Sessions of special interest for ECS

Over the whole Earth history, the climate has encountered tipping points, shifting from one regulated system to the other. This tilting motion affects both climate and the carbon cycle and has played a major role in the evolution of the Earth climate, at all timescales. Earth History has been ponctuated by large climate changes and carbon cycle reorganizations, from large climate variations occurring in deep times (snowball events, terrestrialisation, Mesozoic and early Cenozoic warm episodes, quaternary glacial cycles…) to past and on-going abrupt events. Many potential triggers of those climate and carbon cycle shifts have been proposed and tested through modeling studies, and against field data, such as those directly or indirectly linked with tectonics (plate motion, orogenesis, opening/closing of seaways, weathering…) and orbital forcing. Given that the Earth climate is currently experiencing an unprecedented transition under anthropogenic pressure, understanding the mechanisms behind the scene is crucial.

Our aim is to point out the most recent results concerning how a complex system as the climate of the Earth has undergone many tipping points and what is the specificity of the future climate changes. Therefore, within this session, we would like to encourage talks discussing advances in our record and modeling of the forces triggering and amplifying the changes of Earth climate and carbon cycle across spatial and temporal scales.

In today’s changing world we need to tap the potential of every talented mind to develop solutions for a sustainable future. The existence of under-representation of different groups (cultural, national and gender) remains a reality across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM fields) around the world, including the geosciences. This Union Symposium will focus on remaining obstacles that contribute to these imbalances, with the goal of identifying best practices and innovative ideas to overcome obstacles.

EGU is welcoming six high-level speakers from the funding agencies and research centres on both sides of the Atlantic related to geosciences to present efforts and discuss initiatives to tackle both implicit and explicit biases. Speakers are:

Jill Karsten, AGU Diversity and Inclusion Task Force (confirmed)
Erika Marín-Spiotta, University of Wisconsin - Madison (confirmed)
Daniel Conley, Lund University (confirmed)
Giulio di Toro, University of Padua (confirmed)
Liviu Matenco, Utrecht University (confirmed)
Barbara Romanowicz, European Research Council (confirmed)

The geosciences are currently used by policymakers in a wide variety of areas to help guide the decision-making process and ensure that the best possible outcome is achieved. While the importance of scientific advice and the use of evidence in the policymaking process is generally acknowledged by both policymakers and scientists, how scientific advice is integrated and who is responsible is still unclear.

EU Policymakers frequently highlight institutionalised processes for integrating scientific advice into policy such as European Commission's Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (SAM) and the EU Commission’s Register of Expert Groups. But how efficient and accessible are these mechanisms really?

Some emphasise the need for scientists to have their own policy networks in place so that they can share their research outcomes with policymakers who can then use it directly or pass it on to those responsible for relevant legislation. But from funding applications to teaching and even outreach activities – scientists are often already overloaded with additional tasks on top of their own research. Can they really be held responsible for keeping up with the latest policy news and maintaining a constantly changing network of policymakers as well?

This debate will feature a mixed panel of policymakers and geoscientists who have previously given scientific advice. Some key questions that the panel will debate include:
• How can the accessibility of current EU science-advisory mechanisms be improved?
• Are scientists doing enough to share their research?
• And who is responsible for ensuring that quality scientific evidence is used in policymaking?

Speakers will be encouraged to explain any science advisory mechanism that they highlight (e.g. SAM) to ensure that the debate is understood by all those in attendance.

While the panel and subsequent debate will have an EU focus, it is likely that many of the issues discussed will be applicable to countries around the world.

Public information:
David Mair: Head of Unit, Knowledge for Policy: Concepts & Methods, Joint Research Centre
Paul Watkinson: Chair of SBSTA (Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice)
Kasey White: Director for Geoscience Policy, Geological Society of America
Günter Blöschl: Head of Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Engineering Hydrology, Vienna University of Technology
Detlef van Vuuren: Professor in Integrated Assessment of Global Environmental Change at the Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University

"What counts may not be countable and what is countable may not count". Assessments of scientists and their institutions tend to focus on easy-to-measure metrics related to research outputs such as publications, citations, and grants. However, society is increasingly dependent on Earth science research and data for immediate decisions and long-term planning. There is a growing need for scientists to communicate, engage, and work directly with the public and policy makers, and practice open scholarship, especially regarding data and software. Improving the reward and recognition structure to encourage broader participation of scientists in these activities must involve societies, institutions, and funders. EGU, AGU, and JPGU have all taken steps to improve this recognition, from developing new awards to starting journals around the topic of engaging the public to implementing FAIR data practices in the Earth, environmental, and space sciences, but far more is needed for a broad cultural change. How can we fairly value and credit harder-to-measure, these less tangible contributions, compared to the favoured metrics? And how can we shift the emphasis away from the "audit culture" towards measuring performance and excellence? This session will present a distinguished panel of stakeholders discussing how to implement and institutionalize these changes.

Public information:
Moderator:
Robin Bell - AGU President

Co-Moderator:
Helen M. Glaves - President of the EGU ESSI Division

Panelists:

Liz Allen – Director of Strategic Initiatives at F1000
Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Policy Institute, King's College London

Stephen Curry – Professor and Assistant Provost, Imperial College London
Chair, Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)

Demetris Koutsoyiannis – Professor and former Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Technical University of
Athens, Past Editor in Chief of the Hydrological Sciences Journal of IAHS

The ever more challenging work environments and increasing pressures on Early Career Scientists e.g. publish or perish, securing grant proposals, developing transferable skills and many more – and all while having a lack of job security. This puts a big strain on Early Career Scientists and this can lead to neglected mental well-being which in turn increases the risk of developing anxiety, depression or other mental health issues. The graduate survey from 2017 (https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v550/n7677/full/nj7677-549a.html) shows that 12% of respondents had sought help or advice for anxiety or depression during their PhD.

In this debate we want to discuss: Is there a problem? How ECS can take control of their mental wellbeing and prioritise this in the current research environment? And what support would ECS like to see from organisations like EGU or their employers?

Plastic pollution is recognized as one of the most serious and urgent problems facing our planet. Rates of manufacture, use and ultimately disposal of plastics continue to soar, posing an enormous threat to the planet’s oceans and rivers and the flora and fauna they support. There is an urgent need for global action, backed by sound scientific understanding, to tackle this problem.

This Union Symposium will address the problems posed to our planet by plastic pollution, and examine options for dealing with the threat.

Wed, 10 Apr, 12:45-14:00 / Room E1

Public information:
The dialogue between scientists, institutions, policymakers and the general public is widely recognised as an essential step towards a fair and sustainable society. Nowadays, more than ever in human history, international cooperation is an essential requirement for protecting the planet, advancing science and ensuring an equitable development of the global economy.
Despite its importance, the above dialogue can be a challenge for scientists, who often cannot find a productive connection with governments and politicians. Scientific associations are a key link between researchers and policy makers, as they have the potential to establish a durable and profitable connection with institutions.
The EGU elected the dialogue with society as one of its priority missions. At its General Assembly, the EGU is launching an innovative symposium format, Science and Society (SCS), to host scientific forums specifically dedicated to connecting with high-level institutions and engaging the public and policymakers.
The conversation with Ilaria Capua and Mario Monti will focus on science and politics with a global perspective, and the impact of populism on European integrity and therefore scientific research. The discussion will elaborate on optimal strategies to deliver topical and clear scientific messages to key institutions.
Ilaria Capua is a virologist best known for her research on influenza viruses and her efforts promoting open access to genetic information on emerging viruses. In 2006, Science reported on Capua’s effort towards open access science, stating that she had “renewed the debate about how to balance global health against scientists’ needs to publish and countries’ demands for secrecy". She has been a member of the Italian parliament from 2013 to 2016 and a fake news victim. She is currently a full professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, US, and director of the UF One Health Center of Excellence.
Mario Monti served as a European Commissioner from 1995 to 2004, with responsibility for the internal market, services, customs, taxation and competition. He was Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a government of national unity to cope with the Italian debt crisis. Monti has also been Rector and is currently President of Bocconi University in Milan. His publications deal mainly with monetary and financial economics, public finance, European integration, competition policy. He is currently lifetime member of the Italian Senate.
During the conversation, Ilaria Capua and Mario Monti will present their vision with two 15-minute talks that will be followed by 20 minutes dedicated to questions from the audience and answers.

Presenting at a scientific conference can be daunting for early career scientist and established. How can you optimally take advantage of those 12 minutes to communicate your research effectively? How do you cope with nervousness? What happens if someone asks a question that you don’t think you can answer? Is your talk tailored to the audience?
Giving a scientific talk is a really effective way to communicate your research to the wider community and it is something anyone can learn to do well! This short course provides the audience with hands-on tips and tricks in order to make your talk memorable and enjoyable for both speaker and audience.

Over the last decades, research in the Solar Terrestrial sciences has greatly advanced our understanding of this huge system. For half a century, satellites and a continuously growing network of ground based observatories, have allowed us to get closer and make observations with higher precision than ever before. Together with more complex models, this gives us detailed knowledge on how the Sun affects its surrounding environment, and especially its coupling to Earth. As new space missions fill in today’s missing pieces of knowledge, new questions are born that need to be tackled by new thoughts. Being an Early Career Scientist, it is often hard to identify which questions are new and what has been answered before. In this short course we have invited a panel of renowned researchers. They will give their view on how far we have come in our understanding, and most importantly, on what challenges lie ahead for the young scientists to embark upon. This is an excellent opportunity to meet with the experts and discuss the future of our community. Target audience is students and early career scientists that want to increase their awareness of current and future research challenges within solar terrestrial sciences and to discuss their potential contributions. The audience is invited to propose specific topics and/or questions for discussion in advance to ecs-st@egu.eu.

Public information:
In this short course we bring together established researchers and the Early Career Scientists in the Solar Terrestrial Sciences division for three visionary talks and a chance to discuss the future opportunities, challenges, and directions in our field, with the experienced experts. The invited speakers this year are Prof. Esa Turunen, Prof. Eric Priest and Prof. Margareth Kivelson, who will each give a talk about their view and visions about the future of our field.

Are you unsure about how to bring order in the extensive program of the General Assembly? Are you wondering how to tackle this week of science? Are you curious about what EGU and the General Assembly have to offer? Then this is the short course for you!

In one hour we will provide you with tips and tricks on how to handle this large conference and how to make the most out of your week at this year's General Assembly. We'll explain the EGU structure, the difference between EGU and the General Assembly, we will dive into the program groups and we will introduce some key persons that help the Union function.

Feel free to join us, we are looking forward to meeting you!

Contaminant hydrology over the last century has used physically-based solute transport models that solve equations of advection and diffusion to estimate the fate and transport of contaminants. In the last decade, time variant transit time models have been proposed as a stochastic alternative to solve solute transport in a more time efficient manner. Transit time models follow a top-down approach that require fewer model parameters than classic advection-diffusion approaches. The caveat being that it requires high resolution (temporally) data for concentration of solutes in the hydrologic system.

With the advent of advanced laser-based picarro devices, measuring stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen in water have become more feasible. These stable isotopes of water can also be used to infer the transit time model parameters and provide mean catchment transit time information (i.e. on average how long a water molecule spends in the catchment after first entering into the soil). This becomes highly relevant in agricultural catchments where the applied fertilisers and pesticides can find their way to the groundwater pool in a short span of time that may later be consumed for domestic purposes.

This session will bring together a panel of experts on both the top-down (transit time modeling) and the bottom-up (physically-based models) approaches to modeling solutes in streams. After a short introduction by the experts, the session will follow an open discussion where participants can engage with the panel. The discussion will conclude with a summary from the panelists.

This will be the sixth edition of Meet the Expert session. This session is organised in cooperation with the Young Hydrologic Society (http://younghs.com/) and the EGU Geomorphology Section (GM).

Public information:
Invited Speakers: Paolo Benettin (EPFL), Simone Fatichi (ETH Zurich), Christine Stumpp (BOKU, Austria)

Research, especially for early career scientists, starts with the spark of an idea and is then often challenged by empirical or methodological road bumps and seemingly dead ends. A diverse range of challenges face those in earth science research, particularly for early career scientists (ECS). Challenges include (1) access difficulties, whether for field sites, equipment or data, (2) problems of scaling and extrapolation and (3) a lack of methodological understanding or knowledge. In this short course, we will raise engaging discussions, which aim to solve challenges, suggest new research approaches and methods, and encourage networks and possibilities for in-depth discussions amongst early career scientists at international conferences.

This short course will start with 2 minute ‘pop-up’ presentations outlining the questions or challenges submitted by attendees. These pop-ups are followed by chaired group discussions in which short course participants engage to crowd solve the presented challenges. To wrap up the session, solutions and suggestions from each topical group are presented to the whole session in a final discussion. A summary on last years’ crowd solving efforts can be found in the EGU GM blog post https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/gm/2018/04/25/diving-under-the-scientific-iceberg/.

This short course lives by your input: i) by stating a research idea or challenge you would like to share, and ii) by participating in the discussion during the short course. To organize and prepare the discussions, please send a short statement of your idea or challenge related to geomorphic research, and your motivation for solving it (3-4 sentences) to geomorph-problems@geographie.uni-bonn.de, by March 1, 2019. The contributions within the short course are free of charge. If you want to discuss a specific problem, but rather stay anonymous, please let us know. We are all early career scientists and expect a non-hierarchic, respectful and constructive environment for the discussions, which will hopefully go some way to identifying and engaging with problems which face ECS geomorphologists.

Session organizers: Anne Voigtländer, Johannes Buckel, Eleanore Heasley, Felix Nieberding, Liseth Perez, Anna Schoch, Harry Sanders, Richard Mason,...

Public information:
We encourage meeting up before the short course during the Networking Time ~18h - so grab another drink and join us near room -2.62!

The goal of the short course is to increase awareness of the impact of gender unconscious bias and provide tools to facilitate equitable decision-making across a range of processes. In this short course you will be presented with various situations where gender imbalance may occur and you will be invited to interactively discuss concrete actions to change this reality.

The situations presented will range from formal/institutional (e.g. recruitment and evaluation committees) to informal/individual (e.g. daily-life choices or actions).

The short course will address the following issues:

- Short introduction to (gender) implicit bias; (presentation)
- Concrete situations where implicit bias can be present and lead to unfairness; (presentation + small group discussion)
- Concrete efforts to move forward and change the world (presentation + small group discussion)

The European Research Council (ERC) is a leading European funding body supporting excellent investigator-driven frontier research across all fields of science. ERC calls are open to researchers around the world. The ERC offers various different outstanding funding opportunities with grants budgets of €1.5 to €3.5 million for individual scientists. All nationalities of applicants are welcome for projects carried out at a host institution in Europe (European Union member states and associated countries). At this session, the main features of ERC funding individual grants will be presented.

Applying for Marie Skłodowska-Curie grants is highly competitive. So applicants have to be well prepared and highly motivated to compile a convincing proposal. The aim of this short course is to provide general information about the funding schemes and evaluation processes, recommendations and tips to future applicants.

The workshop will include:
- General presentation of the MSCA calls
- Individual Fellowships: This part of the workshop will give an introduction and background information of the program and the evaluation process by a Vice-Chair of the “Environmental and Geosciences” evaluation panel. You will get recommendations and tips and the experience of a grantee. This year the grantee will be José Alberto Padron Navarta from Montpellier.
- European Training Network: This part of the workshop will give a brief introduction and overview on how to apply for ETNs as international scientific multi-partner research training networks and show I) the most important general parts of proposals, II) how to avoid pitfalls and III) how to implement successful management already at this early stage.
Why attend?
In this hands-on workshop, participants will get the basics of how to prepare competitive MSCA proposals and how to shape it so that it is aligned with the objectives of the Marie Curie programme.
Who is this training course for?
The target audience is early-career and established researchers as well as project managers involved in the pre-proposal phase, who are I) currently preparing a MSCA-IF or MSCA-ITN-ETN proposal, II) have in the past unsuccessfully submitted such proposals and would like to try again, or III) who have very concrete ideas about a proposal they want to prepare, but are unsure how to approach this.

Trainers:
ITN-ETN: Dr. Sylvia Walter, Coordinator for International Collaboration - H2020 MEMO2, Dr. Daniela Henkel, Marie Sklodowska Curie ITN Project Manager – BASE-LiNE Earth
IF: Dr. Jannick Ingrin, Mineralogist at the University of Lille, Vice-Chair of the ”Environmental and Geosciences” evaluation panel for several MSCA calls.

While many enjoy working in an academic environment, scientific skills are valued in other job sectors and an increasing number of scientists pursue careers outside of academia. However, navigating different job opportunities and transitioning to new career paths can be difficult, especially for researchers who are not given enough opportunities to develop their transferable skills. In this workshop, a repeat of the popular 2018 course, a panel of current and former geoscientists will share their experiences and discuss career opportunities for Earth, space and planetary scientists both inside and outside academia. Following short presentations by each panelist, there will be a question and answer session with the audience.

Publishing your research in a peer reviewed journal is essential for a career in research, however, getting those first few papers submitted can be daunting. This short course, given by the co editor-in-chief of The Cryosphere Thomas Mölg, will cover all you need to know about the publication process from start to end. This includes: what the editor looks for in your submitted paper, how to deal with corrections or rejections, and how best to communicate with your reviewers and editors for a smooth transition from submission to publication. There will also be time for questions from the audience, and for the editor to give you some ‘top tips’ for a successful publication. This course is aimed at early-career researchers who are about to step into the publication process, and those who have a few papers under their belt, but may not have published in The Cryosphere previously. Similarly, this course will be of interest to those looking to get involved in the peer-review process through reviewing and editing.

