Towards a Global Geoscience Initiative – AGU 2009 Town Hall Meeting

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Meeting Summary

AGU Town Hall Meeting: Thursday 17 December 2009 at 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Moscone West, Room 2004, San Francisco, CA.

Chairs: Edmund Nickless (Geological Society of London) and Pat Leahy (American Geological Institute)

Speakers:

• Donald J. Depaolo, (Director, Earth Sciences Division, University of California/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) - The Grand Research Questions in the Solid-Earth Science
• Mark D. Zoback, (Benjamin M. Page Professor of Earth Science and Professor of Geophysics, Stanford University) - Scientific Challenges Related to Energy and the Environment.
• Marcia K. McNutt, (Director, US Geological Survey) - Challenges and Opportunities for Research in the Oceans.

Dr. Depaolo summarized a report from a review group of the US National Research Council which he had chaired. His presentation discussed ten research questions that need to be addressed by the geoscience community and covered topics as diverse as the origin of Earth to climate dynamics. The presentation provided an outstanding overview of major research questions all of which are certainly global in nature.

The major thrust of Dr. Zoback’s presentation dealt with maintaining the demand for energy while at the same time reducing climate change specifically carbon emissions. He presented an analysis of what could be expected if the energy mix changed relative to carbon capture and storage, the migration to an increase in natural gas and nuclear power, and practical view of the geologic, societal and economic constraints to these changes.

Dr. McNutt highlighted some the issues and challenges associated with developing infrastructure and the stability in near-shore environments, sea-level rise associated with both climate change and other causes, the potential impacts of ocean acidification, and the opportunities for scientific breakthroughs associated with microbial communities in the oceans.

The presentations were followed by an open discussion of potential global geoscience initiatives that included topical areas as well as issues associated with the conduct of global research efforts. A concern was that the geoscience community is fractured but what we understand about Earth history and processes is highly relevant to the resolution of a number of issues facing society. The challenge was to identify a topic or topics that would command the broad support of the geoscience community, be multidisciplinary and link with other scientific disciplines. The audience of about two dozen individuals represented an array of interests and included a number of individuals representing the international perspective.

In a wide ranging discussion the following main points were made:

• Should a global initiative should be promoted along outstanding scientific questions or aligned with major societal issues?
• Does the initiative need to be global in scope of observation or can global teams of scientists work together in an appropriate setting? A topical subject is carbon sequestration. Currently research efforts are thought to be fragmented. Perhaps a global effort would be desirable given the magnitude of the effort that is needed and given the diversity of geologic environments globally?
• Open data access was identified as an impediment that must be overcome to ensure global cooperation.
• One commentator identified the pace of change relative to research agendas as a concern. Global geoscience institutions may not be nimble enough to set priorities quickly and to implement and encourage global cooperation.
• The engagement of younger geoscientists was identified as a challenge. The recent Young-Earth Scientists Congress was seen as a fledging effort to address this concern.
• There was concern that we are not using technology (e.g. Web 2, Web3, etc.) effectively to encourage global allegiances or to broaden the dialogue concerning geoscience initiatives.
• One individual noted that the quality of leadership dialogue at the Copenhagen Climate Summit demonstrated the need for greater effort by geoscientists to educate and inform the public more effectively. Given this continuing challenge, the prospects of developing a robust global geoscience initiative may be in doubt or at best difficult. Another suggestion was that a global information portal for the geosciences is needed. Such an effort would enhance a better dialogue between the geoscience community and the public.
• In moving forward there was an urgent need to improve dialogue with the public, identifying issues of concern with the geoscientific community providing perspective.

As a final discussion point, the audience was asked if anyone thought the idea of a global geoscience initiative was a bad idea. All thought the concept worthy of further and broader exploration though the issue of how to bring this initiative to closure is problematic.

Edmund Nickless and P. Patrick Leahy 06 January 2010

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