EOS3.1

'A Touch of Space Weather' is a project that brings space weather science into the hands of blind and visually impaired (B&VI) high-school students. This project was awarded an EGU Public Engagement Grant in 2021.

The goal of our project is to offer B&VI teachers a new approach to teaching complex STEM topics in a creative way. One of the main activities is the creation of audio booklets, a type of media in high demand by B&VI teachers. These audio booklets address various scientific topics that are taught in science classes in general high schools, such as the Sun, Earth's magnetic field, Moon exploration, and more.

This project wants to highlight the importance of space weather, as it influences nearly every aspect of our modern life ranging from banking, navigation, telecommunications to the power supply. It is an interdisciplinary subject and therefore ideal for explaining complex scientific topics to students while at the same time teaching them space- and geo-sciences. That is why each audio booklet includes a description of a space weather phenomenon or effect relevant to the topic.

3D printed models and a tactile image provide hands-on activities to complement the audio lessons. The EGU Public Engagement Grant is covering the physical costs of creating a minimum of 30 ‘A Touch of Space Weather’ boxes that will be distributed to the schools and organizations that are providing education to B&VI people. Each box will include material for one tactile image, one USB stick with all audio booklets, assignments for students, and 3D printed models to accompany audio booklets.

How to cite: Zychova, L., Lefever, K., and Crosby, N.: A Touch of Space Weather - Outreach project for visually impaired students, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5555, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5555, 2022.

“ENGIE - Encouraging Girls to Study Geosciences and Engineering” is an EIT Raw Materials funded project aimed to raise the interest of girls aged 13-18 for studying geosciences and related engineering disciplines. The final objective of the Project is to achieve gender equality in the future of geosciences as well as understanding the reasons for the gender imbalance and early female disinterest in geosciences and creating best practices for the future.

In EGU 2021, ENGIE presented the objectives and key messages from the project. Since then, the project has organized actions in 25 countries counting with a total of 11.117 participants, 64% of them girls.  During the implementation of the actions the participants and partners have been part of the Impact Assessment carried out during said activities. Out of 11.117 participants only 939 answered the questionnaire to its completion. The variations in countries, demographics and, most often, the type of activity they participated is noticeable and could point out to the reasons for this low participation.

There has been a double approach into ensuring the assessment is correct and the results are pertinent by gathering feedback both from participants and organisers of the actions. For the participants, a short questionnaire in their national language created specifically for the targeted age and expertise that allows for quantitative and qualitative analysis and is in the process of being reformulated taking into account the lessons learnt this year.

As for the organisers, ENGIE’s Impact Assessment is based on ensuring coherence with the objectives and the communication the three key messages of the project:

• Changing circumstances not individuals
• Challenging rather than reproducing inequalities
• Taking variations into account

The double analysis carried out through these questionnaires and the wide extension of the ENGIE actions can show a glimpse of the most interesting actions for girls, as well as creating a baseline for tackling gender inequality in geosciences during COVID-19 times. The reformulation of the questions and adding of new feedback measures (wordclouds, forum questions…) by applying lessons learnt and comments from the collaborating stakeholders in more than 20 countries has been considered..

In 2021, ENGIE presented the main concepts and objectives of the project as well as the actions planned. In 2022, the implementations and assessment of the project during the present running time is to be presented as well as evaluated and analysed in order to disseminate ENGIE’s recommendations to organize and assess actions targeted at improving gender equality in geosciences.

How to cite: Ortega Rodríguez, A., Cseko, A., Hartai, É., and Johansson, K. and the The ENGIE Team: ENGIE: Encouraging girls to study geociences and engineering. Lessons learnt., EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-11600, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11600, 2022.