Within the geosciences there are a number of prestigious award and medal programmes that recognise the scholarly contributions of scientists in their research field. Recognition by the research community and general public can boost the self-confidence and self-identity of scientists as well as creating role models for present and future generations of geoscientists. Furthermore, awards can lead to further positive recognition in the form of tenure, promotion or grant application and thus can significantly boost the recipient’s career trajectory.
This short course will provide an overview of the current diversity in awards available to geoscientists. It will enhance awareness of the nominating and selection process for awards in general. Finally our aim is to encourage and motivate young and senior scientists to become active in the nomination process and engage in the discussion of the nomination and selection process.
Invited Speaker: Özgür Karatekin (Chair of the EGU Union Awards Committee)
Round Table Discussion: with a diverse range of present and former Division Presidents from the geosciences.

Public information:
Programme schedule

08:30 Welcome and Introduction by the Convenors

08:35 Annica Ekman (President of the EGU Atmospheric Sciences Division 2017-2019)
Athanasios Nenes (President of the EGU Atmospheric Sciences Division 2019-2021)


08:50 Özgür Karatekin (Chair of the EGU Union Awards Committee and Deputy President of the EGU Planetary Sciences Division)

09:05 Sonia Seneviratne, ETH Zurich
Recipient of the James B. Macelwane Medal awarded by the AGU.
Fellow of the AGU

09:15 Murugesu Sivapalan University of Illinois
Recipient of the John Dalton Medal and the Alfred Wegener Medal awarded by the EGU, the Hydrological Sciences Award and the Robert E Horton Medal awarded by the AGU. Fellow of the AGU, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Modeling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand and Life Member of the International Water Academy

09:30 Round Table discussion and questions from the audience

• Özgür Karatekin EGU Awards Committee President
• Annica Ekman EGU Atmospheric Sciences President
• Athanasios Nenes EGU Atmospheric Sciences President
• Elena Toth EGU Hydrological Sciences President
• Giuliana Panieri EGU Biogeosciences President
• Sonia Seneviratne
• Murugesu Sivapalan

Are you an early career scientist coming to EGU looking for inspiration to take the next step in your career? Are you feeling a little lost with all the opportunities both academic and elsewhere? Then this short course is for you!

Join us for a panel discussion about everything to do with life post-polar-PhD and expand your ideas about where you might go next.

Our five expert panelists come from a wide range of backgrounds, from various stages of academia to applied science, science project management and science journalism. They will give you a little background about their experience and career. Afterwards, we will open the floor to a chaired discussion about all aspects of their careers and it’s over to you! Want to know how to get into a certain career, what experience you might need and what working in a certain career entails – just go ahead and ask!

Come along to listen or participate in what will be a lively and informative discussion. The session is open to anyone at any level in their career. Questions and answers will also be live tweeted!

Public information:
Panelists:

NANNA B. KARLSSON (Senior Scientist, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland), ROBERT McSWEENEY (Science Editor, Carbon Brief), CARMEN GAINA (Director, Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED), University of Oslo, Norway), SARAH CONNORS (Science Officer at the IPCC Working Group 1 TSU)

Drafting your first grant proposal can be daunting. Grant writing improves with experience, so how do early career scientists compete on equal footing with those who are more established? In this short course, a panel of scientists will share their experience applying to different funding bodies (national and international research grants, such as NERC (UK) and DFG (German)). Gain insight and (even better) inspiration by discussing with the panel the bits and pieces you may struggle with when writing a strong grant proposal.

NOTE - this course has a broader scope than the more specific ERC and Marie Curie short courses. This course gives broad tips and hints on how to write a successful proposal irrespective of the funding body.

Many scientists around the world travel to different countries and across oceans to pursue exciting graduate programmes and research positions. Relocating for work can offer many opportunities to advance your research and develop your career; however working across borders can present many challenges to scientists, from securing visas to navigating new cultural environments to losing their professional network of peers.

In this short course, a panel of geoscientists who have migrated to advance their careers will share their experiences, discuss obstacles they have faced, and provide advice for how to make the most of a career opportunity abroad. Following short presentations by each panelist there will be a Q&A session where participants will be able to ask questions.

Poetry is one of the oldest forms of art, potentially even predating literacy. However, what on Earth does it have to do with science? One is usually subjective and emotive, whilst the other (for the most part) is objective and empirical. However, poetry can be a very effective tool in communicating science to a broader audience, and can even help to enhance the long-term retention of scientific content. During this session, we will discuss how poetry can be used to make (your) science more accessible to the world, including to your students, your professors, your (grand)parents, and the general public.

Writing a poem is not a particularly difficult task, but writing a good poem requires both dedication and technique; anyone can write poetry, but it takes practice and process to make it effective. In this session, experienced science-poets will discuss the basics of poetry, before encouraging all participants to grab a pen and start writing themselves. We aim to maximise empowerment and minimise intimidation. Participants will have the opportunity to work on poems that help to communicate their research, and will be provided with feedback and advice on how to make them more effective, engaging and empathetic. Those who wish to do so may also recite their creations during the “EGU Science Poetry Slam 2019”.

Geoscience Communication (GC) is a journal to help share knowledge and give more "traditional" recognition to science communication in the geosciences. Science communication is used as an umbrella term by GC to cover all aspects of outreach, public engagement, widening participation, policy, knowledge exchange, and any other initiatives within the scope of the journal. It can be thought of as any initiative which seeks to communicate an aspect of geoscience to a wider audience than the experts within that particular field.

Come along to this Short Course to find out more about Geoscience Communication, meet the editorial team, and find out how you can turn your science communication and public engagement initiatives into reviewed research that is of benefit to the wider geoscience community.

Drawings, graphics and illustrations are one of the oldest ways of knowledge transfer without language barriers. Through the growth of the scientific community and the associated increase of publications, it has become more difficult to communicate key findings just with plain text. Visualisations of scientific content have become increasingly popular (e.g. colour figures, graphical abstracts, short videos and animations) and represents an efficient form for science communication, also outside of academic journals (e.g. social platforms, teaching).

We use the opportunity at the EGU2019 to give a guided tour through the current trends. We go over the basic rules (do’s and don’ts) for graphic design and present low-budget do-it-yourself solutions along with (hopefully) useful software suggestions.

Public information:
Drawings, graphics and illustrations are one of the oldest ways of knowledge transfer without language barriers. Through the growth of the scientific community and the associated increase of publications, it has become more difficult to communicate key findings just with plain text. Visualisations of scientific content have become increasingly popular (e.g. colour figures, graphical abstracts, short videos and animations) and represents an efficient form for science communication, also outside of academic journals (e.g. social platforms, teaching).

We use the opportunity at the EGU2019 to give a guided tour through the current trends. We go over the basic rules (do’s and don’ts) for graphic design and present low-budget do-it-yourself solutions along with (hopefully) useful software suggestions.

When a strong earthquake strikes, a hurricane is close to making landfall in a populated area, or an extreme heatwave is sweeping a continent, scientists are often called upon to address the public. Communicating science in these situations can be particularly hard, not only because human lives could be at stake but because the available information about the event may be incomplete. How can you best communicate risk and uncertainty in a quick and effective matter? In this short course, we will address this question and look into how best to communicate controversial issues in sensitive situations.

Those interested in attending this short course, might also be interested in the EOS4.3 session, 'Communicating geoscience in the face of modern geocontroversy': https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2019/session/32817

SPEAKERS
Stephen Hicks, Postdoctoral Researcher in Seismology, Imperial College London, UK
Cathelijne Stoof, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
Boris Behncke, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Etneo - Sezione di Catania, Italy [TBC]
Terri Cook, freelance (geo)science journalist, US

Public information:
Paul Williams, Professor of Atmospheric Science in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading, UK, will also be speaking at this short course.

Despite the emergence of many new forms of media, the press release remains one of the most important steps in getting your work featured in the media... This short course will cover the basics of writing a press release that will grab the attention of journalists, amidst their all-too-full inboxes. Together, we will look at how to craft your press release, finding the story within your work and the wider relevance of your science to society. The course will consist of: an introduction on how to identify a good science story; general tips on how to write with clarity and flair; an introduction on how to go about promoting your work via press releases and working with embargoes; tips on working with press officers and journalists; practical exercises on headline writing; and practical exercises about turning abstracts into press releases.

Public information:
Despite the emergence of many new forms of media, the press release remains one of the most important steps in getting your work featured in the media... This short course will cover the basics of writing a press release that will grab the attention of journalists, amidst their all-too-full inboxes. Together, we will look at how to craft your press release, finding the story within your work and the wider relevance of your science to society. The course will consist of: an introduction on how to identify a good science story; general tips on how to write with clarity and flair; an introduction on how to go about promoting your work via press releases and working with embargoes; tips on working with press officers and journalists; practical exercises on headline writing; and practical exercises about turning abstracts into press releases.

One of the biggest challenges for scientists working in natural hazard prevention and management is to communicate the right knowledge and the related uncertainty to stakeholders and population at risk.

It is often emphasized that scientists should learn and use a more popular language to disseminate their knowledge and their messages, and many efforts have been recently done for this purpose. However, all components of the society - not just scientists - have to play a role and have a responsibility in natural hazards prevention. Several communities are not aware that they are living in high-risk areas and they do not know how to deal with potential hazards. Only some countries have already adopted disaster laws or codes that define the role of each component of the society. Nevertheless, also among the most developed countries, it is common to see that people do not know what they should do or who to contact before, during or after a disaster: they often lack information, and when they receive it, it is in many cases too late. Ideally, each component can help and must understand that everyone is part of the prevention cycle, where the failure of a single part can generate or contribute to the failure of the whole system.

In this short course, we will use a serious game useful for multi-hazards and disaster risk management. Using a real case study, participants will understand the role and the responsibility of each component (national and local authorities, scientists, media and population) in a scenario potentially prone to natural hazards. Further, it will be possible to learn to identify the needs, how to contribute in the disaster cycle, how to collaborate with others to obtain information or how and which information you can provide to other components.

The short course will be a combination of individual and group work and the goal is to come with a definition of the different roles and a list of actions for each component of the society. The output of the exercise will help to reveal, thus enable participants to learn, how the communication should be among society components as well as how the different players can address barriers and bridges.
In this sense, this exercise will help to promote the understanding of different roles and responsibilities in disaster risk prevention and people attending the course can replicate the exercise for other real cases or while teaching at their own institutions.

We especially encourage, but not limit, the participation of Early Career Scientists interested in the field of Natural Hazards.

In order to better organize the short course, we ask interested people to fill-in the registration form available at the following link: https://goo.gl/forms/NAeeUarf0gTlRRGA2. Be reminded that the short course is open to everyone, even not registered people, and the form does not supersede the general registration for the General Assembly.

The short course is organized in cooperation with NhET (Natural hazard Early career scientists Team).

Encompassing a large number of scientific disciplines, the geosciences play an important role in many policy decisions including, but not limited to, those relate to climate change, natural hazard management, energy security, space exploration, agriculture and ocean health. The information that geoscientists can give to policymakers is able to improve the policy making process, expand the impact of research and provide scientists with new research and career opportunities.

To ensure that your efforts to share your research with policymakers are effective, it is important to know when and how to communicate before engaging with science for policy. This session will focus on basic science for policy and communication techniques that can be used to engage policymakers. It will also outline specific science for policy processes and initiatives within the EU and explain how scientists can become involved with them.

This session is open to all EGU General Assembly participants but will be of particular interest to anyone who wants to make their research more policy relevant and learn more about science-policy.

Public information:
Chloe Hill: EGU Policy Officer
Ilias Grampas: EU Affairs Manager, European Parliament Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development
Panos Panagos: Research Officer, Joint Research Centre, European Commission.
Theresa Lorenz: Project Manager, Adelphi
Noel Baker: Project Manager, Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy

Teaching a climate change course and looking for great resources? Doing climate outreach and want to be more engaging? Or simply aiming to broaden your knowledge and teaching of climate change? This short course explores ways of effectively teaching the key disciplinary and interdisciplinary concepts and skills related to the science and politics of our changing climate. Structured around the recent IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, the course spans the interlinkages between climate science, climate impacts and adaptation, mitigation options, and sustainable development.

Thinking of educators as learning facilitators rather than mere suppliers of facts and figures, we will present teaching activities that use the principles of active learning to fully engage learners and get them thinking critically. Along the way, we will demonstrate ways to overcome some of the key teaching challenges, including how to explain hard-to-grasp concepts (e.g., why do we care about such seemingly small temperature changes?), bridge diverse time- and space-scales (e.g., weather vs climate, intergenerational equity), and provide an upbeat, action-oriented outlook. The course will be interactive, involving hands-on activities and opportunities to practice your climate communication skills. We will close with a group discussion about how to scope a climate change course, including a list of the key integrative ideas and skills you want learners to come away with.

This short course is an introduction to structural and petrological geological principles, used by geologist to understand system earth. The data available to geologists is often minimal, incomplete and representative for only part of the geological history. Besides learning field techniques to acquire and measure data, geologists need to develop a logical way of thinking to close gaps in the data to understand the system. There is a difference in the reality observed from field observation and the final geological model that tells the story.

In this course we briefly introduce the following subjects:
1) Acquisition of field-data
2) From structural field data to paleostresses
3) Using petrological field data to identify tectonic phases (e.g. burial and exhumation)
4) Rock deformation - What happens in the lab?
5) Data publications and EPOS - What to do with your research data?
6) Creating geological models: how to make the story complete


Our aim is not to make you the next specialist in geology, but we would rather try and make you aware of the challenges a geologist faces when he/she goes out into the field. Also the quality of data and the methods used nowadays are addressed to give seismologists and geodynamicists a feel for the capabilities and limits of geological research. This course is given by Early Career Scientist geologists and geoscientists and forms a trilogy with the short course on ‘Geodynamics 101’ and ‘Seismology 101’. For this reason, will also explain what kind of information we expect from the fields of seismology and geodynamics and we hope to receive some feedback in what kind of information you could use from our side.

How do seismologists detect earthquakes? How do we locate them? Is seismology only about earthquakes? Seismology has been integrated into a wide variety of geo-disciplines to be complementary to many fields such as tectonics, geology, geodynamics, volcanology, hydrology, glaciology and planetology. This 90-minute course is part of the Solid Earth 101 short course series together with ‘Geodynamics 101 (A & B)’ and ‘Geology 101’ to better illustrate the link between these fields.

In ‘Seismology 101’, we will present an introduction to the basic concepts and methods in seismology. In previous years, this course was given as "Seismology for non-seismologists" and it is still aimed at those not familiar with seismology -- in particular early career scientists. An overview will be given on various methods and processing techniques, which are applicable to investigate surface processes, near-surface geological structures and the Earth’s interior. The course will highlight the role that advanced seismological techniques can play in the co-interpretation of results from other fields. The topics will include:
- the basics of seismology, including the detection and location of earthquakes
- understanding and interpreting those enigmatic "beachballs"
- an introduction to free seismo-live.org tutorials and other useful tools
- how seismic methods are used to learn about the Earth, such as for imaging the Earth’s interior (on all scales), deciphering tectonics, monitoring volcanoes, landslides and glaciers, etc...

We likely won’t turn you in the next Charles Richter in 90 minutes but would rather like to make you aware how seismology can help you in geoscience. The intention is to discuss each topic in a non-technical manner, emphasizing their strengths and potential shortcomings. This course will help non-seismologists to better understand seismic results and can facilitate more enriched discussion between different scientific disciplines. The short course is organised by early career scientist seismologists and geoscientists who will present examples from their own research experience and from high-impact reference studies for illustration. Questions from the audience on the topics covered will be highly encouraged.

The main goal of this short course is to provide an introduction into the basic concepts of numerical modelling of solid Earth processes in the Earth’s crust and mantle in a non-technical manner. Emphasis will be put on what numerical models are and how they work while taking into account the advantages and limitations of the different methods. We will go through the steps of building a numerical code and setting up the corresponding models, using specific examples from key papers to showcase:
(1) The motivation behind using numerical methods,
(2) The basic equations used in geodynamic modelling studies, what they mean, and their assumptions,
(3) How to choose appropriate numerical methods,
(4) How to benchmark the resulting code,
(5) How to go from the geological problem to the model setup,
(6) How to set initial and boundary conditions,
(7) How to interpret the model results.
Armed with the knowledge of a typical numerical modelling workflow, participants will then be able to better assess the use of a specific numerical model to answer their own research question.

The 90-minute short course is run by early career geodynamicists and is part of the Solid Earth 101 short course series together with Geodynamics 101B, Seismology 101 and Geology 101. It is dedicated to everyone who is interested in, but not necessarily experienced with, understanding numerical models; in particular early career scientists (BSc, MSc, PhD students and postdocs) and people who are new to the field of geodynamic modelling. The course "Geodynamics 101B: Scientific applications" focusses on the application of the numerical methods discussed in this short course to large scale dynamic processes on Earth. Discussion and questions will be greatly encouraged.

Writing a scientific paper is an essential part of research, and is a skill that needs practice. In this short course several invited scientists will advice early-career scientists on how to write a scientific paper and how to increase the chance of publishing their research.
This session is organized in cooperation with the Young Hydrologic Society (http://younghs.com/).

This year's expert panel:
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Wagener (University of Bristol)
Prof. Dr. Christine Stumpp (BOKU, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna)
Prof. Dr. Jan Fleckenstein (UFZ Leipzig and University of Bayreuth)

his session will discuss the ins & outs of convening or co-convening a session from proposing to a session, the promotion and abstract handling to the actual General Assembly. We will discuss what makes a good session abstract and what are your options. What happens are you suggest a session and what you can do to promote your session.

The main goal of this short course is to provide an overview of the large scale dynamic processes on Earth, recent advances in the study of these processes and future directions. The course focusses on numerical methods to explain and advance our knowledge of geodynamic large scale processes, but additional constraints and insights obtained from the geological record and seismology (e.g., tomography) are also touched upon. The basic dynamics, state of the art understanding and outstanding questions of the following geodynamic processes are discussed through key papers in the field:
(1) Mantle convection
(2) The start of plate tectonics
(3) Break-up of supercontinents
(4) Subduction dynamics
(5) Crustal deformation & mountain building
Using their newfound knowledge of geodynamical processes, participants will be better able to understand and use geodynamical papers to answer their own research question.
The 90-minute short course is run by early career geodynamicists and is part of the Solid Earth 101 short course series together with Geodynamics 101A, Seismology 101, and Geology 101. It is dedicated to everyone who is interested in, but not necessarily experienced with, the large scale dynamics of the Earth; in particular early career scientists (BSc, MSc, PhD students and postdocs) and people who are new to the field of geodynamic modelling. The course "Geodynamics 101A: Numerical methods" discusses the numerical methods that are often used to solve for and study the processes outlined in this course. Discussion and questions will be greatly encouraged.

