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22 July 2022
12.5-A podcast of ice and fire
Cool off from the summer heat with our next six-part miniseries all about ice – from those who call it home to its use as a tool in science.
15 July 2022
12-Extinctions: Space station splashdown
The International Space Station feels like a permanent fixture. It’s been up there since 2000! But earlier this year, NASA announced it is bringing the ISS back to earth in the 2030s as it plans for new space stations.
27 May 2022
6-True story: Migrating robins & thieving capuchins
Emily Williams has traveled the world in search of birds. As a biologist, she’s worked in Kansas, Argentina, Australia, and Denali, and studied loons, flycatchers, kingbirds, and more. And even with all these experiences and diverse species interactions, she’s now landed (ha, get it?!) on studying the common robin.
29 April 2022
1-True story: Slapped by a (misinformation) shark
David Shiffman is a shark guy. It’s in his Twitter handle, he’s writing a book about it, and he was wearing a shark shirt the day we interviewed him. But more broadly he’s a marine conservation biologist, meaning he studies all sorts of ocean-going animals.
22 April 2022
True (science) stories you’ve never heard before
Third Pod from the Sun is back, and we’re going weekly! Join us as we combat misconceptions about sharks, learn how to lasso lizards, hear from a Martian here on Earth, spark science joy via Tiktok, journey to Antarctica, and fight over food with some capuchins!
21 February 2022
Muddy Water Has Town Official Singing the Blues
Coastwatch GLERL NOAA imagery December 17, 2021 (annotated). Several years ago, when our kids were young and at least one was still in elementary school, I visited a class of 3rd graders taught by a friend of the family’s and put on a soil erosion demonstration. The “show and tell” consisted of setting up rainfall simulators for two contrasting land cover types represented by two baking pans: one filled with …
25 January 2022
AGU’s 2022 Policy Priorities
As a scientific society whose members’ research and interests span the universe, AGU’s science policy interests are just as vast – from scientific integrity to funding for science to building resilience to natural hazards. Building upon the work done in 2021, our 2022 policy priorities are to: Fund discovery and solution-based earth and space sciences for the benefit of humanity; Create an equitable, diverse, inclusive and just scientific community; Build a climate and hazard resilient nation; and Protect environmental and human health. …
10 December 2021
AGU welcomes first cohort of Local Science Partners
Congratulations and welcome to the fifty-five AGU members who will be the inaugural cohort of Local Science Partners, a new program empowering scientists to build sustainable partnerships with their policymakers. As ambassadors, the first class of member partners brings scientific expertise, passion, and a diverse range of interests to their work integrating the sciences with decision-making. The cohort ranges from early-career scientists to distinguished professors’ emeriti; from biologists to geologists to oceanographers; and from those working in academia to nonprofits to the private sector. …
9 December 2021
Legal education for scientists events at #AGU21
The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) and AGU work together to help scientists from all geoscience disciplines understand their legal rights and responsibilities—knowledge that’s an essential part of every researcher’s professional development. This is the tenth year we’re partnering on the Legal Education for Scientists Program, and we’re offering a range of events at the 2021 Fall Meeting. Whether you’re actively involved in science activism or curious about the …
22 November 2021
Staff Picks: Toxic City Under the Ice
In 1959, the United States built an unusual military base under the surface of the Greenland ice Sheet. Camp Century was a hub for scientific research, but it also doubled as a top-secret site for testing the feasibility of deploying nuclear missiles from the Arctic. When Camp Century was decommissioned in 1967, its infrastructure and waste were abandoned under the assumption they would be forever entombed beneath the colossal sheet of ice.
15 October 2021
New science policy engagement program; applications open now!