Many geomorphologists who are mothers find it challenging to balance field research alongside pregnancy and early motherhood. The barriers presented by carrying out fieldwork during pregnancy or as a mother of preschool-aged children can adversely affect the career progress of women and Early Career Scientists at a point that is critical for their retention in scientific research. We offer perspectives on the challenges of fieldwork as mothers and discuss possible solutions that have worked (or not) for us, as a means of promoting conversations and highlighting issues that are less commonly considered in field-based geomorphological research. Although every mother’s experience and needs are different, we discuss strategies for conducting fieldwork, addressing childcare issues, maintaining a research career through this life stage, and dealing with financial considerations such as additional childcare costs. We highlight funders that support mothers in carrying out fieldwork and the problem of institutional restrictions on such spending. We call for our community to support geomorphologists who are pregnant or caring for young children in carrying out fieldwork to help enhance the diversity of voices and perspectives within our discipline. 

How to cite: Lininger, K., Rowan, A. V., Livers, B., Kramer, N., Ruiz-Villanueva, V., Sendrowski, A., and Burrough, S.: Promoting and supporting field-based geomorphologists during pregnancy and early motherhood, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-726, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-726, 2022.

Scientific research vessels are highly specialist resources in constant demand, often scheduled many years in advance of a research cruise and typically awarded to a narrow selection of permanently employed eligible investigators. The ability to access vessels is essential for a wide range of geoscientific research from paleoenvironmental sedimentary studies through to understanding modern day marine biodiversity. The high demand and low supply problem of accessing cruises means that participation can often be limited to small networks within the awarded discipline. This can present a barrier to marine scientists who wish to gain offshore experience, despite the fact that research vessels may have greater capacity than is required by any one scientific party. This is particularly true for early career scientists who usually work on timelines shorter than those required for cruise planning, and those from non-traditional academic backgrounds who may be less well connected to funded networks.

FindAScienceBerth is a project aiming to match those who wish to partake in a scientific cruise with spare capacity through identifying available berths on scheduled cruises. The long term goal of FindAScienceBerth is to provide opportunities to those who would otherwise be excluded from conducting offshore research to gain experience essential for career development, and in turn better utilise available ship capacity. Here, we will present our background research, quantifying unused berths on UK research vessels, demonstrating the potential of our initiative. Additionally, we will introduce the interface of FindAScienceBerth, showing how we have adapted the existing pan-European Marine Facilities Planning tool for cruise scheduling in order to identify and advertise spare capacity. We will demonstrate how principal scientific officers can advertise spare berths and how prospective participants can identify and apply for these roles. Finally, we will give an overview of the process we have developed to ensure an EDI compliant recruitment practice for filling ship berth vacancies and our EDI monitoring work throughout the application process. Such a process could be applicable to similar schemes across the geosciences which seek to increase equality, diversity and inclusivity by creating opportunities for the development of practical skills.

For further information please see our project site: findascienceberth.wordpress.com

How to cite: Fisher, B. J., McGregor, A., Hendry, K. R., Van Ladeghem, K. J. J., Marzocchi, A., Fielding, S., Darlington, E., Anderson, M., Joshi, S., and Sieradzan, K.: FindAScienceBerth: connecting underrepresented groups in marine science with available berths on scientific research vessels, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5267, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5267, 2022.

Geoscience research is inequitably distributed within the UK and worldwide due to a lack of access to analytical facilities and associated funding. This disproportionately affects minority and marginalised researchers. Geoscience research relies on access to analytical facilities to create fundamental datasets; however, lack of analytical facilities access negatively affects success and retention in research, impacting diversity in geoscience. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) issues in analytical geoscience were investigated through participating in a recent NERC’s Digital Technologies to Open Up Environmental Sciences Digital Sprint hackathon, including an online survey to understand how different groups access analytical facilities globally. Analysis of the survey data revealed a lack of funding to cover analytical costs and prohibitively competitive national schemes as barriers to accessing analytical facilities. The analysis also suggests that a lack of access or perceived lack of access to facilities has stopped 77% of respondents from pursuing an avenue of research, and 71% have switched research topics. To address the access gap, we are developing an app - GeoColab, a digital technology platform to break down barriers in analytical geoscience. The GeoCoLab App funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) aims to solve the lack of access by ‘match–making’ underserved geoscience researchers who need analytical services, with collaborating laboratory facilities that have agreed to offer a quota of pro-bono services.