Research can have a beneficial impact on society. However, understanding and demonstrating the impact of your research often needs training and specific professional and personal skills. This short-course aims to introduce early career scientists to practices that can enhance their ability to use their knowledge to benefit society and thus to increase the potential policy impact of their research. At a more personal level, this can result in a higher level of personal satisfaction and increased opportunities at local, national and international levels.

Researchers often search for making a real difference in the world by influencing policy-making and contributing to improve economy, implement climate change mitigation and adaptation solutions for nature and people, co-build environmental policies and sustainable water-food-energy management practices, for instance. Showing the impact of your research can open new horizons and make a difference to people’s lives. However, it may take time until research results or the key messages from a research project resonate with the interests and agendas of policy-makers. Researchers need to develop communication and influencing skills to make their findings accessible and amplify their impact.

Also, there is often a major gap between the supply of, and demand for, policy-relevant research. This problem is not solved simply by employing excellent researchers and policymakers in the same organisation, or locating them in the same building. Rather, the gap relates primarily to key differences in the practices, expectations, incentives, language, and rules of researchers and policymakers, which is sometimes described as the ‘two communities’ problem. Training is therefore essential to develop skills and collect practical advice on maximising impact and building efficient teams of researchers, policy-makers and ‘knowledge brokers’.

Based on the Knowledge management for policy (KMP) initiative of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, built to promote a new ‘skills and training agenda’ to foster evidence-informed policy-making, this short course will provide an introduction to the eight skills that are recommended to produce efficient teams of people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and complementary skills (presented in detail in Topp et al., 2018):

1. research synthesis, to generate ‘state of the art’ knowledge on a policy problem,
2. management of expert communities, to maximise collaboration,
3. understanding policymaking, to know when and how to present evidence,
4. interpersonal skills, to focus on relationships and interaction,
5. engagement, to include citizens and stakeholders,
6. effective communication of knowledge,
7. monitoring and evaluation, to identify the impact of evidence on policy,
8. policy advice, to know how to present knowledge effectively and ethically.

In this short course, participants will get hands-on experience with some of the new skills through interactive games in real-life settings.

Reference:
Topp, L., D. Mair, L. Smillie & P. Cairney (2018) Knowledge management for policy impact: the case of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. Palgrave Communications, Vol. 4 (87), 2018.

Public information:
In cooperation with the Young Hydrologic Society (http://younghs.com/).

Analysis of uncertainty has been one of the overarching themes of hydrology research. With ever increasing need for quantification and communication of uncertainty, uncertainty analysis is a fundamental part of any modelling study in hydrology, e.g. flood forecasting. This short course aims to provide a state-of-the-science overview of different approaches to analysis and modelling of uncertainty. The primary focus will be given to methods in the hydro-meteorological domain.

We kindly invite early career hydrologic researchers (MSc students, PhD candidates, post-doctoral researchers) to attend this short course designed to address fundamentals of most widely adopted approaches for uncertainty analysis.

This will be the fifth year that the Hydroinformatics for Hydrology short course is run. The previous themes of the course were data-driven and hybrid techniques, data assimilation, geostatistical modelling and extreme value modelling.

Please note that a pre-registration is not necessary. The course will be open to a limited number of participants selected on a first come-first served basis.

We are delighted to announce Dr. Francesca Pianosi from University of Bristol as the lecturer of this short course.

For any additional information, please contact the conveners. In cooperation with the Young Hydrologic Society (http://younghs.com/).

You have heard of Jupyter Notebooks already? But you do not quite understand the hype about it? Then this short course is exactly for you. We will show you the beauty in working with Jupyter Notebooks and the entire Jupyter environment.

With Jupyter Notebooks you have your code, visualisation and documentation all in one place. Widgets allow the setup of interactive visualisations, where you can e.g. include leaflet maps into your notebooks.
JupyterLab and JupyterHub provide the right working environments to create and host your Jupyter Notebooks and collaborate with others.

This short course will introduce you to Jupyter Notebooks and give you practical examples how environmental data (meteorological data and satellite images) can be analysed. After a general introduction to Jupyter Notebooks, we will give you examples how you are able to access large volumes of meteorological and satellite data from data repositories, such as ECMWF, and cloud environments, such as the Copernicus Climate Data Store or Google Earth Engine. We will analyse and interactively visualise the data with Jupyter widgets. Towards the end, we will introduce you to JupyterLab and JupyterHub, to better understand the full Jupyter environment.

The course will be structured as follows:
- Jupyter Notebooks - Data analysis made simple
- Data access with Jupyter Notebooks from different data repositories
- Jupyter widgets - Make your data analysis interactive
- Jupyterlab, JupyterHub, … - Getting to know the Jupyter environment

This short course is hands-on and you can bring your laptop along. All exercises are designed to be easy to follow. The Jupyter Notebooks of this course will be made available after the course.

Public information:
This short course will introduce you to Jupyter Notebooks and give you practical examples how environmental data (meteorological data and satellite images) can be analysed. After a general introduction to Jupyter Notebooks, we will give you examples how you are able to access large volumes of meteorological and satellite data from data repositories, such as ECMWF, and cloud environments, such as the Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS) or Google Earth Engine (GEE). We will analyse and interactively visualise the data with Jupyter widgets. Towards the end, we will introduce you to JupyterLab and JupyterHub, to better understand the full Jupyter environment.

Image analysis has become a standard tool for shape and fabric analysis of a wide range of rock types (sedimentary, magmatic and metamorphic) and for microstructure analysis of natural and experimental samples at all scales. From quantified shape fabrics, rock properties may be inferred and related to the processes that created them.

In the first half of the short course, some basic techniques are outlined, in the second half, there will be demonstrations of selected applications.

The following topics will be covered:
1) image acquisition and pre-processing
2) segmentation: from picture to bitmap
3) shape analysis of individual grains or particles
4) fabric and strain analysis: looking at volumes and surfaces
5) analysis of spatial distribution: from clustered to random to ordered

Demonstrations will be made using ImageJ and Image SXM. Note, however, that familiarity with either of these programs is not required. - This is a short course, not a workshop.

Please send email if you want to participate (renee.heilbronner@unibas.ch)

Recommended for: geoscientists, climate scientists, geostatisticians, engineers.

This course is an introduction to stochastic simulation using Multiple Point Statistics (MPS), a modelling approach based on the use of training images with the aim of generating realistic heterogeneity characterizing natural processes. This family of techniques has been shown to be particularly suited for preserving complex features, for example the connectivity and geometry of geological units [1], the seasonality and complex time dependence of climate time-series [2], or the small-scale variability of missing data from remote sensing images [3].

In the routine practice, MPS can be used to fill the gaps in spatial or temporal datasets, interpolate sparse data, or simulate random fields to study the uncertainty of a process outcome. We will present the theory behind MPS, demonstrate an open-source code, and give practical tutorials on how to use it.

The course will be organized in two parts: the first one is a short introduction on the theory at the base of stochastic simulation and interpolation. The second and main part is dedicated to practical cases related to time series modeling and remote sensing data.

References:

[1] dell’Arciprete, D., Bersezio, R., Felletti, F. et al., Comparison of three geostatistical methods for hydrofacies simulation: a test on alluvial sediments, Hydrogeol Journal (2012) 20: 299. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-011-0808-0

[2] Oriani F, Mehrotra R, Mariethoz G, Straubhaar J, Sharma A, Renard P (2017). Simulating rainfall time-series: how to account for statistical variability at multiple scales, Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, doi: 10.1007/s00477-017-1414-z.

[3] Gaohong Yin, Gregoire Mariethoz, Ying Sun & Matthew F. McCabe (2017) A comparison of gap-filling approaches for Landsat-7 satellite data, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 38:23, 6653-6679, DOI: 10.1080/01431161.2017.1363432

Rationale:
The proper and deep education on ethical issues in geosciences has been evolving in recent times, although not as quickly and deeply as necessary. Many of the professionals dedicated to Earth Sciences have been not in touch with such new concepts and tendencies as the concept of Geoethics. Geoethics is the research and reflection on the values which underpin appropriate behaviors and practices, wherever human activities interact with the Earth system. Geoethics provides a framework from which to define ethical professional behaviors in both geosciences and engineering and to determine how these should be put into practice for the benefit of society and the environment. This Short Course goes is directed towards introducing and training geoscientists in those new concepts and ideas.
Targeted audience:
Most, if not all, of the EGU GA attendants are potential participants, although we will target, mostly, early-career practitioners and scientists, with enough basic background not to be overly challenged in these theoretical and practical issues.
Learning objectives
After completing this course, participants
1. Will know the basic principles of ethics and how these lead to geoethics.
2. Will be aware of the dilemmas involved in making geoethical decisions.
3. Will have gained some experience in taking a geoethical approach to real-world cases.
Course Content:
1. From Ethics to Geoethics: definition, values, tools.
2. Responsible conduct of research and professionalism.
3. Tools for Confronting (geo)ethical dilemmas.
4. Geoethics for society: sustainable development and responsible mining.
5. Geoethics in natural hazards.
6. Geoethics in geoscience communication.
Time Schedule:
2-time blocks (1 hour 45 min x 2).
Preference for the afternoon a day after session Session EOS5.2 - Geoethics: ethical, social and cultural implications of geoscience knowledge, education, communication, research and practice. It could be one block overlapping afternoon not EOS5.2 poster sessions (from 15:45 up to 17:30) followed for the second slot after 17:30 the same day. Monday and Friday cannot be used.

Proposed Schedule and lecturers (backups considered but not listed):
First Block:
1. From Ethics to Geoethics: definition, values, tools. SILVIA PEPPOLONI
2. Responsible conduct of research and professionalism. VITOR CORREIA
3. Tools for Confronting (geo)ethical dilemmas. EDUARDO MARONE
Second Block:
4. Geoethics for society: sustainable development and responsible mining. JAN BOON
5. Geoethics in natural hazards. GIUSEPPE DI CAPUA
6. Geoethics in geoscience communication. NIC BILHAM

Public information:
Proposed Schedule and lecturers:
First Block:
1. From Ethics to Geoethics: definition, values, tools. SILVIA PEPPOLONI
2. Responsible conduct of research and professionalism. VITOR CORREIA
3. Tools for Confronting (geo)ethical dilemmas. EDUARDO MARONE
Second Block:
4. Geoethics for society: sustainable development and responsible mining. JAN BOON
5. Geoethics in natural hazards. GIUSEPPE DI CAPUA
6. Geoethics in geoscience communication. NIC BILHAM

The General Assembly is a busy time and seems difficult to take any time out for self-care during this week. But there are some quick & easy things you can do to support your mental & physical wellbeing – even beyond the GA. Join us for some lunchtime time out sessions
Session 1: Stretch & walk that stress away – We will spend approximately 15min stretching (no worries you won’t get sweaty) followed by a 30min walk in the park near the conference venue. This will give the opportunity to switch off & meet some people in an informal setting.
Please bring a packed lunch.

How do you peer-review? Apparently you are just supposed to miraculously know. Many of us never receive formal training in peer review, yet our peer-reviews are the cornerstone of scientific legitimacy. Constructive, respectful, coherent reviews nurture dialogue and advance research. So, how can we review papers in an efficient way? In this course, we suggest a process to help ensure that we give the authors the most useful feedback? We will hear from peer-review experts about how they go about the process and have an open discussion with the audience.

So, you've been given a time series, e.g, of hourly precipitation. That's great, but how can you generate as many as you like with exactly the same statistical properties? In this short course you'll find out.

You'll be introduced to a unified method of stochastic modelling and downscaling that makes feasible the generation of time series that preserve any desired marginal probability distribution and correlation structure including features like intermittency. The workshop includes a rapid introduction in the stochastic properties of hydroclimatic processes like precipitation, flooding, wind, temperature, etc., and highlights features like stationarity, cyclostationarity, marginal distributions, correlations structures and intermittency. We'll develop and apply on-the-spot and step-by-step: (a) the iconic AR(1) model, (b) higher order AR models as a method to approach arbitrary correlations structures; (c) the parent-Gaussian framework to simulate time series with any marginal distribution and correlation; and (d) intermittent time series modelling (like precipitation) at any time scale.

Early Career Scientists (ECS) are specifically welcome, and of course, this short course is organized in cooperation with the Young Hydrologic Society (YHS; younghs.com)!

Machine learning (ML) is a well-established approach to complex data analysis and modelling in different scientific fields and in many practical applications. Nowadays, ML algorithms are widely used as efficient tools in GI Sciences, remote sensing, environmental monitoring and space-time forecasting. The short course gives an overview of ML algorithms widely applied in data exploration and modelling of high dimensional and multivariate geoscientific data. The main topics of the course, presented within the framework of a generic data-driven methodology of modelling, include detection of patterns and predictability, feature selection, unsupervised, supervised and active learning, visual analytics. Real case studies consider environmental pollution, natural hazards and renewable energy resources assessments.

Research projects can be very messy. They start from an idea which then becomes a proposal and (hopefully) turns into a funded project which needs to be implemented and reported to the funding agency. Somewhen along the project lifetime it’s easy to lose track of the tasks and then get buried in paperwork when reporting time comes, especially if you are an early-career scientist with little or no experience in project management.
In this short course, experienced research project managers will share tips and tricks on how to successfully manage your scientific project like a pro. The course will cover the phases of a project lifetime, from concept to closure. The course will also offer an overview of some popular tools to keep track of deadlines, budget, risks and communications. Finally, the short course will also provide templates and guidelines for plans, meetings and report.

Why attend?

When the course was offered the first time at EGU18, it was attended by 80+ participants, most of whom early career scientists. The feedback was very positive with participants stating it was “clear and very informative”, “interesting” and with “many useful tips”, and that they “would recommend the session further to colleagues”. We have collected the participants’ suggestions and now offer an improved version of the same course with a more diverse training team covering a wide spectrum of expertise in project management.

Who is this training course for?

If you’re a scientist with no background in management this course is for you, as you will learn how to apply project management principles to a wide variety of research projects from field-trips to large international collaborations.
If you’re an early-career scientist this course is great to get a good grasp of the effort necessary to run scientific projects and learn how you can make your academic life easier from the start with smart, easy-to-use tools and templates.
If you’re an experienced research project manager we’d love to hear about your work and for you to share your tips and lessons learnt with us.

Number of expected participants: 80-90

Sexual and racial harassment and other hostile behaviors, including bullying and other forms of discrimination and incivilities, have wide-ranging detrimental effects on mental and physical wellbeing, including anxiety, depression, and physiological responses akin to trauma and can result in decreased motivation and work productivity. The tolerance of hostile behaviors can affect the community beyond the individual or individuals being targeted, and create negative work environments in entire research groups and departments. Traditional hierarchical structures within academia that create strong power imbalances allow for the potential for abuse in research and educational environments. Despite this, scientists often do not receive mentoring or training in how to address, respond to, and prevent these types of behaviors. Questions including “What behaviors are appropriate at work?”, “How do we create a work environment where people of different age, gender and sexual identity, culture, religion, ethnic origin and social class feel respected and included?” and “What can I do personally against bullying and sexual harassment at work?” are important topics that are not discussed enough in academia. Promoting conversations about these topics and identifying ways to prevent unwanted behavior are important steps towards building respectful and productive work environments.
This interactive short course explores academic practices and institutional structures that allow for harassment and other hostile behaviors to persist, discusses initiatives to address harassment as scientific misconduct, and provides training in personal intervention strategies to protect and support targets of harassment through real world scenarios. As a result of this session, participants will be able to identify:
(1) Different ways in which harassment can manifest in research environments;
(2) Strategies for bystander intervention, and
(3) Resources for cultural change in the office, laboratory, at conferences and in field settings.
This workshop was developed by ADVANCEGeo (serc.carleton.edu/advancegeo) with a U.S. National Science Foundation ADVANCE Partnership award in collaboration with the Earth Science Women's Network, the Association for Women Geoscientists and the American Geophysical Union. We welcome participants from a diverse background of Geosciences, career stages and countries in order to enable sharing of experiences and facilitate opportunities for cooperation among participating scientists.

Presenters: Erika Marín-Spiotta, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe

Details to presenters:
Erika Marin-Spiotta
Associate Professor
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Lead PI of ADVANCEGeo Partnership
Leadership Board Member Earth Science Women's Network

Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
Associate Professor
University of California-Merced
Co-PI of ADVANCEGeo Partnership
Leadership Board Member Earth Science Women's Network

Horizon 2020 is allocating almost €80 billion to research and innovation over 7 years (from 2014 to 2020). This money is distributed throughout various scientific divisions and provides a plethora of opportunities for scientists, not only within the EU but also throughout the world.

The magnitude of the Horizon 2020 Programme can, however, make the potential opportunities and openings offered to scientists, difficult to navigate.

This short course will highlight some of the EU funding opportunities offered to scientists at different career levels and the tools available to help them manage both the funding applications and projects. Following this, a scientist who has worked on a Horizon 2020 evaluation panel will speak about some of the best and worst things that scientists do in their funding applications.

The session will conclude by outlining some of the likely changes to EU research funding that the upcoming Horizon Europe framework programme will bring.

This session is open to all EGU General Assembly participants and is relevant for all divisions.

