This year, I decided to watch my carbon footprint so instead of driving to our off-the grid cabin for a long weekend, I took a bus. Bus connections are not perfect. So, the next thing I knew, I was standing in a museum looking at portraits of suffragettes and anti-suffragettes. The white dressed suffragettes stared … Read more
African American history and traditions are interwoven with themes of resilience, interconnectedness across generations, strength from spiritualty, and learning from direct experiences. As we celebrate Black History Month in February, I welcomed the opportunity reflect on my own personal and professional experiences, as well as those of other African American professionals, that might serve as … Read more
As many of you may know, AGU has been working for the past several years to understand how our science structure could be expanded to better enable people to collaborate and connect to others with shared interests and goals. The Affiliation and Engagement Task Force investigated a wide variety of options that might better serve … Read more
With a goal of making the latest research in Earth and space science more discoverable, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) recently conducted a contest that awarded cash prizes to Earth and space scientists and software developers who found the most interesting new ways to visualize scientific papers, presentations, and data presented at AGU’s annual Fall … Read more
By Eric Davidson, AGU President, Robin Bell, AGU President-elect, and Margaret Leinen, AGU Past President Science is strongest when a diverse set of voices are not only allowed, but encouraged, to share their perspectives and scientific ideas. Harassment and discrimination can negatively impact that diversity of voices and have no place in a research environment or … Read more
By Jasmine Crumsey, Ph.D., AGU Council Member, and Visiting Postdoctoral Scholar in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. “The overwhelming challenges we need to face today can’t be solved through incrementalism . . . What actually holds us back? Why aren’t we doing bigger things? The first answer is people and the perception of … Read more
On 21 August, 2017, a solar eclipse swept across North America. Many AGU members were observing this wonder of our universe using everything from cutting-edge instruments to cardboard glasses ordered online. How different the faces studying the geophysics are now than they were in 1878 when Maria Mitchell of Vassar College was explicitly not invited … Read more
Sue Webb, AGU International Secretary, Brooks Hanson, Director of Publications, Frank Krause, Chief Operating Officer, and I recently had the honor of representing AGU at the 35th Annual International Geological Congress (IGC) in Cape Town, South Africa. AGU hosted the Hot Topic Lounge at IGC which featured researchers presenting on breakthrough topics throughout the week. … Read more
Carol Finn, Eric Davidson and I stated in a recent post “Why Building Diversity in the Earth and Space Sciences Matters,” that “we cannot live up to all that our mission promises if the Earth and space science community is not representative of humanity.” AGU recognizes the important role we play and the obligation we … Read more
By Margaret Leinen, President, American Geophysical Union and Eric Davidson, President-elect, American Geophysical Union As an organization, AGU’s mission is to “promote discovery in Earth and space science for the benefit of humanity.” Humanity is without boundaries. Humanity is inclusive. Humanity represents us all. We cannot live up to all that our mission promises if … Read more