How to cite: Raji, M., Bond, C., Carter, E., Davies-Vollum, S., Butcher, G., Lewis, E., Thomas, B., and Williams, R.: Leveraging Digital Technology to Improve EDI in Geosciences: GeoCoLab, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-12869, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-12869, 2022.

The European Research Council (ERC), Europe’s premiere funding agency for frontier research, views equality of opportunities as an essential priority and a vital mission to ensure credibility in the review process. The ERC monitors closely various demographic data yearly on every call and has taken actions to tackle imbalances and potential implicit and explicit biases.

This presentation is focused on gender data for the three main funding schemes: Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant and Advanced Grant. After more than 12 years of existence, and various specific actions to tackle societal imbalances, ERC data provides an insight on the impact of various actions.

In the first framework programme (FP7, 2007-2013), 25% of applicants were women. In the last years (Horizon 2020, 2014-2020), this percentage increased by 4%, with 29% of women applying for ERC grants. In the same periods of time, the share of women as grantees has also increased from 20% to 29%. In the last years, men and women enjoy equal success rates.

The ERC knows that work to ensure equality of opportunities is never-ending. This presentation analyses the institutional efforts critically and considers possible steps to consolidate the accomplished results.

How to cite: Jesus-Rydin, C., Fariña-Busto, L., and Romanowicz, B.: Gender equity actions at the ERC: results of sustained measures, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-4838, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-4838, 2022.

Our comics are based on real events experienced by real people, but should never have happened. Some events are blatant, others are subtle, but all leave you wondering “did this really happen?!”. Sadly the answer is yes, and they continue to happen, with testimonies on everyday sexism, sexist biases, aggressions and microaggressions regularly received by our team.

Started in 2016, the Did This Really Happen?! project was created from the shared experiences of a group of largely female scientists who found themselves in a male-dominated environment. By 2018 the project had progressed to collecting anonymous accounts of sexism in science from across the world, turning them into comics to share and spark a conversation. In 2020, in reflecting on the project so far, it was clear sexism in science was not confined to one career level in academia, with around half of testimonies coming from PhD and Early Career Researchers, with the other half coming from mid to senior level scientists. Several themes also emerged which were documented in Bocher et al., 2020 and identified the following;

• treating women as objects (in 70% of testimonies)
• questioning female competencies (in 61% of testimonies)
• confining males to stereotypical roles (in 41% of testimonies)

In 2021, the DTRH?! project was relaunched with new team members and a new illustrator as the career and life paths of the original team changed and evolved. Here we present how we aim to document and illustrate the widespread sexist attitudes that affect both women (and men) in science today, challenging this behaviour with humour and to inspire discussion.

How to cite: Perez Diaz, L., Wright, K., Arnould, M., Coltice, N., Gerault, M., and Mallard, C.: Sexism in Science: Changing the conversation with comics, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-3875, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-3875, 2022.

Soapbox Science is an outreach platform dedicated to the promotion of women and non-binary people in science through the organisation of events mimicking Hide Park’s famous Speaker’s Corner. This platform was created in London in 2011, spread gradually worldwide and finally started in Belgium in 2019, where it was initiated by a group of researchers and science communicators from two Belgian Federal Scientific Institutes. It came to life as Soapbox Science Brussels, for the events were to take place in the capital.

While the start of Soapbox Science Brussels was challenged by the COVID pandemic, a first virtual event was organised in the fall of 2020 via the YouTube and Facebook platforms. Despite the difficulties related to the sanitary conditions, the first real-life edition of Soapbox Science Brussels finally took place in the heart of the Belgian capital in June 2021, following the standard format prescribed by the international Soapbox Science initiative. This event was a success, both with respect to the response of the scientific community and with regard to the interest of the public during the event. The third edition of Soapbox Science Brussels is currently in preparation, and the campaign for the recruitment of speakers has been launched early 2022.