Public information:
Speakers
Chloe Hill: EGU Policy Officer
Bente Lilja Bye: Owner of BLB, an Earth observation research and consulting company
Jannick Ingrin: Director of research, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, (CNRS)
Nicole Biebow: Head of International Cooperation Unit at the Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung [polar and ocean science]

You are working towards you PhD degree, and you know you want to stay in academia. Or you have just completed your doctorate and you are seeking a new job whatever and wherever it will be. But you are asking yourself how to increase your chances? Apart from having a good research record, on what grounds are people hired, what qualifications does one need to have to get hired, and how can you develop a strategy that fits with your personality?
Well, welcome to the early career researcher (ECR) club. We will share our experience as a current postdoc ECR, an assistant professor, and a former experienced ECR that left the science-part of academia. We will talk about our common experience in failing to obtain grants and research positions, and in sometimes succeeding.

In this short course you will gain more insight into how you can plan your path, and what skills you need for this. We will use information from our networks on hiring decisions, and add our personal experience so you know of different methods on how to find out what is expected from you, and how to define your overarching research niche that broadens your appeal for both grants and research positions. In addition, you will gain tips and tricks on networking while staying close to yourself, and you will learn about the pros and cons of moving away from the country you are currently working in.

As such, the overall learning goal is to understand how you can be pro-active in guiding your own scientific career. This short course is particularly targeted to PhD students and for researchers in their early post-doctorate stage. It could also be relevant, however, for senior researchers who are interested in best mentoring and assisting ECRs.

Speakers:
Giovanni Mastrolonardo, post-doc reasearcher at University of Florence
Cathelijne Stoof, assistant professor at Wageningen UR
Peter Vermeulen. PhD education coordinator and PhD advisor

Mapping is a fundamental process to understand landscape diversity and how it changes across different times and scales. Despite the advances in mapping methods and the availability of co-variates, several challenges arise when mapping at different scales and data is very heterogeneous. Reducing mapping error and identifying the most accurate map is still a challenge, especially in areas with a high degree of human impact. The objective of this short course is to present the most advanced techniques to model environmental variables at different scales.

8:30-8:40: Course opening.

8:40-9:10: “Pedons to Pixels: Adapting to technological advances” David Lindbo, Director, Soil Science Division at USDA-NRCS, The USA

9:10-9:40: "Soil mapping and modelling in Europe" Panos Panagos, European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy

9:40-10:10: “Methods for mapping ecosystem services at multiple scales“. Miguel Villoslada, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia.

10:10-10:15: Course clausure.

This short course is supported by the project A09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0104 Lithuanian National Ecosystem Services Assessment and Mapping (LINESAM) is funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity “Improvement of researchers” qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects.

R is open-source, versatile and scales for analyses from just a few observations to big data and high-performance computing. Its growing, enthusiastic user-base (including hydrologists) is responsible for a continuous stream of ever more efficient and useful packages and workflows.

In this short course we wish to introduce and showcase to our peers a selection of recent developments, approaches and best practices that can be applied to data analyses in hydrology. The majority of these are readily transferred to other disciplines, hence interested participants in all fields of geoscience are welcome to join!

The course is delivered by guest lecturers with experience in flood risk modelling, streamflow and drought analyses, as well as ecohydrology. It is tailored for absolute newcomers, as well as advanced useRs, and provides a platform for open discussion. In its third installment, the course also continues to build up R resources for hydrologists that remain accessible in the future: https://github.com/hydrosoc.

This session is organised in cooperation with the Young Hydrologic Society (YHS; https://younghs.com/)

Public information:
R is open-source, versatile and scales for analyses from just a few observations to big data and high-performance computing. Its growing, enthusiastic user-base (including hydrologists) is responsible for a continuous stream of ever more efficient and useful packages and workflows.

In this short course we wish to introduce and showcase to our peers a selection of recent developments, approaches and best practices that can be applied to data analyses in hydrology. The majority of these are readily transferred to other disciplines, hence interested participants in all fields of geoscience are welcome to join!

The course is delivered by guest lecturers with experience in flood risk modelling, streamflow and drought analyses, as well as ecohydrology. Topics include:

- getting, cleaning and visualizing hydrological data
- automating data downloading and reporting
- Parallel and HPC computing for hydrologists
- developing custom apps for data exploration, analyses and visualization
- modelling of the hydrological cycle in snow dominated catchments
- open discussion and QA time

In its third installment, the course also continues to build up R resources for hydrologists that remain accessible in the future: https://github.com/hydrosoc.

This session is organised in cooperation with the Young Hydrologic Society (YHS; https://younghs.com/)

Scientific careers build on more than published articles. Young scientists often face questions that cannot be answered from a textbook. How do I achieve a good work-life balance? Should I move to this new job? How do I decide which projects to work on?

In this session, a successful scientist with many years of experience will provide a look back to give a personal perspective of her/his career. We will discuss how some decisions subsequently affected the career, which problems emerged, and how research is affected by life and vice versa. This account of a life and work will be a fascinating window to how a master scientist works, and there will be ample opportunity for questions from the audience to get advice on how to succeed in an academic career.

Public information:
Scientific careers build on more than published articles. Young scientists often face questions that cannot be answered from a textbook. How do I achieve a good work-life balance? Should I move to this new job? How do I decide which projects to work on? In this session, a successful scientist with many years of experience will give a look back to give a personal perspective of their career.

This year we are happy that Stuart Lane, Leader of the Research Group ALPine Water Ice Sediment and Ecology at University of Lausanne, has agreed to partake. Stuarts research focuses on the impacts of rapid climate change and human activities on Alpine landscapes, including glaciers, hydrology, geomorphology and aquatic ecosystems. His activities bridge multiple scientific fields but also contribute heavily to community-wide efforts such as editing the journal Earth Surface Processes and Landforms.

We will discuss how his decisions subsequently affected his career, which problems he had to face, and how research is affected by life and vice versa. His account of life and work will be a fascinating window to how a master scientist works, and there will be plenty of opportunities for questions from the audience to get advice on how to succeed in an academic career.

The course will be followed by an open drop-in session in the Networking and ECS zone (13:00, Red level), where Stuart will be joined by the GM division president and ECS representatives, to foster informal discussions.

R is a free and open software that gained paramount relevance in data science, including fields of Earth sciences such as climatology, hydrology, geomorphology and remote sensing. R heavily relies on thousands of user-contributed collections of functions tailored to specific problems, called packages. Such packages are self-consistent, platform independent sets of documented functions, along with their documentations, examples and extensive tutorials/vignettes, which form the backbone of quantitative research across disciplines.

This short course focuses on consolidated R users that have already written their functions and wish to i) start appropriately organizing these in packages and ii) keep track of the evolution of the changes the package experiences. While there are already plenty of introductory courses to R we identified a considerable gap in the next evolutionary step: writing and maintaining packages.

The course covers:
- reasons for building packages,
- the general package structure and their essential elements,
- efficient ways to write and document functions,
- adding and documenting example data sets and examples,
- approaches to checking, building and sharing packages,
- versioning of packages using git and GitHub.

The course is open to everyone who is interested in R and whose experiences go beyond basic scripting. Participants should be able to answer the following questions right away: What is the difference between data type and data structure? How do matrices differ from lists? How are S4-objects indexed and how are lists indexed? What is the difference between lapply() and mapply()? What are the functions missing(), on.exit() and return() good for?

State estimation theory in geosciences is commonly referred to as data assimilation. This term encompasses the entire sequence of operations that, starting from the observations of a system, and from additional statistical and/or dynamical information (such as an evolution model), provides the best possible estimate of its state. Data assimilation is common practice in numerical weather prediction but its application is becoming widespread in many other areas of climate, atmosphere, ocean and environment modelling; in all those circumstances where one intends to estimate the state of a large dynamical system based on limited information. While the complexity of data assimilation, and of the methods thereof, stands on its interdisciplinary nature across statistics, dynamical systems and numerical optimisation, when applied to geosciences an additional difficulty arises by the, constantly increasing, sophistication of the environmental models.

This overview course is aimed at geoscientists, who are confronted with the model-to-data fusion issue and would benefit from the application of data assimilation techniques, but so far have not delved into their conceptual and methodological complexities.

The course will provide first the formulation of the problem from a Bayesian perspective and will then present the two popular families of Gaussian based approaches, the Kalman-filter/-smoother and the variational methods. Ensemble based methods will then be considered, starting from the well known Ensemble Kalman filter, in its stochastic or deterministic formulation, and then the state-of-the-art ensemble-variational methods.
The course will focus on the specific challenges that data assimilation has encountered to deal with high-dimensional chaotic systems, such as the atmosphere and ocean, and the countermeasures that have been taken and which have driven the dramatic development of the field experienced in the last decades.
It will then conclude by presenting some of the nowadays active lines of development and current challenges, including coupled data assimilation and the particle filters.

People. Stakeholders. Other humans. If any of these may be involved in your work, and insight into what they may think or do could be useful, you are entering the realm of Social Science. This session is on the basics of social science methods, presented by geo-scientists with some experience of implementing Social Science investigations.

The content will include a selection from; data collection techniques, expectations from analysis, risk & ethics, and data storage. At least, there will be enough to demystify Social Science, and to get you started on an investigation. The focus will be on practicalities and examples from the published literature.

Examples of areas in which Social Science methods may be needed include 'Knowledge Exchange' - the process of co-designing, co-working, collaborating, and generally engaging with non-academic partners. Anything where you may need to formally report views of colleagues (e.g., expert elicitation).

AFTER the session, course materials will be available on the following link for a few weeks.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qOWhKgGxnLR3D-tZAkg8BbN_p1sOkuuQ?usp=sharing

Public information:
Social Science methods for natural scientists will run from 14:00 to 15:30, and comprise a single coherent course that is best experienced as a whole. So, please turn up at the start. Large parts are participatory, but absolutely no prior knowledge or experience of doing social science research is needed (indeed this is our working assumption).

The sessions structure is as follows:-

• 0. Introductions
• 1. Demystifying the concept of social science
• 2. Outlets & modes of publication
• 3. The basics: Ethics and doing …… (interactive & participatory)
• 4. Simple but useful: Mind-maps and dots – (interactive & participatory)
• 5. Selection of vignettes ….. i.e. examples of social science done by natural scientists.
• 6. Summary list of top tips

In times of climate change, current debates about carbon dynamics make waves in both the science and policy community. Several international policy frameworks* spearhead global efforts to streamline state governments, industry, and civil society into agreements for a sustainable development while mitigating climate change. The contribution of science to this process is critical to better prepare, implement, and measure the ambitious goals. Geoscientists from all fields are welcome to join this debate at the science-policy interface.

We will start with a scientific introduction on a topic of increasing focus in the policy-sphere; land and soil carbon dynamics, highlighting recent findings on carbon fluxes, whether it be source or sink. After discussing how these relate with policy guidelines, from our second speaker we will learn how scientific findings enter the policy arena, how policy organizations work, and why targeted-reports are crucially important for policy-makers. Our third speaker will present on how policies are turned into agreements at national or regional scales. To conclude, in an open discussion, the keynote speakers and audience will have the opportunity to discuss how the policy frameworks can boost science, which burning research needs are missing out, and how to explore career opportunities, especially for early career scientists. During the discussion, the expertise of the audience will be crowdsourced in an exercise on how to get involved and integrate your research ideas into policy-making decisions.

* like the Sustainable Development Goals, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the 4 per 1000 Initiative and others

Public information:
Speakers:
- Scientific perspective by Prof. Dr. Claire Chenu (AgroParisTech)
- European science-policy interface by Panos Panagos, PhD MBA (European Commission)
- IPCC science-policy interface by Chris Lennard, PhD (University of Cape Town, lead author chapter 2 IPCC Special Report on Land and Climate)
- Policy end users by Rebecca Hood-Nowotny, PD MBA Ph.D. (BOKU)

Science is vital to society. It allows civilisations to advance, economies to prosper and provides solutions to societal problems. Unfortunately, the benefits of science aren’t automatically understood by the wider public – they must be communicated!

Science communicated to citizens poorly (or not at all), can lead to a lack of trust in scientists and apathy towards research which has the potential to cause a plethora of issues (ranging from the anti-vax movement to less research funding from public institutions). On a more personal level, failure to communicate your research in a way that can be understood by the public may results being underutilised or your research being misquoted.

Communicating your research to citizens is obviously important but how to communicate effectively to a non-scientific community isn’t always so straightforward. The first half of this session will outline some tips to communicate your research with the public, the challenges that scientists may face and how these can be overcome.

The second half of the session will feature two speakers who are working to bridge the gap between research and society. They will outline some institutionalised routes that scientists can take to connect with citizens and provide examples of when it has had unexpected benefits.

Public information:
Speakers:
Chloe Hill: EGU Policy Officer
Rolf Hut: Researcher at Delft University of Technology with an interest in using existing technology in a new and innovative ways to measure the earth's weather and climate.
Terri Cook: A scientist by training and an award-winning freelance writer, editor and illustrator.
Alicia Newton: Director of Science and Communications at Geological Society of London.

Everyone loves a good story! Evidence suggests that public audiences are more responsive to science outreach when there is an engaging narrative and identifiable characters. Building an effective story is a great way to make your public engagement – in any form – stand out from the crowd and leave an impression on your audience. As scientists dealing with reports and journal papers, weaving a memorable story can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t need to be so difficult.

Building on our successful storytelling session at EGU 2018, this is an interactive workshop developed and led by a professional communications facilitator and writer, and academics with a range of earth science outreach experience. Through a combination of expert talks, informal discussion, and practical activities, the session will guide you through the importance of storytelling, how to find exciting stories within your own research, and the tools to build a memorable narrative arc.

Due to the practical element of the short course, spaces will be limited. All materials will be provided – just bring your imagination!

Finding the right balance between academic career and private life may be a major career challenge within an increasingly competitive work environment. In the modern academic world scientists are increasingly exposed to different forms of stress resulting from time constrains, low job security, financial pressure or mental overload. While some people thrive and excel in this demanding system, many scientists end their careers in academia because of fewer perspectives to reconcile professional success with family life and personal social demands.
This interactive short course seeks to share experiences and discuss strategies in how to combine and improve academic career, personal and family life and wellbeing. For this, the short course will be split into two parts. The first part will focus on management and improvement of personal and employee´s wellbeing, creativity and innovative power, with keynote presentations given by a series of invited speakers from the private sector and sociology. After the talks the participants will discuss in smaller break-out groups the presented strategies and how to implement these ideas. In the second part, a panel of invited Geoscientists will share their own experiences of combining academic career, workload and family responsibilities. Following short presentations by the panellists, there will the opportunity for a Q&A session and discussion with the whole audience.

In this short course we will hear from people that have built peer-support networks at different levels – from university level postdoc forum to a global early career scientist (ECS) network like the EGU ECS representatives. We will share best practices and tips and tricks how to get started with your own network – no matter how big or small.

The General Assembly is a busy time and seems difficult to take any time out for self-care during this week. But there are some quick & easy things you can do to support your mental & physical wellbeing – even beyond the GA. Join us for some lunchtime time out sessions

Session 2: Mindfulness introduction or Letting go of the Banana – This session will introduce you to mindfulness and we will spend 15min with a guided exercise before discussing other techniques. This will then be followed by a walk in the nearby park for those that are interested. Bring a packed lunch

Publication in Open Access is gradually becoming the norm. EGU has been fostering Open Access journals since 2001. But our journals go beyond open access publication. We provide an Open Discussion Forum for open review, open discussion and transparent evaluation. We also foster the objective of open science, whereby all relevant data are shared openly
with the community. This Short Course is meant for potential authors in the EGU journals to discuss the procedures and advantages of our open access publishing and the general move to Open Science. We'll also provide general tips and ways for scientists to get involved.

Do you consider yourself a science communicator? Does your research group or institution participate in public engagement activities? Have you ever evaluated or published your education and outreach efforts?

Scientists communicate to non-peer audiences through numerous pathways including websites, blogs, public lectures, media interviews, and educational collaborations. A considerable amount of time and money is invested in this public engagement and these efforts are to a large extent responsible for the public perception of science. However, few incentives exist for researchers to optimize their communication practices to ensure effective outreach. This session encourages critical reflection on science communication practices and provides an opportunity for science communicators to share best practice and experiences with evaluation and research in this field.

Following the success of previous years, this session will explore reasons for the under-representation of different groups (cultural, national and gender) by welcoming debate among scientists, decision-makers and policy analysts in the geosciences.

The session will focus on both obstacles that contribute to under-representation and on best practices and innovative ideas to remove those obstacles. Contributions are solicited on the following topics:

- Role models to inspire and further motivate others (life experience and/or their contributions to promote equality)
- Imbalanced representation, preferably supported by data, for awards, medals, grants, high-level positions, invited talks and papers
- Perceived and real barriers to inclusion (personally, institutionally, culturally)
- Recommendations for new and innovative strategies to identify and overcome barriers
- Best practices and strategies to move beyond barriers, including:
• successful mentoring programmes
• networks that work
• specific funding schemes
• examples of host institutions initiatives

This session is co-organised with AGU and the European Research Council (ERC).

Geoscience witnessed a flurry of major breakthroughs in the 19th and 20th century, leading to major shifts in our understanding of the Earth system. Such breakthroughs included new concepts, such as plate tectonics and sequence stratigraphy, and new techniques, like radiometric dating and remote sensing. However, the pace of these discoveries has declined, raising the question of whether we have now made all of the key geoscience breakthroughs. Put another way, have we reached “Peak Geoscience” and are we now in a time of synthesis, incremental development and consolidation? Or are there new breakthroughs on the horizon? If so what will these developments be?

One key remaining challenge is the management of the inherent uncertainties in geoscience. Despite the importance of understanding uncertainty, it is often neglected by interpreters, geomodellers and experimentalists. With ever-more powerful computers and the advent of big data analytics and machine learning, our ability to quantify uncertainty in geological interpretation, models and experiments will be crucial.

This session aims to bring together those with an interest in the future of geoscience. We welcome contributions from any field of geoscience which either demonstrate a new, disruptive geoscience breakthrough or provide insights into where the next breakthrough will come. We encourage contributions associated with uncertainty in geoscience models and data, machine learning or big data analytics.

