Science and society

Comets, Probes, and Gender Inequality In Science

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By Carol Finn, President, American Geophysical Union, Margaret Leinen, President-elect, American Geophysical Union, and Eric Davidson, Incoming President-elect, American Geophysical Union During the Rosetta probe’s successful deployment of Philae on Wednesday, a male European Space Agency scientist speaking for the project was captured by the TV cameras wearing a shirt that featured images of partially naked women. While he … Read more

Moments that Changed History – 9 December 2014

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In 59 BC, one of the earliest known newspapers, the Acta Diurna, is believed to have been founded by Julius Caesar. In 1450, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. In 1974, an online only publication, the News Report, was launched on the PLATO system – a predecessor to today’s internet – at the University of … Read more

AGU September Board Meeting: Boring, Not!

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Continuing what seems to be a trend, the AGU September Board meeting was both intellectually stimulating and inspiring. Every fall, the Board evaluates AGU’s progress in pursuit of our vision and goals. Last year, we asked staff to create a comprehensive plan to translate these goals into specific strategies and tactics, mapped over multiple years. … Read more

The Symphony that is AGU’s Fall Meeting

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A member of the Fall Meeting program committee examines a poster board during the planning meeting

By Denis-Didier Rousseau (École Normale Supérieure), Fall Meeting Program Committee Chair During the recent Fall Meeting Program Committee meeting, I had an opportunity to reflect on my first year as chair of this important group and I found that I have a new appreciation for everything AGU does to advance the Earth and space sciences. Planning … Read more

The Changing Face of Publishing at AGU

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A recent Eos article discussed how AGU’s data policy for publications is going to foster an even better understanding and increase the lasting impact of our Earth and space science research. In reading it, I was struck about how much of an impact the changes we are making in our publishing work enhance on our … Read more

Building Global Collaboration, One Relationship at a Time

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AGU leaders meet with JpGU leaders at AGU's headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Science is global, and international scientific collaboration is increasing. Solutions to the world’s most pressing problems require the efforts of the entire global scientific community, but how can individual scientists and organizations like AGU build, support, and participate in those efforts? As a post-doctoral fellow at the Geological Survey of Japan in the early 1990s, … Read more

The Value of Science and the Benefits of Investing

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chart displaying trends in federal r&d funding

As I sat down to compose this post, the irony of the situation was striking to me. A few weeks ago, AGU and NASA released a press statement regarding new findings of serious water decline in the Colorado River Basin, potentially posing an even greater threat to water availability in the West than previously thought. … Read more