In this presentation, on the basis of different indicators and of feedback from the public, we will show how Soapbox Science Brussels gradually finds its place in the Belgian scientific communication community and in the promotion of women and non-binary people in science, in a context where the promotion of gender equality encounters a growing importance in scientific research institutions.

Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SoapboxScienceBrussels

Twitter account: @SoapboxscienceB

References:

Pham, L. B. S., et al., Soapbox Brussels, une première en Belgique, Science connection nr. 65, August-september 2021;

in French: http://www.belspo.be/belspo/organisation/publ/pub_ostc/sciencecon/65sci_fr.pdf;

in Dutch: http://www.belspo.be/belspo/organisation/publ/pub_ostc/sciencecon/65sci_nl.pdf

How to cite: Bingen, C., Pham, L. B. S., Lamort, L., Lefever, K., Piccialli, A., and Yseboodt, M.: Soapbox Science Brussels: A Growing Outreach Platform for the Promotion of Women in Sciences in Belgium, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-11516, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11516, 2022.

The equality and work well-being group at the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR) has comprised a list of everyday behavior patterns that we should

pay attention to when striving to make the workplace culture welcoming to people with diverse backgrounds. The examples in the list are  broadly categorized  as 1) Accept and be interested in people as multidimensional beings, restricting manifestation of fear of differences 2) Be aware of the space and time different people are taking in workplace meetings and social situations 3) Support a balance between work and private life and recovery from work equally for different genders as well as for people with different ages and family situations 4) Be aware that discussions focusing in competition, status, hierarchies, and comparing the achievements of people (those present or not present) make many people uncomfortable  5) Be aware that discussing people in terms of being ‘smart’, ‘intelligent’, ‘brilliant’, ‘genius’ is not gender and culture neutral 6) Avoid boss-centric atmosphere where the role of the boss is to decide alone and be revered by the rest

 5) Avoid discussing the physical appearance or capabilities of other people even if they are not present 6) In both work related discussions and when telling jokes, stories and anecdotes in social situations, keep in mind you position with respect to people present when  choosing the content or style  7) Don’t use  gender specific words etc as a compliment: ‘real man’, ‘has got balls’, ‘strong for a woman’ 8) Remember to consider the language barrier(s) when a multinational set of people is present

We recommend that the list is discussed, for example, in a departmental seminar: our approach was to have three members of the equality and work well being group perform some of the examples in the list as a dialogue, after which the audience discussed whether they have encountered something similar and how that has affected them. Afterwards, the complete list was distributed to the staff on the unit. We received encouraging feedback on the session with requests to organize similar events in the meetings of the individual INAR research groups. We want to remind that non-one is perfect, and our vision is not to construct strict foolproof rules to avoid all situations leading to feelings of discomfort. However, a little change goes a long way in making the working environment better for everyone. Opening the eyes to how other people might experience common encounters can be aided by using an externally constructed list of examples as a starting point.

How to cite: Vehkamäki, H., Beck, L., Demakova, A., Lauri, K. A., Li, X., Lintunen, A., Mazon, S. B., Neitola, K., Rajewicz, P., Karppinen, L., Nieminen, T., Schiestl-Aalto, P., and Vesala, T.: Everyday tips for making the workplace culture welcoming for diverse staff, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-3915, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-3915, 2022.

The C⁴U Project, funded by the European Union H2020 programme, advances carbon capture for steel industries integrated in Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) clusters. Besides working on the scientific and technological challenges, the project members are committed to integrate social aspects not only as part of their work but also by promoting an inclusive work ethics within the consortium itself. In this respect, actions have been taken on all levels and roles of the project as well as during all its steps to mitigate the imbalance in representation without negatively impacting aptitude or expertise.  In addition to raising awareness and furthering discussions among the C⁴U members, providing options for hiring processes, or adjusting speaker lists and the distribution of board roles, a novel approach was conceptualised in the form of an international workshop, as an initiative from within the CCUS community for the community, and hopefully beyond.

