismology: The Effect of COVID-19 Lockdown Measures on Global Seismic Noise II Posters
  • OS001 – Application of Remote Sensing to Coastal/Upwelling Regions I Posters
  • C001 – Arctic Coastal Dynamics: Rates, Impacts, Hazards, and Implications for the Future I
• 200+ people viewed a poster on reconstructing carbonate systems through geologic time.
• AGU TV is now live and the exhibit hall is open. Take a break between sessions and check them both out from the main lobby of the online meeting.
• There are too many excellent posters to share them all, but here are a few we heard about:
  • https://twitter.com/wonrobot/status/1335972773320155138
  • https://twitter.com/LorrayneMiralha/status/1336023276988952576
  • https://twitter.com/tanyaofmars/status/1334176253310590977
  • https://twitter.com/CoolCoasts/status/1334897043911806977
  • https://twitter.com/degorelick/status/1335970400300380160
• If you missed it, be sure to check out the Science Roll Call featuring members of AGU and guest friends from around the world.
• And on Twitter, Shersingh Joseph Tumber-Dávila, a PhD candidate at Stanford, is highlighting talks, posters and sessions throughout the meeting. Check it out!

 Some news coming out of #AGU20 includes:

• Women Are Still Not Heard in the Climate Policy Conversation. Eos, 7 December. A case study in Brazil points to a deep gender gap that still has to be bridged in the policymaking debate.
• Airless Exoplanet’s Mantle Could Flow in Halves. Eos, 7 December. With no atmosphere in the way, measurements of the planet’s surface temperature are the first observational constraints on mantle convection models for an exoplanet.
• Gravity Data Reveal Unexpected Antarctic Ice Variations. Eos, 7 December. A new analysis of long-term satellite records shows the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is unexpectedly dependent on fluctuations in weather. This study may improve models of how much sea levels will rise.
• Rise in Super Hot Fires are Killing Trees and Transforming Forests Across the West. KQED, 7 December. A new study from a research team with the U.S. Forest Service and UC Merced shows that an increasing number of these fires are highly severe — hot enough to kill nearly all of the trees, even in forests that are adapted to fire.
• Researchers explore COVID-19’s environmental impact. Space News, 7 December. Researchers are continuing to explore the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on Earth’s environment and to consider any implications for public policy.

And be sure to check out a special episode of the AGU podcast Third Pod from the Sun, featuring our #AGU20 plenary speaker Leland Melvin.

Note: not all recordings of live sessions may be available at the time of this post, but they will be available in the coming days. Please check the online platform for updates.