A rotating, university-based National Office facilitates scientific planning and coordinates education and outreach efforts for the EarthScope community. The National Office, currently housed at Oregon State University (OSU) also organizes the EarthScope National Meeting and several scientific workshops held throughout the year. The EarthScope Observatories are operated and maintained as a collaborative effort by UNAVCO, Inc., and the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS).
EarthScope Committees
Committee Nominations TWG Member List TWG Online Community
EarthScope National Office
Meeting Minutes
Summary of minutes from ESSC meetings May 2008 [PDF 115KB]
Summary of minutes from ESSC meeting October 2008 [PDF 78KB]
The community model for the post-construction structure of EarthScope includes an EarthScope Steering Committee (ESSC) and a gradually rolling EarthScope National Office (ESNO) to foster and facilitate integrated science, education, and outreach activities and motivate broad community participation. The ESNO is guided by and provides support for the EarthScope Steering Committee, comprised of representatives of the EarthScope community. Technical capabilities (staff and funds) to assist in the implementation of many of the ESSC/ESNO activities reside in the facilities in order to allow continuity as the office rolls.
It has been almost eight years since the original EarthScope Science Plan was developed through the 2001 Snowbird workshop ("Scientific Targets for the World's Largest Observatory Pointed at the Solid Earth") and National Research Council "Review of EarthScope Integrated Science". Since then, the EarthScope MREFC has been completed and the EarthScope Facilities are operational, and many exciting scientific results have come out of the broad EarthScope community and beyond. It is appropriate to reexamine the EarthScope Program Science Plan in light of these new developments.
NSF therefore charges the EarthScope Steering Committee (ESSC) with coordinating a community process to develop an updated Science Plan for the EarthScope program. The plan should identify high-priority, new, and emerging areas of scientific exploration for the EarthScope Program over the next five to ten years from a broad range of Earth science disciplines, including geodesy, seismology, geology, hydrology, ocean science, weather and climate modeling, and space physics. The plan should emphasize transformative, interdisciplinary science and include some areas that may be speculative today, but with a high potential return. The plan will not make specific budgetary recommendations, but may identify areas where additional resources could be beneficial. As the plan is prepared, ESSC should bear in mind that the main goals for the new plan are to inform future NSF decisions on the EarthScope Program and related priorities, to expand and enhance the already vibrant EarthScope community, and to emphasize the critical contributions EarthScope will provide over the next decade.
The final Science Plan document is due to NSF no later than 31 January 2010, and should be written for a broad audience that includes NSF management and staff, policymakers, and the scientific community.
Structure
• A Steering Committee that provides
°Scientific leadership and support for the community
°Advice and guidance to NSF
°Timely and thoughtful review and evaluation of accomplishments
°Liaisons to other organizations or programs (e.g. MARGINS; OOI; Industry)
• Steering Committee membership
°8 members, including ESNO PI
• An EarthScope National Office Director
°Member of EarthScope Steering Committee
°Rotates every ~ 3 years (ramps down as new Office ramps up)
• An Education and Outreach Manager
°Member of the EarthScope Education and Outreach Committee (EEOSC)
EarthScope Steering Committee Activities
• Facilitate program planning, coordination, and implementation
°Recommend updates/changes to the EarthScope Science Plan
°Recommend updates/changes to the EarthScope Program Solicitation
• Meet with NSF officials routinely and on specific topics as necessary
• Host open forums, town hall meetings, etc.
• Establish subcommittees and/or working groups as needed
• Foster the development of community consensus concerning
• Communications• Workshops/meetings• Cyberinfrastructure
• Special volumes or other publications with the EarthScope imprint
• Videos, web content, and other developing technologies for EarthScope communication
• Data, metadata, and products
• Data/products dissemination
• Maintain liaisons with organizations and industry as needed
• Foster the development of a strong and diverse EarthScope Education and Outreach program (via the EEOSC)
• Recommend appropriate procedures to create or update news and review items, fact sheets, non-technical components of the Web site, press releases, booth materials, and all other types of communications
Note 1: Nomination Process: A three person nominating committee will be formed annually. The Chair of the nominating committee is a member of the EarthScope Steering Committee. Two additional members of the nominating committee will be chosen from the EarthScope science community. The charge to the committee is to come up with a slate of two to three names for each open position. Nominations will be submitted to the NSF. The NSF EarthScope Program Manager in consultation with other relevant EAR program managers will make the final decision.
Current membership:
Goran Ekstrom
ESSC Chair
Term expires spring 2011
Jim Davis
EEOSC chair
Term expires spring 2011
William Holt
Member
Term expires spring 2009
Randy Keller
ECISC chair
Term expires spring 2010
Terry Plank
Member
Term expires spring 2011
Anne Trehu
ESNO PI
Term expires spring 2011
Michael Williams
Member
Term expires spring 2011
Howard Zebker
Member
Term expires spring 2011