This first C⁴U workshop on gender dimension called "Woman in CCUS – Inspire and be inspired" was open to all associated with the field of CCUS and was held in fall 2021. As the free event took place virtually on two half days due to COVID restrictions, scientists, including students and managers, originating from or with affiliation of all continents, registered. Talks and breakout room sessions covered topics such as raise awareness of gender imbalance and ethical concerns, identify reasons behind the still existing inequality, search for countermeasures, the importance and consequence of confidence, as well as private and professional life experience, all with numerous opportunities for discussions. By expressively embracing all genders, career phases, ethnical or scientific backgrounds, we were able to achieve participation with a large diversity also in regard to work environment, e.g. academia, governmental agencies, and industry. Bringing people together using a virtual format and in numerous time zones naturally has its own challenges, especially when communicating on sensitive and personal topics. However, the overwhelming engagement of the participants during, but also already prior to the workshop, revealed that there is a significant need in the CCUS community for an open, personal exchange on gender related topics, by all genders. On this basis, the C⁴U initiative aims to be a seed for an inclusive platform, for a diverse network to get to know role models and at the same time be one oneself, to inspire and be inspired.

How to cite: Rebscher, D., Catalanotti, E., and Mahgerefteh, H.: Promoting and supporting gender dimension in the CCUS community – A novel approach by the C4U Project, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-6774, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-6774, 2022.

Workplace aggression, including workplace bullying and mobbing, can have tremendous impacts on both the professional and the personal well-being of the target. The experience is an immense source of distress and can lead to physical health issues such as high blood pressure and increased risk for strokes, and to mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression and suicidal tendencies. The negative effects of workplace aggression go beyond those on the target. For instance potential bystanders and the overall work performance of teams and collaborations may suffer, leading to failed projects, loss of research funding and prematurely terminated careers. The latter also adds to the continued loss of a diverse workforce in the Geosciences, since historically marginalised groups are more affected by workplace discrimination than the current majority of geoscientists in senior positions. Creating healthy and safe working environments should therefore be the top priority of academic institutions, and thus also the Geosciences community. 

To raise awareness and provide clarity around some terminology and dynamics, we previously shared the blog post "Mind your Head - An introduction to workplace bullying in academia" (1). It includes references to other resources, such as a 10-step practical guideline (2) which scientists can follow to counteract the detrimental effects of abusive academic work environments. The blog post also served as a stimulus for "Great Debate 5" (GDB5) during vEGU21, which allowed early career scientists in the Geosciences to engage in a discussion on "Bullying in Academia – towards creating healthy and safe working environments" (3). During GDB5, 86% of the participants confirmed to have witnessed a bullying or harassment situation at work and ~65% of the session attendees estimated that the academic community is unaware of or uninformed about bullying and harassment. GDB5 participants stated that, amongst others, they a) would like to learn how to become better allies/bystanders, b) would like to know what to do as an ally/bystander, c) want to find systematic and structural solutions on an institutional level for safe working environments, d) would like to learn how to deal with bullying and harassment on a personal level and e) would like to create more awareness about bullying and harassment. The Great Debate helped people to feel supported and trusted, become aware of the problems at an institutional level, and to connect and talk about appropriate and not-appropriate behaviour.

Following the GDB5, we created a list of bottom up, lateral and top down actions to foster safe and healthy work environments within the Geosciences, which serves as a basis for our current work to tackle workplace bullying and mobbing in the Geosciences. This includes, for instance, an in-depth survey around this topic to obtain more quantitative information and data. By creating visibility for our efforts during EGU22, we hope to broaden our initiative and receive new input from the scientific community.  

References:

(1) Pieber, van Rijsingen, Gürer, Beniest (2021) https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/ts/2021/03/24/mind-your-head-an-introduction-to-workplace-bullying-in-academia/

(2) Popp, Hall, Yılmaz (2020) https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EO151914.