It is becoming increasingly evident that both the scientific and the artist communities have a shared interest and responsibility in raising awareness of the limits to our planetary boundaries and the fragile stability and resilience of our Earth-System. In the past, this issue has been addressed mostly through traditional educational methods. However, there is mounting evidence that science-art collaborations can play a pivotal and vital role in this context by co-creating new ways of research and by stimulating the discussion by providing emotional and human context through the arts. This session, already in its fifth edition, has presented since interesting and progressive science-art collaborations across a number of disciplines, focused on presenting Earth sciences content. We have witnessed that climate change, natural hazards, meteorology, palaeontology, earthquakes, volcanoes and geology have been successfully presented through music, visual art, photography, theatre, literature, digital art, where the artists explored new practices and methods in their work with scientists but also where scientists have been inspired by artists in their research, and finally truly trans-disciplinary co-creation of Sci-Art work have emerged.

If you look up the definition of outreach you are likely to find something along the lines of “an effort made by an organisation or group to connect its ideas or practices to other groups, specific audiences to the general public”. Much has been made of outreach taking an educational component, or moving towards a more two-way street in which outreach is considered as engagement rather than solely dissemination or teaching.
Research on successful outreach suggests that it will be more effective if the people you are targeting can see the relevance to themselves, and that narrower outreach targets are more effective than all-encompassing groups: If we try to create a message that speaks to everyone we will reach no one. But if we take one step back – what do we, as those trying to develop outreach activities, or respond to the compulsory aspect of outreach activities within our funded research, see as “outreach”?
For example, a scientist working on research that has an outreach component as part of the funding – do they see it the same way as museums arranging public talks or lecture series? Do science communicators see it the same way as those engaged with stakeholders? Has the term “Outreach” become representative of so many different activities that we no longer have a common dictionary or understanding of what we are trying to achieve within geoscience? Can we comfortably continue to sit in the middle ground between science policy (working with stakeholders), science education (designing classroom activities and games) and science communication (press releases and social media activities)?
In this session we would like to explore the definition of outreach and what it means to you, and so put outreach into context as an integral part of the research process. The convenors also want to address how we continue disseminating geoscience activities from international scientific programs such as IODP and ICDP.

Modern research programs in Earth Sciences at European as well as international level are challenged by an increasing requirement for inter- and trans-disciplinarity, societal relevance, and educational outreach as well as market oriented applications. Projects and project managers need to adapt their strategies to these new demands and incorporate innovative, yet sound and coherent, project management practices. As key contact points of often large collaborative research programs, it is indispensable for project managers to have a credible forum with which to coherently exchange ideas on relevant practices and methodologies, learn about new developments on funder policies related to the science-society interface, and discuss how to enhance the project outcomes and impact. A close dialogue among research project managers and with key stakeholders is mandatory in order to ensure the effective use of the project results for higher societal impact and public awareness.

The session aims to bring together project managers from Europe and beyond, on an interactive discussion platform for exchanging knowledge, experience, and best practices for effective project management. Moreover, the session is also an opportunity for researchers to gain knowledge for the administrative part of projects and proposals.

This session is directed at project managers, coordinators, researchers, and project management practitioners in general who are keen to exchange experiences and increase their expertise through interaction with the European project management community. We invite contributions from all EGU scientific divisions and beyond, encouraging in particular those working with transdisciplinary projects where research meets the public, industry, and policy makers. Contributions are invited on a wide range of topics including, but not limited to, those addressing the following questions:

• How to design a project structure to optimise project implementation and impact?
• What are “best practices” in coordinating large international consortia?
• How can we maintain continuity of project management expertise with project managers mostly employed on non-permanent contracts?
• Which local, national and international networks of EU project managers exist, and are they useful?
• How to identify organisational pitfalls?
• How to deal with the project partners’ different priorities, e.g., interdisciplinary and academic-private sector?
• How to effectively engage non-research stakeholders to optimise project contributions?
• What project management concepts/procedures can be transferred from other sectors (e.g., industry) or social sciences (e.g., economics) to Earth sciences?
• What are the best tools for transferring knowledge from research to the private sector, decision makers, and the public in general?
• How can project results and impact be effectively disseminated to the wider community and how can their importance be highlighted to funding agencies?
• What lessons can be learned from “failed” projects?

Climate education is often underestimated, both in terms of the role it can play in meeting the challenges of climate change, and with regards the difficulty of delivering it effectively. Climate change poses not only interdisciplinary scientific challenges around understanding the problem, but also socio-economic, technological, ethical and political challenges to implement appropriate responses at local to global scales. To rise to these challenges there is a growing need for climate education approaches and resources that adopt integrative learning objectives and pedagogically effective practices. Key objectives of climate education include furthering learners’ content knowledge of climate science and options for action (e.g., climate feedbacks, impacts, adaptation measures, renewable energy), cultivating science and communication skills (e.g., quantitative literacy, critical thinking, writing to inform), and initiating positive attitudes and actions (e.g., empathy and behavioural change).

This session invites contributions on climate education and outreach across all age levels (primary, high school and adult), settings (formal and informal) and approaches (e.g., websites, lab demos, serious games, pedagogic research, course design, citizen science, filmmaking, art). Contributions related to upper primary and middle school levels and those concerning adaptation of technical scientific materials for teaching, are particularly encouraged. The session is an opportunity for educators, resource developers, pedagogical experts and scientists to network and share ideas and research on climate education.

The geosciences will play a major role in addressing some of the fundamental societal and economic challenges of the 21st Century. Delivering on this responsibility requires specialists from industry, academia and government to work together to effectively engage with various public stakeholder audiences. Recent examples of communication around high-profile contested geoscience industries have highlighted the need to engage with diverse public audiences early and openly, but this is often easier said than done. To ensure effective communication, and so to enable progress, geoscientists need to learn how to recast their knowledge into a citizen context.
This session will explore the challenges of communicating the controversial, high-profile and often increasingly politicised geoscience topics that are being discussed across Europe and the rest of the world, critique current practice and propose new strategies for public engagement in contested geoscience. We invite participants from across all sectors, including industry, government and social science, to submit abstracts on the communication of new and controversial geological topics; including geothermal heat or power, carbon capture and storage, geological energy storage, oil and gas extraction, radioactive waste disposal and mineral resource extraction. We are particularly interested in case studies and narratives that examine issues of risk perception, trust, the role of experts, participatory engagement, the concept of the social license to operate, public-led science and the co-creation of communications.

Those interested in submitting to this session might also be interested in the short course SC2.8: Science communication on hard mode: risk, uncertainty, disasters and controversies: https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2019/session/30897

Geoscientists of all disciplines handle professional issues that have ethical, social and cultural implications. The ethical frameworks for research and practices, which help scientists of all disciplines to cope with ethical dilemmas and their societal responsibility, evolve steadily. Increasingly, geoscientists are aware of their ethical responsibilities - towards themselves, colleagues, society and the environment. Regularly, geoscientists put their knowledge at the service of society, communicate it effectively, and foster public trust in science-based solutions. Geoscience knowledge (and related expert advice) is vital for informed decision-making; hence the importance of education at all levels and capability building of citizens to participate at the quest and implementation of solutions to geoscience problems. As evolved during the last decade, Geoethics provides an open framework for such concerns, by discussing values underpinning appropriate behaviors and practices, wherever human activities interact with the Earth system.
Geoethics includes research integrity and professional deontology and the role of geoscientists in exploration and use of geo-resources (including water and soil) while meeting high standards of environmental protection. Evidently, geoethics deals with harassment, bullying and discrimination in the geosciences, e.g, on grounds of gender, ethnicity or disability. In fact these deplorable behaviors and the retaliation that can derive from them, compromise the freedom to follow ethical practices in one's profession.
Geoethics refers to the role of geosciences in the economic and social development of low/high-income countries, in sustainable development, in the defense of the society against natural risks, and the mitigation of the impact of human activities on human wellbeing and Earth system dynamics.
Geoethics relates with social sciences and humanities to further science communication, public awareness of geosciences, geo-education for the citizens, appreciation of geoheritage (and geoparks) to raise perception of the importance of Earth system for our lives and cultures.
Geoethics recognizes geosciences to be a public good that contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals, as recommended by the United Nations. Hence, geoscience insights shall be shared effectively for the benefit and progress of society. Therefore, geoscientists contribute to the handling of important societal problems, to grow public awareness and knowledge of the geosciences relevant to people’s lives.
The conveners invite abstracts on ethical, social and cultural implications of geoscience, including case studies. The aim of the session is to develop ethical and social perspectives on the challenges arising from human interaction with natural systems, to complement technical approaches and solutions, and to define an ethical framework for geoscientists' research and practice in addressing these challenges. Contributions from Early Career Scientists are encouraged, explicitly.

Wed, 10 Apr, 12:45-14:00 / Room E1

Public information:
The dialogue between scientists, institutions, policymakers and the general public is widely recognised as an essential step towards a fair and sustainable society. Nowadays, more than ever in human history, international cooperation is an essential requirement for protecting the planet, advancing science and ensuring an equitable development of the global economy.
Despite its importance, the above dialogue can be a challenge for scientists, who often cannot find a productive connection with governments and politicians. Scientific associations are a key link between researchers and policy makers, as they have the potential to establish a durable and profitable connection with institutions.
The EGU elected the dialogue with society as one of its priority missions. At its General Assembly, the EGU is launching an innovative symposium format, Science and Society (SCS), to host scientific forums specifically dedicated to connecting with high-level institutions and engaging the public and policymakers.
The conversation with Ilaria Capua and Mario Monti will focus on science and politics with a global perspective, and the impact of populism on European integrity and therefore scientific research. The discussion will elaborate on optimal strategies to deliver topical and clear scientific messages to key institutions.
Ilaria Capua is a virologist best known for her research on influenza viruses and her efforts promoting open access to genetic information on emerging viruses. In 2006, Science reported on Capua’s effort towards open access science, stating that she had “renewed the debate about how to balance global health against scientists’ needs to publish and countries’ demands for secrecy". She has been a member of the Italian parliament from 2013 to 2016 and a fake news victim. She is currently a full professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, US, and director of the UF One Health Center of Excellence.
Mario Monti served as a European Commissioner from 1995 to 2004, with responsibility for the internal market, services, customs, taxation and competition. He was Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a government of national unity to cope with the Italian debt crisis. Monti has also been Rector and is currently President of Bocconi University in Milan. His publications deal mainly with monetary and financial economics, public finance, European integration, competition policy. He is currently lifetime member of the Italian Senate.
During the conversation, Ilaria Capua and Mario Monti will present their vision with two 15-minute talks that will be followed by 20 minutes dedicated to questions from the audience and answers.

Are you an early career scientist at the General Assembly? Come along and meet your early career scientist representatives, find out what the EGU does for early career scientist and take the chance to become more involved in the Union. This forum is a great opportunity to let us know what you would like from the EGU, find out how you can get involved in the Assembly and meet other scientists in the EGU early career scientist community.

NOTE: EGU defines an Early Career Scientist (ECS) as an undergraduate or postgraduate (Masters/PhD) student or a scientist who has received his or her highest degree (BSc, MSc, or PhD) within the past seven years*.

* Provided parental leave fell into that period, up to one year of parental leave time may be added per child, where appropriate.

Working in academia is a far cry from your average 9 to 5, and early career scientists (ECS) are often faced with questions that cannot be answered from a textbook. How do I balance research with other activities like science outreach or demonstrating? How do I strike a good work-life balance? Where should I focus my research? Alternatively, the academic route may not be for you and you may want to explore other geoscience careers, but aren't quite sure where to start.

This EGU-hosted reception, with drinks and light snacks, aims to bring together ECS, award-winning researchers, EGU Council members, and selected industry partners. The aim is all for participants to interact and establish connections in an informal setting. This reception offers an opportunity for ECS to find answers to the questions above and for established scientists, in and out of academia, to share their experience with young researchers in the early stages of their career.

Join the network to promote and support diversity and equality of opportunities in the geosciences.

At the Ocean Sciences division meeting we will present awards, review our activities, share information with the ocean science community, and discuss how EGU can better meet your needs. Everyone is very welcome, from all career stages.

Public information:
At the Ocean Sciences division meeting we will present division awards, review our activities, share information with the ocean science community, and discuss how EGU can better meet your needs. Everyone is very welcome, from all career stages. Free lunch!

Preprints and preprint servers have been proven to revolutionise and disrupt the standard approaches to scholarly publishing in many disciplines. Yet, the concept of preprints is new to many researchers in Earth Sciences. In this townhall we will introduce the general concepts of preprints and preprint servers and their benefits for the researcher, illustrating this with a demonstration of EarthArXiv, a community-led preprint server. The general introduction will be followed by an interactive discussion on preprints, the exchange of experiences and an outlook to the future of publishing.

The EGU General Assembly is the largest geoscience conference in Europe, attracting towards 15,000 participants. This large number of attendees implies a substantial environment impact, caused by travel, accommodation, food, and of course conference organisation.

In this Townhall meeting we will give information on measures taken so far by the EGU to reduce the environmental footprint of the General Assembly. We would then like to solicit suggestions for ways forward to further reduce the carbon footprint of the conference. We explicitly devote ample time to a discussion on new green measures.

Measures taken over the last years include:
- The posibility to offset the CO2 emissions from travel upon registration to the General Assembly. In 2018 nearly 17,000 euro was raised which was donated to a Carbon Footprint project that aims to reduce deforestation in Brazil.
- EGU encourages to travel by train to Vienna when possible. In 2018 the Swiss Federal Railways SBB offered a discount to GA attendees and EGU continues negotiations with other railway companies.
- The Austria Center Vienna (ACV) has a number of green measures in place, including energy-saving LEDs, a solar array to heat the water used in the kitchens and toilets, and working with an in-house catering company compliant with green standards.
- EGU no longer offer single-use water bottles at coffee breaks. Instead water fountains throughout the building can be used to fill multiple-use bottles.
- In 2019, the paper programme book will be replaced by online alternatives.

Public information:
Speakers for the townhall on the carbon footprint of EGU's General Assembly:

1. Martin Rasmussen (Managing Director Copernicus.org):
Measures taken by the EGU General Assembly organisers

2. Susanne Baumann-Söllner (CEO of the Austria Centre Vienna):
Measures taken by the Austria Centre Vienna

3. Denise Cosulich (Director Annual Meetings & Industry Relations) and Maria Doppler (Green Event Coordinator):
Experiences and tips from the European Society of Radiology congress as green-certified meeting

4. Olaf Eisen (President of the Division on Cryospheric Science):
A discussion of train travel to the General Assembly

Followed by an open discussion and a call for tips on new measures to investigate.

Since 2007, the European Research Council (ERC), has had the mission to encourage excellent researchers in Europe through competitive funding, by supporting top researchers across all fields and of any nationality.

In more ten years, the ERC has funded over 9,000 researchers. It has created career opportunities for some 50,000 research staff, resulting in numerous scientific breakthroughs and leading to over 100,000 international scientific journal articles.

This Town Hall will be an opportunity to get a flavour of the ERC projects funded in the various disciplines of geosciences, through short presentations by grantees providing an overview of the major achievements. All researchers interested in innovative research are encouraged to attend.

Public information:
Speakers:
'A new era for observing glaciers from space' - Andreas Kääb, University of Oslo
'History of sedimentary quartz grains: from atoms and radiation towards reconstructing past climate change' - Alida Timar-Gabor, Babeș-Bolyai University
'Earthquakes... in the laboratory' - Alexandre Schubnel, Ecole Normale Superieure
'Methane related iron reduction in sediments' - Orit Sivan, Ben Gurion University of the Negev

Did you know that every year meteorites with a mass equal to a million elephants enter the atmosphere (and BURN)! Or that all the output of the combined American breweries is about 2000 times as small as the discharge of the Rhine in low flow?

Swimming pools, elephants, school busses, light “as bright as the sun on a summer day”. They may not be in the official international system of units and they are definitely not metric (one school bus is about three normal cars…) but they are appealing because they elude to the human measure.

When trying to communicate your research it is often good to relate to the human measure. Some experienced science communicators have a natural knack for finding a human-relatable quantity that communicate easily to people outside of their field. Others may want to communicate in human relatable quantities but lack the network of peers to help them get going. All of you are welcome in the "beyond the metric" community!

In this lighthearted community gathering on the last day of the assembly we will help new community members translate their research results in the most outlandish, yet fun, units possible.

Join our community and go beyond the metric system!

The mission of 500 Women Scientists is to serve society by making science open, inclusive, and accessible. Join us to grow our network in Europe.

Geosites are geological features and landforms with specific values. We want to bring interested parties to discuss geosites and their use and evaluation in 1) protected areas including UNESCO Global Geoparks and World Heritage sites, and 2) also the reactivation of the IUGS Global Geosite initiative with greater international cooperation, as suggested by the IUCN Geoheritage Specialist Group, and the IAG geodiversity and geomorphosite working groups.

Join us to help put some of the world's most vulnerable places on the map. A mapathon is a mapping marathon, where we get together to contribute to OpenStreetMap - the world's free map.
No experience is necessary - just bring your laptop and we will provide the training. Learn more about crowdsourcing, open data and humanitarian response - we will also provide some tips for how to host a mapathon at your home institution.

The Games Night is a space to gather, socialise, and play some games. The catch is that all the games are based on Geoscience! Bring along your own games or try one of the others in the session and meet the people who created them. This will also be your chance to try games featured in the Games for Geoscience session.

Public information:
Confirmed games include -
Breath of the Wild, HEAT, Flash Flood! Vol. 2, Resilience, Druids & Defences, Wanted: Head of the Centre for Flood Forecasts (IMPREX serious game), Rivers Top Trumps.

Job seekers: the stage is yours! Prepare a 2-minute pitch for your potential employers on what are your interests, skills, and talents. No subscription is needed, just show up!

