Through support from the AGU Council Projects fund, a workshop was held in the Washington DC area with two main objectives. Building on the previous report of the initial ad hoc committee, the first objective was to consider in depth the breadth and future directions of the field for the new section. The second objective was to develop recommendations for the new section that would advance the field and enhance the participation young scientists in the Biogeosciences section. The workshop was attended by 16 scientists and began with a review of the structure and activities of AGU. As an introduction to the breadth and scope of biogeosciences, the participants presented a concise overview of their own research interests and their goals for future directions. The workshop then alternated between full group discussion of the research themes and meetings of smaller groups to discuss specific activities. Throughout the workshop we emphasized ways to employ the resources and strengths of the AGU to advance this new field and to promote interactions with the other fields of the geophysical sciences. We also gave priority to recommendations that would promote success in research and teaching of scientists embarking on a career in biogeosciences. The workshop closed with a discussion and compilation of specific recommendations for the new section (these recommendations are listed below).

Our discussions of research themes were used in three ways-1) to prepare brief informative synopses of important topics which will be posted on the Biogeosciences web site with links to relevant web sites in the AGU web site, the web sites of federal agencies, other scientific societies and universities or research institutions, 2) to identify topics for potential Chapman conferences that would stimulate discussion of current and future research areas, and 3) to generate lists of general topics for the section meetings committee to use in recruiting and organizing special sessions, and in coordinating the co-sponsorship of sessions with other sections. Because scientists in Biogeosciences typically come from a range of backgrounds, the purpose of the informative synopses, located on the web site under BiogeoFYI’s, is increase the familiarity among the scientists in the section and throughout AGU with some of the current "hot" topics and provide links to more comprehensive resources. Examples of current topics featured on the web site are: Biogeochemical processes at multiple scales, Integrating multiple disciplines in biogeosciences: integrating social, physical and biological drivers, and Do species matter in the biogeophysical functioning of ecosystems?

The AGU Chapman Conference chair, Robbins Church, participated in the workshop through a conference call and provided a helpful overview of the process for developing Chapman Conferences. There was much enthusiasm for a number of topics for Chapman conferences, and a list of prospective titles will be posted on the web site. The topic lists for the meetings were organized under common or core topics, breadth and depth topics and bounding topics and prospective co-sponsoring sections for topics were identified. These lists should help with the new program chairs with major task of organizing the large number of sessions and abstracts at the fall and spring meetings.

Anyone who would like to contribute a BiogeoFYI for the web page or add a link to an existing one should contact Elise Pendall; anyone who would like more information on B-related Chapman conferences should contact Beth Boyer; and anyone interested in organizing a special session should contact Kathy Hibbard (fall 2001) or Ruth Defies (spring 2001).

The recommendations for the new section were focused on specific measures to advance the field, recruitment of new members to AGU, improvements in the meeting experience for graduate students and organizing participation in public affairs and outreach activities. An important priority as the field expands in the next few years is to establish high standards for publication and to avoid the piecemeal representation of the field by smaller journals from private publishers. Thus, strong arguments in favor of a possible JGR-Bio were put forward. Such a journal could advance the field by establishing high standards of quality in this interdisciplinary field, and by providing one publication that does cover the breadth of the field, promoting a broader integrated view, ranging from microbes to megafauna and over many orders of magnitude in spatial and temporal scales, and by maintaining accessibility of the emerging biogeosciences literature to scientists from other geophysical disciplines.

Several participants at the workshop agreed to form a new Membership committee for the section. The committee is chaired by Max Holmes and will begin working with AGU staff. Please encourage colleagues, especially those who participated in B sessions in recent meetings, to become members of AGU. Another recommendation was to form a graduate student committee and to improve the interactions and feedback through the process of evaluating graduate student presentations for awards at the meeting. Several specific activities in the areas of public affairs and outreach were proposed, and if you are interested in getting involved in some way, such as contacting your congressman or developing web-based resources for teachers or for scientists visiting classrooms, please contact (names). Finally, we decided to take advantage of the option of having a section lunch at the meetings, so look for that option on the meeting registration form.

Recommendations from the Biogeosciences at the Threshold workshop for the Biogeosciences section

1. Actively promote careers of young scientists in B
1. Develop a statement for the front page of the new journal(s) and for the web page (Peter Groffman)
2. Organize a series of articles for Eos about perspectives in interdisciplinary science (Jason Neff, in coordination with editors in other sections)

 

2. Publications- Initiate an AGU "crosscut" electronic journal and a JGR-Bio journal

These journals will advance the field by bringing papers together and increasing accessibility of the literature in the field. A new JGR-Bio would advance the field by establishing high standards of quality in this field, and by avoiding or overcoming the piecemeal representation of the field by smaller journals from private publishers

 

3. Establish a membership committee (Max (chair), Natalie, Sharon, Jon)

This committee will work with Cathy and other AGU staff to recruit new members. This will involve recruitment at meetings, and announcements to other email lists.

4. Initiate a student committee
1. Organize to provide input on what students need and want
2. Change judging form to improve feedback, and recommend additions of other feedback
5. Meetings
1. Advance the new section through initiating Chapman conferences
2. Improve index for the meetings

 

6. Charge to the Public Outreach committee

This committee should focus on training of teachers, with a possibility of linking to OBFS (Organization of Biological Field Stations) to enhance training a field stations

7. Charge to Public Affairs committee
1. The committee can serve to coordinate individual members who are interested in responding to Congress on current issues, such as loss of long term datasets;
2. The committee can develop a proposal to Union public affairs committee for a AGU position paper on maintenance of long-term datasets, and the public affairs committee of B will prepare a white paper with supporting inforamtion

 

8. Hold a B section lunch at every meeting
9. Expand the web page, add material and increase web page group
10. Recruit more members of B to be involved in section activities