(3) Beniest, Gürer, Pieber, van Rijsingen (2021) https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU21/session/39992

How to cite: Pieber, S. M., Beniest, A., Di Chiara, A., Guerer, D., Li, M., Popp, A. L., and van Rijsingen, E.: How to combat workplace bullying in academia: insights from previous initiatives and ideas to move forward, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-9309, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-9309, 2022.

In EU project (being H2020 or ERC), we are asked to do a “Gender Equality Plan” and to take care about gender issues. I think that this is very important. We definitely need to take care about gender at recruitment level and to take care about gender balance. However, to care about gender inequality does not only refer to gender balance in the teams in charge of carrying out the projects but also to plan research and innovation activities with the goal of inspiring a new generation of women in space.  Gender dimension brings a vision that goes beyond the line of sight. It is not only about statistics on the number of male and female researchers in a specific field or gender balance in the Consortium but here are some paths to follow: (1) becoming gender-sensitive, (2) integrating an in-depth understanding of both genders’ needs, behaviours, and attitudes, (3) promoting our sector to young girls at the level of schools or universities, and (4) being aware about unconscious gender biases. Gender bias is the tendency to prefer one gender over another gender. Several studies found that both men and women prefer male job candidates. So much so that, in general, I have found on the web that a man is 1.5 times more likely to be hired than a woman when both are equal-performing candidates. Bias is a systemic prejudice for, or against something or someone, based on for instance stereotypes. When preparing newsletters for my EU project about that, I came through several examples about ways in which women and men are often held to different standards in the workplace. I think that this is interesting to know. This is what I propose to share with you.

How to cite: Dehant, V.: Gender in EU project., EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7535, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7535, 2022.

In recent years, the traditional scientific publication system which operates with subscriptions for readers, and sometimes charges for authors, has been challenged. Open access journals have been funded, and subscription journals offer options for open access publications. Open access is an essential approach for lowering barriers in science, for supporting equal access to information, and for encouraging scientifically-based decisions by providing the newest findings and data to a large and diverse audience.

However, common open access options come with Article Processing Charges (APCs), which can vary from a few hundred to several thousand euros, to publish a paper. In contrast to the idea of inclusivity that is initiated by the open access process, these charges create exclusivity in terms of publishing possibilities - limiting equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Several funding bodies and universities in Northern and Western Europe encourage the open access process by dedicating funds to cover publication costs for research staff. In contrast, many researchers from institutions in developing countries, small universities or private research organisations must include these costs in sometimes limited research budgets. Moreover, researchers on temporary contracts with limited access to research funds due to the nature of their employment also face barriers to publishing in open access outlets. As a result, inclusivity toward readers often comes at the cost of exclusivity toward authors. 

In the last three years, an initiative has grown in the geoscientific community to create diamond open access journals, which are free to access, free to read, and free to publish, for all. This started with Volcanica, and now, Seismica, Tektonika and Sedimentologika have launched their own community-led, field-specific journals. One key component of these initiatives is their inherent relation to the concepts of equity, diversity, and inclusion, which underlay and guide their every aspect.

Here, we discuss ideas on how to build a future geomorphology diamond open access journal - Geomorphic(k)a - around EDI values. Our effort is grounded in EDI principles from the start, not as an afterthought; EDI guides our actions. 

We welcome input from all sectors of the geoscientific community to help us continually improve the initiative. We will share our plans to integrate EDI in the journal development. We would welcome feedback, comments, ideas and a stimulating discussion.

How to cite: Lefebvre, A., Stammler, M., Goodwin, G., Bosch, R., Fernández, R., and Grieve, S. W. D.: The initiative for a diamond open access journal in the field of geomorphology: an effort grounded on and guided by EDI concepts, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-3910, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-3910, 2022.

EGU, the European Geosciences Union, is Europe’s premier geosciences union, dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences for the benefit of humanity, worldwide. Every year, the EGU awards and medals programme recognises eminent scientists for their outstanding research contribution in the Earth, planetary and space sciences. In addition, it identifies the awardees as role models for the next generation of early career scientists to foster geoscience research.