Founded in 2004 in Ferrara, Italy, MEEO Srl (and its sister company SISTEMA GmbH) activities aim at facilitating geospatial data access with main focus in satellite-based products. since 2006 MEEO is a consolidated partner of the European Space Agency and provides its services to public and private entities. With strong expertise in earth observation and climate data exploitation services, MEEO and SISTEMA have been actively working for years with the most relevant academic, research and innovative public and private institutions in Europe. Strict contacts with University and Research Institutes ensure the maximum level of knowledge transfer and on-the-edge technologies availability is the philosophy that MEEO and SISTEMA pursue any time the improvement of an existing product / service or the development of a new one is needed. The international working environment, the unstructured team organization and the interaction with the most challenging domains of the forthcoming year like the climate change, the Big Data and the space economy, make MEEO and SISTEMA the ideal companies for young, motivated and ambitious people who aim at continuously growing its professional background. Working with us means essentially working as research and technology development performer with all the challenges annexed.

Software developer functions:
- To become software developer at MEEO/SISTEMA means to get involved in a team of multi-disciplinary skilled professionals where each person has his own specific role.
The responsibilities of the software developer are design, development and implementation of algorithms to extract information from satellite data using different programming languages.

Educational & Experience Requirements:
- B.sc or M.Sc. degree with expertise in information technology (Computer Science is preferred)
- Strong working knowledge of Python fundamentals is essential.
- Programming skills in different common languages (C/C++, Java, Xml)
- Web API applications
- Knowledge of Unix/Linux operating system
- Knowledge of database application (PostGreSQL, My SQL)
- Geospatial data handling
- Believer in lifelong learning
- Other requirements
- Essential - Excellent language skills in English (spoken and written)
- Good relationship attitude
- Willingness for short period abroad (conferences, workshops, project meetings).

General information:
- Normal working time: 9 to 17
- Location: Ferrara (Italy) / Vienna (Austria)
- Discipline: IT

Security:
All applicants must be eligible to live and work in the EU. Documented evidence of eligibility will be required from candidates as part of the recruitment process.

How to apply:
send your CV and Motivation Letter (both in English) to career@meeo.it / career@sistema.at

Website:
www.meeo.it and www.sistema.at

The State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, invites applications to faculty positions in the following fields:
- Hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics
- Harbor, port and coastal engineering
- Estuarine and Coastal morphodynamics
- Marine geology
- Physical oceanography
- Chemical oceanography and biogeochemistry
- Biological oceanography and ecosystem dynamics
- Coastal ecosystems and aquatic environments
- Estuarine and coastal observation system
- Numerical modeling
- Other relevant research topics

Competitive annual salaries ranged between $30,000~$150,000 from Post-Docs to Professors, in addition to a starting fund for research will be provided.

Interested candidates are invited to send a PDF file including curriculum vitae, a cover letter with future research interests and plans, and the names and addresses of three referees to: rczp@sklec.ecnu.edu.cn.

Please send your CV and supporting documents to Ms. Hong Jiang (rczp@sklec.ecnu.edu.cn)

Website: http://english.sklec.ecnu.edu.cn/node/5508

The IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) was established in January, 2017 as the only Earth Science center within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS). ICCP expands the frontiers of earth system science by conducting cutting edge research into climate dynamics with the goal of improving our physical understanding of natural climate variability and externally forced climate change. Under the direction of Prof. Axel Timmermann, ICCP scientists study coupled climate processes across the hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and anthroposphere.

Postdoctoral Fellow Positions available on:
- Paleo climate-genomics in Africa
- East Asian paleo summer monsoon
- Climate/ Human migration modeling
- The forced response of the ENSO-Indian Monsoon teleconnection
- The forced response of climatic extreme value statistics


A Project Leader available on:
- Polar climate research


How to apply:
Please submit a cover letter, including a statement of your research interests, curriculum vitae, the names of 2 references, and possibly three publications to Ms. U-Jeong Seo (u_jeongs@pusan.ac.kr).

Website: iccp.ibs.re.kr

Boost the IMPACT and the evaluation of your next research grant! Ivo Grigorov, Grants Expert at Danish Technical University (DTU Aqua) offers 30 min individual consultations on how to integrate Open Science strategically in your research design, and gain evaluation points in the process. Bring a proposal draft and an Open Mind!

Geoscience witnessed a flurry of major breakthroughs in the 19th and 20th century, leading to major shifts in our understanding of the Earth system. Such breakthroughs included new concepts, such as plate tectonics and sequence stratigraphy, and new techniques, like radiometric dating and remote sensing. However, the pace of these discoveries has declined, raising the question of whether we have now made all of the key geoscience breakthroughs. Put another way, have we reached “Peak Geoscience” and are we now in a time of synthesis, incremental development and consolidation? Or are there new breakthroughs on the horizon? If so what will these developments be?

One key remaining challenge is the management of the inherent uncertainties in geoscience. Despite the importance of understanding uncertainty, it is often neglected by interpreters, geomodellers and experimentalists. With ever-more powerful computers and the advent of big data analytics and machine learning, our ability to quantify uncertainty in geological interpretation, models and experiments will be crucial.

This session aims to bring together those with an interest in the future of geoscience. We welcome contributions from any field of geoscience which either demonstrate a new, disruptive geoscience breakthrough or provide insights into where the next breakthrough will come. We encourage contributions associated with uncertainty in geoscience models and data, machine learning or big data analytics.

Join us to help put some of the world's most vulnerable places on the map. A mapathon is a mapping marathon, where we get together to contribute to OpenStreetMap - the world's free map.
No experience is necessary - just bring your laptop and we will provide the training. Learn more about crowdsourcing, open data and humanitarian response - we will also provide some tips for how to host a mapathon at your home institution.

The Games Night is a space to gather, socialise, and play some games. The catch is that all the games are based on Geoscience! Bring along your own games or try one of the others in the session and meet the people who created them. This will also be your chance to try games featured in the Games for Geoscience session.

Public information:
Confirmed games include -
Breath of the Wild, HEAT, Flash Flood! Vol. 2, Resilience, Druids & Defences, Wanted: Head of the Centre for Flood Forecasts (IMPREX serious game), Rivers Top Trumps.

The geosciences are currently used by policymakers in a wide variety of areas to help guide the decision-making process and ensure that the best possible outcome is achieved. While the importance of scientific advice and the use of evidence in the policymaking process is generally acknowledged by both policymakers and scientists, how scientific advice is integrated and who is responsible is still unclear.

EU Policymakers frequently highlight institutionalised processes for integrating scientific advice into policy such as European Commission's Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (SAM) and the EU Commission’s Register of Expert Groups. But how efficient and accessible are these mechanisms really?

Some emphasise the need for scientists to have their own policy networks in place so that they can share their research outcomes with policymakers who can then use it directly or pass it on to those responsible for relevant legislation. But from funding applications to teaching and even outreach activities – scientists are often already overloaded with additional tasks on top of their own research. Can they really be held responsible for keeping up with the latest policy news and maintaining a constantly changing network of policymakers as well?

This debate will feature a mixed panel of policymakers and geoscientists who have previously given scientific advice. Some key questions that the panel will debate include:
• How can the accessibility of current EU science-advisory mechanisms be improved?
• Are scientists doing enough to share their research?
• And who is responsible for ensuring that quality scientific evidence is used in policymaking?

Speakers will be encouraged to explain any science advisory mechanism that they highlight (e.g. SAM) to ensure that the debate is understood by all those in attendance.

While the panel and subsequent debate will have an EU focus, it is likely that many of the issues discussed will be applicable to countries around the world.

Public information:
David Mair: Head of Unit, Knowledge for Policy: Concepts & Methods, Joint Research Centre
Paul Watkinson: Chair of SBSTA (Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice)
Kasey White: Director for Geoscience Policy, Geological Society of America
Günter Blöschl: Head of Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Engineering Hydrology, Vienna University of Technology
Detlef van Vuuren: Professor in Integrated Assessment of Global Environmental Change at the Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University

Plastic pollution is recognized as one of the most serious and urgent problems facing our planet. Rates of manufacture, use and ultimately disposal of plastics continue to soar, posing an enormous threat to the planet’s oceans and rivers and the flora and fauna they support. There is an urgent need for global action, backed by sound scientific understanding, to tackle this problem.

This Union Symposium will address the problems posed to our planet by plastic pollution, and examine options for dealing with the threat.

Over the whole Earth history, the climate has encountered tipping points, shifting from one regulated system to the other. This tilting motion affects both climate and the carbon cycle and has played a major role in the evolution of the Earth climate, at all timescales. Earth History has been ponctuated by large climate changes and carbon cycle reorganizations, from large climate variations occurring in deep times (snowball events, terrestrialisation, Mesozoic and early Cenozoic warm episodes, quaternary glacial cycles…) to past and on-going abrupt events. Many potential triggers of those climate and carbon cycle shifts have been proposed and tested through modeling studies, and against field data, such as those directly or indirectly linked with tectonics (plate motion, orogenesis, opening/closing of seaways, weathering…) and orbital forcing. Given that the Earth climate is currently experiencing an unprecedented transition under anthropogenic pressure, understanding the mechanisms behind the scene is crucial.

Our aim is to point out the most recent results concerning how a complex system as the climate of the Earth has undergone many tipping points and what is the specificity of the future climate changes. Therefore, within this session, we would like to encourage talks discussing advances in our record and modeling of the forces triggering and amplifying the changes of Earth climate and carbon cycle across spatial and temporal scales.

"What counts may not be countable and what is countable may not count". Assessments of scientists and their institutions tend to focus on easy-to-measure metrics related to research outputs such as publications, citations, and grants. However, society is increasingly dependent on Earth science research and data for immediate decisions and long-term planning. There is a growing need for scientists to communicate, engage, and work directly with the public and policy makers, and practice open scholarship, especially regarding data and software. Improving the reward and recognition structure to encourage broader participation of scientists in these activities must involve societies, institutions, and funders. EGU, AGU, and JPGU have all taken steps to improve this recognition, from developing new awards to starting journals around the topic of engaging the public to implementing FAIR data practices in the Earth, environmental, and space sciences, but far more is needed for a broad cultural change. How can we fairly value and credit harder-to-measure, these less tangible contributions, compared to the favoured metrics? And how can we shift the emphasis away from the "audit culture" towards measuring performance and excellence? This session will present a distinguished panel of stakeholders discussing how to implement and institutionalize these changes.

Public information:
Moderator:
Robin Bell - AGU President

Co-Moderator:
Helen M. Glaves - President of the EGU ESSI Division

Panelists:

Liz Allen – Director of Strategic Initiatives at F1000
Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Policy Institute, King's College London

Stephen Curry – Professor and Assistant Provost, Imperial College London
Chair, Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)

Demetris Koutsoyiannis – Professor and former Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Technical University of
Athens, Past Editor in Chief of the Hydrological Sciences Journal of IAHS

R is a free and open software that gained paramount relevance in data science, including fields of Earth sciences such as climatology, hydrology, geomorphology and remote sensing. R heavily relies on thousands of user-contributed collections of functions tailored to specific problems, called packages. Such packages are self-consistent, platform independent sets of documented functions, along with their documentations, examples and extensive tutorials/vignettes, which form the backbone of quantitative research across disciplines.

This short course focuses on consolidated R users that have already written their functions and wish to i) start appropriately organizing these in packages and ii) keep track of the evolution of the changes the package experiences. While there are already plenty of introductory courses to R we identified a considerable gap in the next evolutionary step: writing and maintaining packages.

The course covers:
- reasons for building packages,
- the general package structure and their essential elements,
- efficient ways to write and document functions,
- adding and documenting example data sets and examples,
- approaches to checking, building and sharing packages,
- versioning of packages using git and GitHub.

The course is open to everyone who is interested in R and whose experiences go beyond basic scripting. Participants should be able to answer the following questions right away: What is the difference between data type and data structure? How do matrices differ from lists? How are S4-objects indexed and how are lists indexed? What is the difference between lapply() and mapply()? What are the functions missing(), on.exit() and return() good for?

In today’s changing world we need to tap the potential of every talented mind to develop solutions for a sustainable future. The existence of under-representation of different groups (cultural, national and gender) remains a reality across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM fields) around the world, including the geosciences. This Union Symposium will focus on remaining obstacles that contribute to these imbalances, with the goal of identifying best practices and innovative ideas to overcome obstacles.

EGU is welcoming six high-level speakers from the funding agencies and research centres on both sides of the Atlantic related to geosciences to present efforts and discuss initiatives to tackle both implicit and explicit biases. Speakers are:

Jill Karsten, AGU Diversity and Inclusion Task Force (confirmed)
Erika Marín-Spiotta, University of Wisconsin - Madison (confirmed)
Daniel Conley, Lund University (confirmed)
Giulio di Toro, University of Padua (confirmed)
Liviu Matenco, Utrecht University (confirmed)
Barbara Romanowicz, European Research Council (confirmed)

The ever more challenging work environments and increasing pressures on Early Career Scientists e.g. publish or perish, securing grant proposals, developing transferable skills and many more – and all while having a lack of job security. This puts a big strain on Early Career Scientists and this can lead to neglected mental well-being which in turn increases the risk of developing anxiety, depression or other mental health issues. The graduate survey from 2017 (https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v550/n7677/full/nj7677-549a.html) shows that 12% of respondents had sought help or advice for anxiety or depression during their PhD.

In this debate we want to discuss: Is there a problem? How ECS can take control of their mental wellbeing and prioritise this in the current research environment? And what support would ECS like to see from organisations like EGU or their employers?

Wed, 10 Apr, 12:45-14:00 / Room E1

Public information:
The dialogue between scientists, institutions, policymakers and the general public is widely recognised as an essential step towards a fair and sustainable society. Nowadays, more than ever in human history, international cooperation is an essential requirement for protecting the planet, advancing science and ensuring an equitable development of the global economy.
Despite its importance, the above dialogue can be a challenge for scientists, who often cannot find a productive connection with governments and politicians. Scientific associations are a key link between researchers and policy makers, as they have the potential to establish a durable and profitable connection with institutions.
The EGU elected the dialogue with society as one of its priority missions. At its General Assembly, the EGU is launching an innovative symposium format, Science and Society (SCS), to host scientific forums specifically dedicated to connecting with high-level institutions and engaging the public and policymakers.
The conversation with Ilaria Capua and Mario Monti will focus on science and politics with a global perspective, and the impact of populism on European integrity and therefore scientific research. The discussion will elaborate on optimal strategies to deliver topical and clear scientific messages to key institutions.
Ilaria Capua is a virologist best known for her research on influenza viruses and her efforts promoting open access to genetic information on emerging viruses. In 2006, Science reported on Capua’s effort towards open access science, stating that she had “renewed the debate about how to balance global health against scientists’ needs to publish and countries’ demands for secrecy". She has been a member of the Italian parliament from 2013 to 2016 and a fake news victim. She is currently a full professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, US, and director of the UF One Health Center of Excellence.
Mario Monti served as a European Commissioner from 1995 to 2004, with responsibility for the internal market, services, customs, taxation and competition. He was Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a government of national unity to cope with the Italian debt crisis. Monti has also been Rector and is currently President of Bocconi University in Milan. His publications deal mainly with monetary and financial economics, public finance, European integration, competition policy. He is currently lifetime member of the Italian Senate.
During the conversation, Ilaria Capua and Mario Monti will present their vision with two 15-minute talks that will be followed by 20 minutes dedicated to questions from the audience and answers.

Join us to help put some of the world's most vulnerable places on the map. A mapathon is a mapping marathon, where we get together to contribute to OpenStreetMap - the world's free map.
No experience is necessary - just bring your laptop and we will provide the training. Learn more about crowdsourcing, open data and humanitarian response - we will also provide some tips for how to host a mapathon at your home institution.

The Games Night is a space to gather, socialise, and play some games. The catch is that all the games are based on Geoscience! Bring along your own games or try one of the others in the session and meet the people who created them. This will also be your chance to try games featured in the Games for Geoscience session.

Public information:
Confirmed games include -
Breath of the Wild, HEAT, Flash Flood! Vol. 2, Resilience, Druids & Defences, Wanted: Head of the Centre for Flood Forecasts (IMPREX serious game), Rivers Top Trumps.

The geosciences are currently used by policymakers in a wide variety of areas to help guide the decision-making process and ensure that the best possible outcome is achieved. While the importance of scientific advice and the use of evidence in the policymaking process is generally acknowledged by both policymakers and scientists, how scientific advice is integrated and who is responsible is still unclear.

EU Policymakers frequently highlight institutionalised processes for integrating scientific advice into policy such as European Commission's Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (SAM) and the EU Commission’s Register of Expert Groups. But how efficient and accessible are these mechanisms really?

Some emphasise the need for scientists to have their own policy networks in place so that they can share their research outcomes with policymakers who can then use it directly or pass it on to those responsible for relevant legislation. But from funding applications to teaching and even outreach activities – scientists are often already overloaded with additional tasks on top of their own research. Can they really be held responsible for keeping up with the latest policy news and maintaining a constantly changing network of policymakers as well?

This debate will feature a mixed panel of policymakers and geoscientists who have previously given scientific advice. Some key questions that the panel will debate include:
• How can the accessibility of current EU science-advisory mechanisms be improved?
• Are scientists doing enough to share their research?
• And who is responsible for ensuring that quality scientific evidence is used in policymaking?

Speakers will be encouraged to explain any science advisory mechanism that they highlight (e.g. SAM) to ensure that the debate is understood by all those in attendance.

While the panel and subsequent debate will have an EU focus, it is likely that many of the issues discussed will be applicable to countries around the world.

Public information:
David Mair: Head of Unit, Knowledge for Policy: Concepts & Methods, Joint Research Centre
Paul Watkinson: Chair of SBSTA (Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice)
Kasey White: Director for Geoscience Policy, Geological Society of America
Günter Blöschl: Head of Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Engineering Hydrology, Vienna University of Technology
Detlef van Vuuren: Professor in Integrated Assessment of Global Environmental Change at the Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University

Plastic pollution is recognized as one of the most serious and urgent problems facing our planet. Rates of manufacture, use and ultimately disposal of plastics continue to soar, posing an enormous threat to the planet’s oceans and rivers and the flora and fauna they support. There is an urgent need for global action, backed by sound scientific understanding, to tackle this problem.