AGU is piloting a new program, Local Science Partners, that will cement sciences’ place in decision-making by empowering AGU members to build trusting, sustainable partnerships with policymakers. AGU’s new program will pair AGU members with their legislators and provide AGU member partners the tools, resources and training to build sustainable relationships with their legislators. The goal of Local Science Partners is to advance AGU’s policy agenda and diversify sciences’ Congressional …
23 June 2021
Standing Up for Science During an Epidemic
Before COVID, before the swine flu, there was the bird flu outbreak of the mid-2000s. An international group of scientists came together to combat the deadly virus, including Dr. Ilaria Capua, a virologist, and now Director of the One Health Center of Excellence at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Capua played a key role in helping to quell the outbreak, but little did she know that experience would not be the most trying moment of her career.
25 May 2021
AGU sends letter on Spectrum issues to Senate leadership
On 20 May 2021, AGU, The American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association sent a letter to Senator Maria Cantwell (WA), Chair of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation calling for leadership on Spectrum issues, including the importance of spectrum assets to national security and weather and hazards safety. Thank you for your voice of leadership to preserve diverse spectrum resources to sustain and advance crucial environmental …
25 March 2021
AGU Endorses the American Innovation Act
On 25 March 2021, AGU sent a letter of support to Senator Dick Durbin (IL) in support of the American Innovation Act. On behalf of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and our community of 130,000 worldwide in the Earth and space sciences, I am writing to thank you for crafting and offering AGU’s official endorsement for the American Innovation Act. The American Innovation Act provides stable and increasing funding for federal …
18 March 2021
AGU’s 2021 Policy Priorities
As a scientific society whose members’ research and interests span the universe, AGU’s science policy interests are just as vast – from scientific integrity to funding for science to building resilience to natural hazards. In 2019, AGU began developing annual policy priorities to help focus our advocacy work and speed the advancement of important science policy and legislation. For example, last Congress by focusing on our policy priorities AGU was able to secure passage of the Space Weather Research …
26 February 2021
Biden’s first 30 days in office: what it’s meant for science
President Biden campaigned on bringing science back to the center of policy. Knowing this, AGU shared a First 100 Days Memo with the Biden-Harris Transition team, laying out key priorities for climate change, the role of science, and a strong, diverse and inclusive scientific workforce. Now, a little more than a month into the Biden administration, we take a closer look at what progress has – and has not – …
18 February 2021
A new webinar & new opportunity to engage U.S. policymakers
2021 has brought with it a new Congress and a new U.S. administration, which means new opportunities to engage policymakers and share with them the value of the Earth and space sciences. Join our upcoming webinar Whether you are new to science policy and want to learn more about federal policy processes or are experienced but just want to improve the effectiveness of your engagements, AGU and its …
6 January 2021
A new Congress and a new administration: what to expect in 2021
The year 2020 was monumental for U.S. elections: more than 159 million people voted, the highest number ever recorded in an election. President Joseph R. Biden’s win was certified on 6 January by Congress. Already, President Biden has shared his priorities for his time in office: COVID-19, economic recovery, addressing racial equity and climate change. Democrats maintained control of the House of Representatives and flipped the Senate, giving President-elect Biden …
6 November 2020
Restoring Science, Protecting the Public: Recommendations for Federal Agencies in the Next Presidential Term
By Cheyenne Young, AGU’s Fall 2020 Public Affairs Intern Amid the ongoing elections, the United States is facing the public health crisis COVID-19 and the climate crisis, in addition to tackling years of social injustice. Thousands of highly qualified professionals employed in U.S. government agencies are working to create comprehensive solutions to address these challenges. While each agency has a different purpose, all share the same goal of serving …
5 August 2020
Massive Ammonium Nitrate Explosions: Beirut, Texas City, and West, Texas
As Beirut struggles with the aftermath of an enormous explosion apparently caused by thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a dockside warehouse, it is notable that the world has seen such disasters before. What follows is a re-posting of an article I wrote and posted here in 2013 called “Deja Vu: Remembering the 1947 Texas City (Fertilizer) Disaster.” Why did the authorities decide to store such a massive …