Nominations for all the medals and awards are submitted every year online by 15 June by the members of the EGU scientific community. Any person can be nominated except the EGU president, vice-president council members (not including ex- officio members) and chairs of the EGU committees. The EGU Council, the medal and award committees’ members and the Union and division officers are committed to soliciting nominations of deserving individuals by avoiding conflicts of interest. Each EGU medal or award is selected through a rigorous assessment of the candidates and their merits through the respective committee. The procedures for nomination, selection of candidates and the time schedule are described in detail on EGU websites.

It is a strict necessity when recognizing scientific excellence by any scientific association providing equal opportunities and ensuring balance. The processes and procedures that lead to the recognition of excellence has to be transparent and free of gender biases. However, establishment of clear and transparent evaluation criteria and performance metrics in order to provide equal opportunities to researchers across gender, continents and ethnic groups can be challenging since the definition of scientific excellence is often elusive.

This presentation aims to present the experience and the efforts of the European Geosciences Union to ensure equal opportunities. Data and statistics will be presented in the attempt to provide constructive indications to get to the target of giving equal opportunities to researchers across gender, continents and ethnic groups.

How to cite: Blunier, T.: Equality of opportunities in geosciences: The EGU Awards Committee experience, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-1087, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-1087, 2022.

The first step for institutions committed to equality, diversity and inclusion is to know their demographics. This presentation includes descriptive statistics for 7 consecutive years (2015–2021) based on presentations and convenorship at the EGU General Assemblies.

In the years 2015-2019, when the meeting was a physical meeting in Vienna, around 90% of the participants gave presentations. In 2020 the meeting was held online at short notice and the registration for participation was free of charge. In 2021 the entire meeting was planned online already at the time of submission of abstracts and the participant fee was lower than for the previous physical meetings. We cannot completely compare the participant data from the online meetings with the previous years, therefore this presentation will focus on the gender, career stage, and geographical distribution among presenters and convenors.

The total number of presenters has increased over the time period 2015-2021, and this increase was observed throughout all career stages. The proportion of women presenters have increased from 32% in 2015 to 39% in 2021, with a leap from 36 to 39% between 2020 and 2021. A similar trend was observed for the convenors, an increase in total numbers over the years and a higher proportion (39%) of women in 2021 than in 2015 (26%). This trend of increasing numbers of conveners was observed independent of career stage until 2018. Since then, the number of senior scientist conveners increased, whereas the number of Early Career Scientist conveners has dropped to a number lower than 2015. The gender difference between “presenters per convenors”-ratio has been shrinking since 2015 and was similar for women and men in 2021.

Since EGU General Assembly is the largest geosciences conference in Europe and still growing, understanding the demographic evolution and their participation to EGU activities, including the GA, of various groups is an important tool for EGU governing body to draw targeted actions to ensure that the current procedures are fair and that all in the community are being and feeling included. We therefore aim to analyse the changes in demographics with regards to gender, career stage as well as to geographical distribution of the presenters and convenors also in coming years to better understand the potential impacts of meetings organized online or physically, or as a combination of both these modes. 

How to cite: Stadmark, J., Beniest, A., and Alves de Jesus-Rydin, C.: Who presented and convened at EGU General Assemblies 2015-2021?, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5125, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5125, 2022.

The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is Europe’s leading community-lead organization for Earth, planetary and space science research. The EGU organizes its General Assembly (GA), the largest, most prominent geosciences event in Europe, annually. Until 2019, the event was only organized in-person, but in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the event became completely virtual in 2020 and 2021. The in-person meeting attracted over 16,000 scientists from all over the world, whereas over 17,500 people participated in the virtual events. This rise in the number of participating scientists implies that online meetings are more accessible than in-person meetings.