This Union Symposium will address the problems posed to our planet by plastic pollution, and examine options for dealing with the threat.

Over the whole Earth history, the climate has encountered tipping points, shifting from one regulated system to the other. This tilting motion affects both climate and the carbon cycle and has played a major role in the evolution of the Earth climate, at all timescales. Earth History has been ponctuated by large climate changes and carbon cycle reorganizations, from large climate variations occurring in deep times (snowball events, terrestrialisation, Mesozoic and early Cenozoic warm episodes, quaternary glacial cycles…) to past and on-going abrupt events. Many potential triggers of those climate and carbon cycle shifts have been proposed and tested through modeling studies, and against field data, such as those directly or indirectly linked with tectonics (plate motion, orogenesis, opening/closing of seaways, weathering…) and orbital forcing. Given that the Earth climate is currently experiencing an unprecedented transition under anthropogenic pressure, understanding the mechanisms behind the scene is crucial.

Our aim is to point out the most recent results concerning how a complex system as the climate of the Earth has undergone many tipping points and what is the specificity of the future climate changes. Therefore, within this session, we would like to encourage talks discussing advances in our record and modeling of the forces triggering and amplifying the changes of Earth climate and carbon cycle across spatial and temporal scales.

"What counts may not be countable and what is countable may not count". Assessments of scientists and their institutions tend to focus on easy-to-measure metrics related to research outputs such as publications, citations, and grants. However, society is increasingly dependent on Earth science research and data for immediate decisions and long-term planning. There is a growing need for scientists to communicate, engage, and work directly with the public and policy makers, and practice open scholarship, especially regarding data and software. Improving the reward and recognition structure to encourage broader participation of scientists in these activities must involve societies, institutions, and funders. EGU, AGU, and JPGU have all taken steps to improve this recognition, from developing new awards to starting journals around the topic of engaging the public to implementing FAIR data practices in the Earth, environmental, and space sciences, but far more is needed for a broad cultural change. How can we fairly value and credit harder-to-measure, these less tangible contributions, compared to the favoured metrics? And how can we shift the emphasis away from the "audit culture" towards measuring performance and excellence? This session will present a distinguished panel of stakeholders discussing how to implement and institutionalize these changes.

Public information:
Moderator:
Robin Bell - AGU President

Co-Moderator:
Helen M. Glaves - President of the EGU ESSI Division

Panelists:

Liz Allen – Director of Strategic Initiatives at F1000
Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Policy Institute, King's College London

Stephen Curry – Professor and Assistant Provost, Imperial College London
Chair, Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)

Demetris Koutsoyiannis – Professor and former Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Technical University of
Athens, Past Editor in Chief of the Hydrological Sciences Journal of IAHS

Research, especially for early career scientists, starts with the spark of an idea and is then often challenged by empirical or methodological road bumps and seemingly dead ends. A diverse range of challenges face those in earth science research, particularly for early career scientists (ECS). Challenges include (1) access difficulties, whether for field sites, equipment or data, (2) problems of scaling and extrapolation and (3) a lack of methodological understanding or knowledge. In this short course, we will raise engaging discussions, which aim to solve challenges, suggest new research approaches and methods, and encourage networks and possibilities for in-depth discussions amongst early career scientists at international conferences.

This short course will start with 2 minute ‘pop-up’ presentations outlining the questions or challenges submitted by attendees. These pop-ups are followed by chaired group discussions in which short course participants engage to crowd solve the presented challenges. To wrap up the session, solutions and suggestions from each topical group are presented to the whole session in a final discussion. A summary on last years’ crowd solving efforts can be found in the EGU GM blog post https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/gm/2018/04/25/diving-under-the-scientific-iceberg/.

This short course lives by your input: i) by stating a research idea or challenge you would like to share, and ii) by participating in the discussion during the short course. To organize and prepare the discussions, please send a short statement of your idea or challenge related to geomorphic research, and your motivation for solving it (3-4 sentences) to geomorph-problems@geographie.uni-bonn.de, by March 1, 2019. The contributions within the short course are free of charge. If you want to discuss a specific problem, but rather stay anonymous, please let us know. We are all early career scientists and expect a non-hierarchic, respectful and constructive environment for the discussions, which will hopefully go some way to identifying and engaging with problems which face ECS geomorphologists.

Session organizers: Anne Voigtländer, Johannes Buckel, Eleanore Heasley, Felix Nieberding, Liseth Perez, Anna Schoch, Harry Sanders, Richard Mason,...

Public information:
We encourage meeting up before the short course during the Networking Time ~18h - so grab another drink and join us near room -2.62!

In times of climate change, current debates about carbon dynamics make waves in both the science and policy community. Several international policy frameworks* spearhead global efforts to streamline state governments, industry, and civil society into agreements for a sustainable development while mitigating climate change. The contribution of science to this process is critical to better prepare, implement, and measure the ambitious goals. Geoscientists from all fields are welcome to join this debate at the science-policy interface.

We will start with a scientific introduction on a topic of increasing focus in the policy-sphere; land and soil carbon dynamics, highlighting recent findings on carbon fluxes, whether it be source or sink. After discussing how these relate with policy guidelines, from our second speaker we will learn how scientific findings enter the policy arena, how policy organizations work, and why targeted-reports are crucially important for policy-makers. Our third speaker will present on how policies are turned into agreements at national or regional scales. To conclude, in an open discussion, the keynote speakers and audience will have the opportunity to discuss how the policy frameworks can boost science, which burning research needs are missing out, and how to explore career opportunities, especially for early career scientists. During the discussion, the expertise of the audience will be crowdsourced in an exercise on how to get involved and integrate your research ideas into policy-making decisions.

* like the Sustainable Development Goals, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the 4 per 1000 Initiative and others

Public information:
Speakers:
- Scientific perspective by Prof. Dr. Claire Chenu (AgroParisTech)
- European science-policy interface by Panos Panagos, PhD MBA (European Commission)
- IPCC science-policy interface by Chris Lennard, PhD (University of Cape Town, lead author chapter 2 IPCC Special Report on Land and Climate)
- Policy end users by Rebecca Hood-Nowotny, PD MBA Ph.D. (BOKU)

In today’s changing world we need to tap the potential of every talented mind to develop solutions for a sustainable future. The existence of under-representation of different groups (cultural, national and gender) remains a reality across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM fields) around the world, including the geosciences. This Union Symposium will focus on remaining obstacles that contribute to these imbalances, with the goal of identifying best practices and innovative ideas to overcome obstacles.

EGU is welcoming six high-level speakers from the funding agencies and research centres on both sides of the Atlantic related to geosciences to present efforts and discuss initiatives to tackle both implicit and explicit biases. Speakers are:

Jill Karsten, AGU Diversity and Inclusion Task Force (confirmed)
Erika Marín-Spiotta, University of Wisconsin - Madison (confirmed)
Daniel Conley, Lund University (confirmed)
Giulio di Toro, University of Padua (confirmed)
Liviu Matenco, Utrecht University (confirmed)
Barbara Romanowicz, European Research Council (confirmed)

The ever more challenging work environments and increasing pressures on Early Career Scientists e.g. publish or perish, securing grant proposals, developing transferable skills and many more – and all while having a lack of job security. This puts a big strain on Early Career Scientists and this can lead to neglected mental well-being which in turn increases the risk of developing anxiety, depression or other mental health issues. The graduate survey from 2017 (https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v550/n7677/full/nj7677-549a.html) shows that 12% of respondents had sought help or advice for anxiety or depression during their PhD.

In this debate we want to discuss: Is there a problem? How ECS can take control of their mental wellbeing and prioritise this in the current research environment? And what support would ECS like to see from organisations like EGU or their employers?

Wed, 10 Apr, 12:45-14:00 / Room E1

Public information:
The dialogue between scientists, institutions, policymakers and the general public is widely recognised as an essential step towards a fair and sustainable society. Nowadays, more than ever in human history, international cooperation is an essential requirement for protecting the planet, advancing science and ensuring an equitable development of the global economy.
Despite its importance, the above dialogue can be a challenge for scientists, who often cannot find a productive connection with governments and politicians. Scientific associations are a key link between researchers and policy makers, as they have the potential to establish a durable and profitable connection with institutions.
The EGU elected the dialogue with society as one of its priority missions. At its General Assembly, the EGU is launching an innovative symposium format, Science and Society (SCS), to host scientific forums specifically dedicated to connecting with high-level institutions and engaging the public and policymakers.
The conversation with Ilaria Capua and Mario Monti will focus on science and politics with a global perspective, and the impact of populism on European integrity and therefore scientific research. The discussion will elaborate on optimal strategies to deliver topical and clear scientific messages to key institutions.
Ilaria Capua is a virologist best known for her research on influenza viruses and her efforts promoting open access to genetic information on emerging viruses. In 2006, Science reported on Capua’s effort towards open access science, stating that she had “renewed the debate about how to balance global health against scientists’ needs to publish and countries’ demands for secrecy". She has been a member of the Italian parliament from 2013 to 2016 and a fake news victim. She is currently a full professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, US, and director of the UF One Health Center of Excellence.
Mario Monti served as a European Commissioner from 1995 to 2004, with responsibility for the internal market, services, customs, taxation and competition. He was Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a government of national unity to cope with the Italian debt crisis. Monti has also been Rector and is currently President of Bocconi University in Milan. His publications deal mainly with monetary and financial economics, public finance, European integration, competition policy. He is currently lifetime member of the Italian Senate.
During the conversation, Ilaria Capua and Mario Monti will present their vision with two 15-minute talks that will be followed by 20 minutes dedicated to questions from the audience and answers.

Join us to help put some of the world's most vulnerable places on the map. A mapathon is a mapping marathon, where we get together to contribute to OpenStreetMap - the world's free map.
No experience is necessary - just bring your laptop and we will provide the training. Learn more about crowdsourcing, open data and humanitarian response - we will also provide some tips for how to host a mapathon at your home institution.

The Games Night is a space to gather, socialise, and play some games. The catch is that all the games are based on Geoscience! Bring along your own games or try one of the others in the session and meet the people who created them. This will also be your chance to try games featured in the Games for Geoscience session.

Public information:
Confirmed games include -
Breath of the Wild, HEAT, Flash Flood! Vol. 2, Resilience, Druids & Defences, Wanted: Head of the Centre for Flood Forecasts (IMPREX serious game), Rivers Top Trumps.

The geosciences are currently used by policymakers in a wide variety of areas to help guide the decision-making process and ensure that the best possible outcome is achieved. While the importance of scientific advice and the use of evidence in the policymaking process is generally acknowledged by both policymakers and scientists, how scientific advice is integrated and who is responsible is still unclear.

EU Policymakers frequently highlight institutionalised processes for integrating scientific advice into policy such as European Commission's Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (SAM) and the EU Commission’s Register of Expert Groups. But how efficient and accessible are these mechanisms really?

Some emphasise the need for scientists to have their own policy networks in place so that they can share their research outcomes with policymakers who can then use it directly or pass it on to those responsible for relevant legislation. But from funding applications to teaching and even outreach activities – scientists are often already overloaded with additional tasks on top of their own research. Can they really be held responsible for keeping up with the latest policy news and maintaining a constantly changing network of policymakers as well?

This debate will feature a mixed panel of policymakers and geoscientists who have previously given scientific advice. Some key questions that the panel will debate include:
• How can the accessibility of current EU science-advisory mechanisms be improved?
• Are scientists doing enough to share their research?
• And who is responsible for ensuring that quality scientific evidence is used in policymaking?

Speakers will be encouraged to explain any science advisory mechanism that they highlight (e.g. SAM) to ensure that the debate is understood by all those in attendance.

While the panel and subsequent debate will have an EU focus, it is likely that many of the issues discussed will be applicable to countries around the world.

Public information:
David Mair: Head of Unit, Knowledge for Policy: Concepts & Methods, Joint Research Centre
Paul Watkinson: Chair of SBSTA (Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice)
Kasey White: Director for Geoscience Policy, Geological Society of America
Günter Blöschl: Head of Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Engineering Hydrology, Vienna University of Technology
Detlef van Vuuren: Professor in Integrated Assessment of Global Environmental Change at the Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University

Plastic pollution is recognized as one of the most serious and urgent problems facing our planet. Rates of manufacture, use and ultimately disposal of plastics continue to soar, posing an enormous threat to the planet’s oceans and rivers and the flora and fauna they support. There is an urgent need for global action, backed by sound scientific understanding, to tackle this problem.

This Union Symposium will address the problems posed to our planet by plastic pollution, and examine options for dealing with the threat.

Over the whole Earth history, the climate has encountered tipping points, shifting from one regulated system to the other. This tilting motion affects both climate and the carbon cycle and has played a major role in the evolution of the Earth climate, at all timescales. Earth History has been ponctuated by large climate changes and carbon cycle reorganizations, from large climate variations occurring in deep times (snowball events, terrestrialisation, Mesozoic and early Cenozoic warm episodes, quaternary glacial cycles…) to past and on-going abrupt events. Many potential triggers of those climate and carbon cycle shifts have been proposed and tested through modeling studies, and against field data, such as those directly or indirectly linked with tectonics (plate motion, orogenesis, opening/closing of seaways, weathering…) and orbital forcing. Given that the Earth climate is currently experiencing an unprecedented transition under anthropogenic pressure, understanding the mechanisms behind the scene is crucial.

Our aim is to point out the most recent results concerning how a complex system as the climate of the Earth has undergone many tipping points and what is the specificity of the future climate changes. Therefore, within this session, we would like to encourage talks discussing advances in our record and modeling of the forces triggering and amplifying the changes of Earth climate and carbon cycle across spatial and temporal scales.

"What counts may not be countable and what is countable may not count". Assessments of scientists and their institutions tend to focus on easy-to-measure metrics related to research outputs such as publications, citations, and grants. However, society is increasingly dependent on Earth science research and data for immediate decisions and long-term planning. There is a growing need for scientists to communicate, engage, and work directly with the public and policy makers, and practice open scholarship, especially regarding data and software. Improving the reward and recognition structure to encourage broader participation of scientists in these activities must involve societies, institutions, and funders. EGU, AGU, and JPGU have all taken steps to improve this recognition, from developing new awards to starting journals around the topic of engaging the public to implementing FAIR data practices in the Earth, environmental, and space sciences, but far more is needed for a broad cultural change. How can we fairly value and credit harder-to-measure, these less tangible contributions, compared to the favoured metrics? And how can we shift the emphasis away from the "audit culture" towards measuring performance and excellence? This session will present a distinguished panel of stakeholders discussing how to implement and institutionalize these changes.

Public information:
Moderator:
Robin Bell - AGU President

Co-Moderator:
Helen M. Glaves - President of the EGU ESSI Division

Panelists:

Liz Allen – Director of Strategic Initiatives at F1000
Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Policy Institute, King's College London

Stephen Curry – Professor and Assistant Provost, Imperial College London
Chair, Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)

Demetris Koutsoyiannis – Professor and former Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Technical University of
Athens, Past Editor in Chief of the Hydrological Sciences Journal of IAHS

R is a free and open software that gained paramount relevance in data science, including fields of Earth sciences such as climatology, hydrology, geomorphology and remote sensing. R heavily relies on thousands of user-contributed collections of functions tailored to specific problems, called packages. Such packages are self-consistent, platform independent sets of documented functions, along with their documentations, examples and extensive tutorials/vignettes, which form the backbone of quantitative research across disciplines.

This short course focuses on consolidated R users that have already written their functions and wish to i) start appropriately organizing these in packages and ii) keep track of the evolution of the changes the package experiences. While there are already plenty of introductory courses to R we identified a considerable gap in the next evolutionary step: writing and maintaining packages.

The course covers:
- reasons for building packages,
- the general package structure and their essential elements,
- efficient ways to write and document functions,
- adding and documenting example data sets and examples,
- approaches to checking, building and sharing packages,
- versioning of packages using git and GitHub.

The course is open to everyone who is interested in R and whose experiences go beyond basic scripting. Participants should be able to answer the following questions right away: What is the difference between data type and data structure? How do matrices differ from lists? How are S4-objects indexed and how are lists indexed? What is the difference between lapply() and mapply()? What are the functions missing(), on.exit() and return() good for?

In today’s changing world we need to tap the potential of every talented mind to develop solutions for a sustainable future. The existence of under-representation of different groups (cultural, national and gender) remains a reality across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM fields) around the world, including the geosciences. This Union Symposium will focus on remaining obstacles that contribute to these imbalances, with the goal of identifying best practices and innovative ideas to overcome obstacles.

EGU is welcoming six high-level speakers from the funding agencies and research centres on both sides of the Atlantic related to geosciences to present efforts and discuss initiatives to tackle both implicit and explicit biases. Speakers are:

Jill Karsten, AGU Diversity and Inclusion Task Force (confirmed)
Erika Marín-Spiotta, University of Wisconsin - Madison (confirmed)
Daniel Conley, Lund University (confirmed)
Giulio di Toro, University of Padua (confirmed)
Liviu Matenco, Utrecht University (confirmed)
Barbara Romanowicz, European Research Council (confirmed)

Climate education is often underestimated, both in terms of the role it can play in meeting the challenges of climate change, and with regards the difficulty of delivering it effectively. Climate change poses not only interdisciplinary scientific challenges around understanding the problem, but also socio-economic, technological, ethical and political challenges to implement appropriate responses at local to global scales. To rise to these challenges there is a growing need for climate education approaches and resources that adopt integrative learning objectives and pedagogically effective practices. Key objectives of climate education include furthering learners’ content knowledge of climate science and options for action (e.g., climate feedbacks, impacts, adaptation measures, renewable energy), cultivating science and communication skills (e.g., quantitative literacy, critical thinking, writing to inform), and initiating positive attitudes and actions (e.g., empathy and behavioural change).

