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October 10, 2019
National Science Board highlights Skilled Technical Workforce shortage in new report
On 12 September, the National Science Board (NSB) released its latest report during a well-attended briefing on Capitol Hill. As the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) governing body, the NSB plays a critical role in looking broadly at trends in the science and technology (S&T) enterprise and provides recommendations to NSF on how to invest its portfolio. The NSB’s latest set of recommendations are presented in The Skilled Technical Workforce: Crafting …
May 31, 2016
Geoscience research essential to national security, experts say
By Lauren Lipuma WASHINGTON, DC — Government investment in basic science research is critical to protecting U.S. national security, according to a group of government and academic researchers. Basic geoscience research has helped the U.S. develop nuclear weapons experts, protect satellites from space weather and manage critical water supplies, scientists said during a recent congressional briefing on Capitol Hill. The May 12 briefing highlighted national security as an important, but …
February 16, 2016
The Science Policy Scene in 2016
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has many exciting science policy events scheduled throughout 2016 to broaden the connections between AGU members and the policy community in Washington, D.C., and in their local communities. Spring AGU is proud to host our second member-only AGU Congressional Visits Day (AGU CVD) this spring. This event will bring together AGU member scientists from the academic and private sectors in order to share …
May 27, 2014
EarthScope, a Grand Earth-Observing Project with an Epic Future
By Linda R. Rowan, Director of External Affairs, UNAVCO and J Ramon Arrowsmith, EarthScope National Office Director and Professor of Geology, Arizona State University EarthScope is a grand earth-observing project funded by the National Science Foundation that has had many science discoveries, technological innovations and broader societal benefits. For example, Popular Science declared it the “most epic” science project in 2011. EarthScope has several large-scale and mostly distributed observatories. …
May 13, 2014
EarthScope’s USArray – Inspiring the Next Generation of Seismologists with New Ways to Understand the Planet
By Andy Frassetto, Project Associate, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) With funding from the National Science Foundation, IRIS operates EarthScope’s USArray. Its goal is to use the North American continent as a natural laboratory to study the structure and evolution of Earth. This observatory is a multi-purpose set of geophysical instruments, comprised of mostly seismometers, which have been operated across the continent since late 2004. The Transportable Array (TA) …
November 22, 2013
Speak science to me: AGU’s expert outreach network
Let me tell you… “People should know about this!” That comment, or a variation on it (“More people should know about this!”; “Why don’t people know about this?”) is one that comes up often when talking about science. It’s a phrase I used a lot when I was still studying marine invertebrates, and it was one of the main reasons I went into science communication and outreach. Whether it’s about …
November 19, 2013
Make STEM Education a Priority
I feel so lucky to be working at AGU as an intern in the Science department, but my geoscience career has not been without challenges and struggle. Through my inherent passion for Earth science and the confidence that a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degree could provide job security, I fought to attain a B.S. from the Department of Geosciences at Penn State University. If not for the encouragement …
October 29, 2013
Eos Interviews Reveal Impacts of the Government Shutdown
The recent shutdown of the U.S. government highlighted the critical role that government funding plays in supporting scientific research. This week’s edition of Eos, AGU’s newspaper covering Earth and space science, features an article assessing the impacts of the shutdown through interviews with AGU members in a variety of fields. The interviews reveal common concerns across the geosciences about losses of data, inability to make long-term plans, and worries about …
September 19, 2013
Resilient Communities Move Forward with the Help of Science
September marks the 10th annual National Preparedness Month. The President, FEMA, and disaster organizations encourage communities to prepare for and become more resilient to emergencies. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate recognizes that preparedness seems difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. “Preparedness is more about a state of mind than a stack of supplies,” he suggested during a recent National Academies meeting on Disaster Resilience in America. This includes using the information around us …
July 11, 2013
Accomplishments and Future Needs of Science in the United States
The first full day of the 2013 AGU Science Policy Conference, on 25 June, began with a plenary session that provided a frame for discussions throughout the day. The plenary session, Preparing for Our Future: The Value of Science, not only elucidated the myriad of economic and societal contributions of science in the United States, but also issued a call for scientists to communicate their contributions and defend their role. …