Early Career Scientist (ECS) account for about half of the total EGU membership. An ‘Early Career Scientist’ is defined by EGU as ‘a student, a PhD candidate or a practicing scientist who received their highest degree (e.g. BSc, MSc or PhD) within the past seven years’, with some exceptions to this time-frame that account for research career breaks. ECS are often in a particular stage of their career where networking and showcasing scientific output are essential for success. We have analyzed self-declared data provided by ECS participants during the registration phase of the annual general assembly to investigate the impact of virtual meetings on the participation of Early Career Scientists to the GA between 2015 and 2021. We analyzed if there were any shifts in the diversity of ECS with respect to gender and geographical location and to what extend ECS were involved in convening scientific sessions.

We observed a general increase (5-30%) in ECS participation from 2015 until 2021 irrespective of gender. In 2019, the total increase of all participants stalled, but 2020 saw a 10% increase of participants. In 2021, ECS attendance fell, equaling the numbers of 2019. The large majority of ECS that participate in the GA are from the western parts of the EU (including the UK and Norway, 60-65%) and the eastern parts of Europe (6-7%) followed by China (6-10%). During the free virtual meeting in 2020, ECS from Central Asia, India and Central America saw the largest increase compared to 2019 (> 65%). During the paid virtual meeting in 2021, the participation of ECS from northern (72%) and western Africa (42%) increased the most. ECS from India, Oceania and the Pacific regions, North America and from countries in eastern Europe also showed an increase in numbers between 15-20% compared to 2020. About 10-12% of ECS participate in convening scientific sessions, this number remained stable during the physical events, but during the virtual events, participation dropped significantly, with only 8% of ECS participating in the organization of scientific sessions in 2019 and 6% in 2021.

Our results show that the participation of ECS from EU countries remains stable, regardless if the meeting is in-person or virtual. ECS participation from ECS from eastern parts of Europe and countries outside of the EU, decreases during virtual meetings. ECS participation from ECS outside of Europe, especially northern and western Africa, India and Oceania and the Pacific region increases when a virtual component is provided.

How to cite: Beniest, A., Stadmark, J., and Jesus-Rydin, C.: Early Career Scientist (ECS) attendance and participation at the annual EGU General Assembly: are online meetings more accessible than in-person meetings for ECS?, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-9117, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-9117, 2022.

AGU LANDInG (Leadership Academy and Network for Diversity and Inclusion in the Geosciences) is a multi-faceted project that aims to foster a more inclusive geosciences’ culture by cultivating and elevating DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) champions within the discipline. Since initiation of NSF funding in late 2020, a DEI Community of Practice (CoP) Network was launched, and the inaugural LANDInG Academy was held. Participation, participant outcomes, and program impact are externally and professionally evaluated.

The LANDInG CoP is an open access, virtual platform providing opportunities for current and aspiring DEI champions to engage in conversation, share resources, build networks, and participate in professional development. A cohort of expert CoP Ambassadors moderates affinity groups created by CoP members and facilitates the CoP’s growth and evolution. The LANDInG CoP is rooted in research indicating that DEI champions and leaders in the geosciences can benefit from a central community for networking and professional development that supports broadening the impact of their efforts.

AGU LANDInG’s DEI Leader Academy commenced at AGU’s Fall Meeting 2021 with a three-day workshop. Workshop programming focused on evidence-based understanding of barriers and solutions to inclusion in geosciences derived from theory, research, and practice. Fellows’ selection and participation in LANDInG Academy was highlighted and promoted at Fall Meeting 2021 to raise their visibility and recognition.

The first year of AGU LANDInG is also marked by the initiation of LANDInG-PRFP, a new LANDInG program for postdoctoral research fellows. LANDInG-PRFP will capitalize on LANDInG’s CoP resources and provide an intentional and impactful DEI professional development experience for cohorts of post-doctoral scholars.

How to cite: Fraiser, M., Williams, B., Goodwin, S., Asher, P., and Hanson, B.: AGU LANDInG (Leadership Academy and Network for Diversity & Inclusion in Geosciences): Reviewing the First Year of AGU’s NSF-Funded Initiative to Promote and Support Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Geosciences, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-12915, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-12915, 2022.