This session invites contributions on climate education and outreach across all age levels (primary, high school and adult), settings (formal and informal) and approaches (e.g., websites, lab demos, serious games, pedagogic research, course design, citizen science, filmmaking, art). Contributions related to upper primary and middle school levels and those concerning adaptation of technical scientific materials for teaching, are particularly encouraged. The session is an opportunity for educators, resource developers, pedagogical experts and scientists to network and share ideas and research on climate education.

The ever more challenging work environments and increasing pressures on Early Career Scientists e.g. publish or perish, securing grant proposals, developing transferable skills and many more – and all while having a lack of job security. This puts a big strain on Early Career Scientists and this can lead to neglected mental well-being which in turn increases the risk of developing anxiety, depression or other mental health issues. The graduate survey from 2017 (https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v550/n7677/full/nj7677-549a.html) shows that 12% of respondents had sought help or advice for anxiety or depression during their PhD.

In this debate we want to discuss: Is there a problem? How ECS can take control of their mental wellbeing and prioritise this in the current research environment? And what support would ECS like to see from organisations like EGU or their employers?

Wed, 10 Apr, 12:45-14:00 / Room E1

Public information:
The dialogue between scientists, institutions, policymakers and the general public is widely recognised as an essential step towards a fair and sustainable society. Nowadays, more than ever in human history, international cooperation is an essential requirement for protecting the planet, advancing science and ensuring an equitable development of the global economy.
Despite its importance, the above dialogue can be a challenge for scientists, who often cannot find a productive connection with governments and politicians. Scientific associations are a key link between researchers and policy makers, as they have the potential to establish a durable and profitable connection with institutions.
The EGU elected the dialogue with society as one of its priority missions. At its General Assembly, the EGU is launching an innovative symposium format, Science and Society (SCS), to host scientific forums specifically dedicated to connecting with high-level institutions and engaging the public and policymakers.
The conversation with Ilaria Capua and Mario Monti will focus on science and politics with a global perspective, and the impact of populism on European integrity and therefore scientific research. The discussion will elaborate on optimal strategies to deliver topical and clear scientific messages to key institutions.
Ilaria Capua is a virologist best known for her research on influenza viruses and her efforts promoting open access to genetic information on emerging viruses. In 2006, Science reported on Capua’s effort towards open access science, stating that she had “renewed the debate about how to balance global health against scientists’ needs to publish and countries’ demands for secrecy". She has been a member of the Italian parliament from 2013 to 2016 and a fake news victim. She is currently a full professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, US, and director of the UF One Health Center of Excellence.
Mario Monti served as a European Commissioner from 1995 to 2004, with responsibility for the internal market, services, customs, taxation and competition. He was Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a government of national unity to cope with the Italian debt crisis. Monti has also been Rector and is currently President of Bocconi University in Milan. His publications deal mainly with monetary and financial economics, public finance, European integration, competition policy. He is currently lifetime member of the Italian Senate.
During the conversation, Ilaria Capua and Mario Monti will present their vision with two 15-minute talks that will be followed by 20 minutes dedicated to questions from the audience and answers.

Join us to help put some of the world's most vulnerable places on the map. A mapathon is a mapping marathon, where we get together to contribute to OpenStreetMap - the world's free map.
No experience is necessary - just bring your laptop and we will provide the training. Learn more about crowdsourcing, open data and humanitarian response - we will also provide some tips for how to host a mapathon at your home institution.

The Games Night is a space to gather, socialise, and play some games. The catch is that all the games are based on Geoscience! Bring along your own games or try one of the others in the session and meet the people who created them. This will also be your chance to try games featured in the Games for Geoscience session.

Public information:
Confirmed games include -
Breath of the Wild, HEAT, Flash Flood! Vol. 2, Resilience, Druids & Defences, Wanted: Head of the Centre for Flood Forecasts (IMPREX serious game), Rivers Top Trumps.

The geosciences are currently used by policymakers in a wide variety of areas to help guide the decision-making process and ensure that the best possible outcome is achieved. While the importance of scientific advice and the use of evidence in the policymaking process is generally acknowledged by both policymakers and scientists, how scientific advice is integrated and who is responsible is still unclear.

EU Policymakers frequently highlight institutionalised processes for integrating scientific advice into policy such as European Commission's Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (SAM) and the EU Commission’s Register of Expert Groups. But how efficient and accessible are these mechanisms really?

Some emphasise the need for scientists to have their own policy networks in place so that they can share their research outcomes with policymakers who can then use it directly or pass it on to those responsible for relevant legislation. But from funding applications to teaching and even outreach activities – scientists are often already overloaded with additional tasks on top of their own research. Can they really be held responsible for keeping up with the latest policy news and maintaining a constantly changing network of policymakers as well?

This debate will feature a mixed panel of policymakers and geoscientists who have previously given scientific advice. Some key questions that the panel will debate include:
• How can the accessibility of current EU science-advisory mechanisms be improved?
• Are scientists doing enough to share their research?
• And who is responsible for ensuring that quality scientific evidence is used in policymaking?

Speakers will be encouraged to explain any science advisory mechanism that they highlight (e.g. SAM) to ensure that the debate is understood by all those in attendance.

While the panel and subsequent debate will have an EU focus, it is likely that many of the issues discussed will be applicable to countries around the world.

Public information:
David Mair: Head of Unit, Knowledge for Policy: Concepts & Methods, Joint Research Centre
Paul Watkinson: Chair of SBSTA (Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice)
Kasey White: Director for Geoscience Policy, Geological Society of America
Günter Blöschl: Head of Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Engineering Hydrology, Vienna University of Technology
Detlef van Vuuren: Professor in Integrated Assessment of Global Environmental Change at the Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University

Plastic pollution is recognized as one of the most serious and urgent problems facing our planet. Rates of manufacture, use and ultimately disposal of plastics continue to soar, posing an enormous threat to the planet’s oceans and rivers and the flora and fauna they support. There is an urgent need for global action, backed by sound scientific understanding, to tackle this problem.

This Union Symposium will address the problems posed to our planet by plastic pollution, and examine options for dealing with the threat.

Over the whole Earth history, the climate has encountered tipping points, shifting from one regulated system to the other. This tilting motion affects both climate and the carbon cycle and has played a major role in the evolution of the Earth climate, at all timescales. Earth History has been ponctuated by large climate changes and carbon cycle reorganizations, from large climate variations occurring in deep times (snowball events, terrestrialisation, Mesozoic and early Cenozoic warm episodes, quaternary glacial cycles…) to past and on-going abrupt events. Many potential triggers of those climate and carbon cycle shifts have been proposed and tested through modeling studies, and against field data, such as those directly or indirectly linked with tectonics (plate motion, orogenesis, opening/closing of seaways, weathering…) and orbital forcing. Given that the Earth climate is currently experiencing an unprecedented transition under anthropogenic pressure, understanding the mechanisms behind the scene is crucial.

Our aim is to point out the most recent results concerning how a complex system as the climate of the Earth has undergone many tipping points and what is the specificity of the future climate changes. Therefore, within this session, we would like to encourage talks discussing advances in our record and modeling of the forces triggering and amplifying the changes of Earth climate and carbon cycle across spatial and temporal scales.

"What counts may not be countable and what is countable may not count". Assessments of scientists and their institutions tend to focus on easy-to-measure metrics related to research outputs such as publications, citations, and grants. However, society is increasingly dependent on Earth science research and data for immediate decisions and long-term planning. There is a growing need for scientists to communicate, engage, and work directly with the public and policy makers, and practice open scholarship, especially regarding data and software. Improving the reward and recognition structure to encourage broader participation of scientists in these activities must involve societies, institutions, and funders. EGU, AGU, and JPGU have all taken steps to improve this recognition, from developing new awards to starting journals around the topic of engaging the public to implementing FAIR data practices in the Earth, environmental, and space sciences, but far more is needed for a broad cultural change. How can we fairly value and credit harder-to-measure, these less tangible contributions, compared to the favoured metrics? And how can we shift the emphasis away from the "audit culture" towards measuring performance and excellence? This session will present a distinguished panel of stakeholders discussing how to implement and institutionalize these changes.

Public information:
Moderator:
Robin Bell - AGU President

Co-Moderator:
Helen M. Glaves - President of the EGU ESSI Division

Panelists:

Liz Allen – Director of Strategic Initiatives at F1000
Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Policy Institute, King's College London

Stephen Curry – Professor and Assistant Provost, Imperial College London
Chair, Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)

Demetris Koutsoyiannis – Professor and former Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Technical University of
Athens, Past Editor in Chief of the Hydrological Sciences Journal of IAHS

Publishing your research in a peer reviewed journal is essential for a career in research, however, getting those first few papers submitted can be daunting. This short course, given by the co editor-in-chief of The Cryosphere Thomas Mölg, will cover all you need to know about the publication process from start to end. This includes: what the editor looks for in your submitted paper, how to deal with corrections or rejections, and how best to communicate with your reviewers and editors for a smooth transition from submission to publication. There will also be time for questions from the audience, and for the editor to give you some ‘top tips’ for a successful publication. This course is aimed at early-career researchers who are about to step into the publication process, and those who have a few papers under their belt, but may not have published in The Cryosphere previously. Similarly, this course will be of interest to those looking to get involved in the peer-review process through reviewing and editing.

In today’s changing world we need to tap the potential of every talented mind to develop solutions for a sustainable future. The existence of under-representation of different groups (cultural, national and gender) remains a reality across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM fields) around the world, including the geosciences. This Union Symposium will focus on remaining obstacles that contribute to these imbalances, with the goal of identifying best practices and innovative ideas to overcome obstacles.

EGU is welcoming six high-level speakers from the funding agencies and research centres on both sides of the Atlantic related to geosciences to present efforts and discuss initiatives to tackle both implicit and explicit biases. Speakers are:

Jill Karsten, AGU Diversity and Inclusion Task Force (confirmed)
Erika Marín-Spiotta, University of Wisconsin - Madison (confirmed)
Daniel Conley, Lund University (confirmed)
Giulio di Toro, University of Padua (confirmed)
Liviu Matenco, Utrecht University (confirmed)
Barbara Romanowicz, European Research Council (confirmed)

The ever more challenging work environments and increasing pressures on Early Career Scientists e.g. publish or perish, securing grant proposals, developing transferable skills and many more – and all while having a lack of job security. This puts a big strain on Early Career Scientists and this can lead to neglected mental well-being which in turn increases the risk of developing anxiety, depression or other mental health issues. The graduate survey from 2017 (https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v550/n7677/full/nj7677-549a.html) shows that 12% of respondents had sought help or advice for anxiety or depression during their PhD.

In this debate we want to discuss: Is there a problem? How ECS can take control of their mental wellbeing and prioritise this in the current research environment? And what support would ECS like to see from organisations like EGU or their employers?

Wed, 10 Apr, 12:45-14:00 / Room E1

Public information:
The dialogue between scientists, institutions, policymakers and the general public is widely recognised as an essential step towards a fair and sustainable society. Nowadays, more than ever in human history, international cooperation is an essential requirement for protecting the planet, advancing science and ensuring an equitable development of the global economy.
Despite its importance, the above dialogue can be a challenge for scientists, who often cannot find a productive connection with governments and politicians. Scientific associations are a key link between researchers and policy makers, as they have the potential to establish a durable and profitable connection with institutions.
The EGU elected the dialogue with society as one of its priority missions. At its General Assembly, the EGU is launching an innovative symposium format, Science and Society (SCS), to host scientific forums specifically dedicated to connecting with high-level institutions and engaging the public and policymakers.
The conversation with Ilaria Capua and Mario Monti will focus on science and politics with a global perspective, and the impact of populism on European integrity and therefore scientific research. The discussion will elaborate on optimal strategies to deliver topical and clear scientific messages to key institutions.
Ilaria Capua is a virologist best known for her research on influenza viruses and her efforts promoting open access to genetic information on emerging viruses. In 2006, Science reported on Capua’s effort towards open access science, stating that she had “renewed the debate about how to balance global health against scientists’ needs to publish and countries’ demands for secrecy". She has been a member of the Italian parliament from 2013 to 2016 and a fake news victim. She is currently a full professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, US, and director of the UF One Health Center of Excellence.
Mario Monti served as a European Commissioner from 1995 to 2004, with responsibility for the internal market, services, customs, taxation and competition. He was Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a government of national unity to cope with the Italian debt crisis. Monti has also been Rector and is currently President of Bocconi University in Milan. His publications deal mainly with monetary and financial economics, public finance, European integration, competition policy. He is currently lifetime member of the Italian Senate.
During the conversation, Ilaria Capua and Mario Monti will present their vision with two 15-minute talks that will be followed by 20 minutes dedicated to questions from the audience and answers.

Join us to help put some of the world's most vulnerable places on the map. A mapathon is a mapping marathon, where we get together to contribute to OpenStreetMap - the world's free map.
No experience is necessary - just bring your laptop and we will provide the training. Learn more about crowdsourcing, open data and humanitarian response - we will also provide some tips for how to host a mapathon at your home institution.

The Games Night is a space to gather, socialise, and play some games. The catch is that all the games are based on Geoscience! Bring along your own games or try one of the others in the session and meet the people who created them. This will also be your chance to try games featured in the Games for Geoscience session.

Public information:
Confirmed games include -
Breath of the Wild, HEAT, Flash Flood! Vol. 2, Resilience, Druids & Defences, Wanted: Head of the Centre for Flood Forecasts (IMPREX serious game), Rivers Top Trumps.

The geosciences are currently used by policymakers in a wide variety of areas to help guide the decision-making process and ensure that the best possible outcome is achieved. While the importance of scientific advice and the use of evidence in the policymaking process is generally acknowledged by both policymakers and scientists, how scientific advice is integrated and who is responsible is still unclear.

EU Policymakers frequently highlight institutionalised processes for integrating scientific advice into policy such as European Commission's Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (SAM) and the EU Commission’s Register of Expert Groups. But how efficient and accessible are these mechanisms really?

Some emphasise the need for scientists to have their own policy networks in place so that they can share their research outcomes with policymakers who can then use it directly or pass it on to those responsible for relevant legislation. But from funding applications to teaching and even outreach activities – scientists are often already overloaded with additional tasks on top of their own research. Can they really be held responsible for keeping up with the latest policy news and maintaining a constantly changing network of policymakers as well?

This debate will feature a mixed panel of policymakers and geoscientists who have previously given scientific advice. Some key questions that the panel will debate include:
• How can the accessibility of current EU science-advisory mechanisms be improved?
• Are scientists doing enough to share their research?
• And who is responsible for ensuring that quality scientific evidence is used in policymaking?

Speakers will be encouraged to explain any science advisory mechanism that they highlight (e.g. SAM) to ensure that the debate is understood by all those in attendance.

While the panel and subsequent debate will have an EU focus, it is likely that many of the issues discussed will be applicable to countries around the world.

Public information:
David Mair: Head of Unit, Knowledge for Policy: Concepts & Methods, Joint Research Centre
Paul Watkinson: Chair of SBSTA (Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice)
Kasey White: Director for Geoscience Policy, Geological Society of America
Günter Blöschl: Head of Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Engineering Hydrology, Vienna University of Technology
Detlef van Vuuren: Professor in Integrated Assessment of Global Environmental Change at the Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University

Plastic pollution is recognized as one of the most serious and urgent problems facing our planet. Rates of manufacture, use and ultimately disposal of plastics continue to soar, posing an enormous threat to the planet’s oceans and rivers and the flora and fauna they support. There is an urgent need for global action, backed by sound scientific understanding, to tackle this problem.

This Union Symposium will address the problems posed to our planet by plastic pollution, and examine options for dealing with the threat.

Over the whole Earth history, the climate has encountered tipping points, shifting from one regulated system to the other. This tilting motion affects both climate and the carbon cycle and has played a major role in the evolution of the Earth climate, at all timescales. Earth History has been ponctuated by large climate changes and carbon cycle reorganizations, from large climate variations occurring in deep times (snowball events, terrestrialisation, Mesozoic and early Cenozoic warm episodes, quaternary glacial cycles…) to past and on-going abrupt events. Many potential triggers of those climate and carbon cycle shifts have been proposed and tested through modeling studies, and against field data, such as those directly or indirectly linked with tectonics (plate motion, orogenesis, opening/closing of seaways, weathering…) and orbital forcing. Given that the Earth climate is currently experiencing an unprecedented transition under anthropogenic pressure, understanding the mechanisms behind the scene is crucial.

Our aim is to point out the most recent results concerning how a complex system as the climate of the Earth has undergone many tipping points and what is the specificity of the future climate changes. Therefore, within this session, we would like to encourage talks discussing advances in our record and modeling of the forces triggering and amplifying the changes of Earth climate and carbon cycle across spatial and temporal scales.

"What counts may not be countable and what is countable may not count". Assessments of scientists and their institutions tend to focus on easy-to-measure metrics related to research outputs such as publications, citations, and grants. However, society is increasingly dependent on Earth science research and data for immediate decisions and long-term planning. There is a growing need for scientists to communicate, engage, and work directly with the public and policy makers, and practice open scholarship, especially regarding data and software. Improving the reward and recognition structure to encourage broader participation of scientists in these activities must involve societies, institutions, and funders. EGU, AGU, and JPGU have all taken steps to improve this recognition, from developing new awards to starting journals around the topic of engaging the public to implementing FAIR data practices in the Earth, environmental, and space sciences, but far more is needed for a broad cultural change. How can we fairly value and credit harder-to-measure, these less tangible contributions, compared to the favoured metrics? And how can we shift the emphasis away from the "audit culture" towards measuring performance and excellence? This session will present a distinguished panel of stakeholders discussing how to implement and institutionalize these changes.

Public information:
Moderator:
Robin Bell - AGU President

Co-Moderator:
Helen M. Glaves - President of the EGU ESSI Division

Panelists:

Liz Allen – Director of Strategic Initiatives at F1000
Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Policy Institute, King's College London

Stephen Curry – Professor and Assistant Provost, Imperial College London
Chair, Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)

Demetris Koutsoyiannis – Professor and former Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Technical University of
Athens, Past Editor in Chief of the Hydrological Sciences Journal of IAHS