Post Category: Meetings and Activities

The JOIDES Resolution Facility Board (JRFB) invites the international community to provide comments and input on the recently released draft proposal guidelines. These guidelines were developed from the recommendations provided in the JRFB Working Group on Science Framework Proposal Requirements and Assessments (WG-SFP) Report and build on the current IODP proposal guidelines. They are aimed at science proposals to use a future U.S. globally ranging, non-riser drilling platform to address the 2050 Science Framework. The comment period will be open until August 31, 2022.

Did you miss the last VMS on The Many Ways to Use Anvi’o, a Platform for Microbial ‘Omics? Check out the recording with invited speaker Iva Veseli (University of Chicago) as she introduces Anvi’o, a community-driven software platform enabling integrated analyses and interactive visualization of multi-’omic data, and discusses the various ways to learn and use anvi’o, and how these strategies fit different research needs and users with different levels of computational experience.

NOAA Ocean Exploration invites the science and management communities to identify priority areas for mapping and remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) operations for Okeanos Explorer as it makes its way along the U.S. West Coast and Alaska. This survey tool will allow you to submit mapping requests and dive targets for use in the design of Okeanos Explorer operations along the U.S. West Coast and Alaska in 2022/2023. Okeanos Explorer is expected to be operating in the region from October 2022 through 2023. Operations will focus on unmapped and/or unexplored deepwater (>200 m) areas, and the priorities received through this survey will help define expedition plans as well as specific targets. Due dates for exploration recommendations: U.S. West Coast priority area July 1, 2022 and Alaska priority area August 1, 2022.

The ocean drilling program in the U.S. stands at a critical junction. Not only does the drilling program need to be renewed in October 2024, but the D/V JOIDES Resolution is reaching the end of its utility, and a new vessel needs to be designed and built. Leaders from thirteen U.S. oceanographic institutions have come together in the US – Scientific Ocean Drilling Alliance (US-SODA) to express their strongest support for continuing to fund scientific ocean drilling and for the lease or acquisition of a newly built global-ranging riserless U.S. drilling vessel. At this moment, there are three immediate actions where you can provide help and support: 1) sign the petition and get as many of your colleagues/peers to sign as well; 2) work with your institution’s leadership to consider sending in a letter to NSF expressing strong support for scientific ocean drilling; and/or 3) join US-SODA as a supporting institution by July 1, 2022.

Friday June 3, 2022 (9:30 – 11:00AM Pacific Time)

The Many Ways to Use Anvi’o, a Platform for Microbial ‘Omics
Iva Veseli (University of Chicago)

Cheaper, higher-quality sequencing technologies have made ‘omics analyses – metagenomics, pangenomics, phylogenomics, and more – central to investigations of microbial ecology and evolution. Anvi’o is a community-driven software platform enabling integrated analyses and interactive visualization of these multi-’omic data. It offers a versatile set of programs for working with sequence data that researchers can mix and match according to their research questions. While this can present a steeper learning curve than a simple data-in-results-out pipeline, it is not as difficult as you might think. We will discuss the various ways to learn and use anvi’o, and how these strategies fit different research needs and users with different levels of computational experience.

Register in advance of the meeting for connection information.

In this Gordon Research Conference “The Processes of Geobiological Evolution on a Living Planet”, we will explore the mechanisms that have enabled life to thrive and survive at the surface of the planet for more than 3.5 billion years, the roles that theory and evidence play in understanding the record of co-evolution on a living planet, and new approaches from sibling fields to Geobiology allow us to explore these ideas further. The Gordon Research Seminar “New Insights on Ancient and Modern Interactions Between Organisms and Their Environments” is a unique forum for graduate students, post-docs, and other scientists with comparable levels of experience and education to present and exchange new data and cutting-edge ideas. The GRS speaker abstract deadline is August 7, 2022; the GRS application deadline is October 8, 2022. The GRC application deadline is October 9, 2022.

Apply to host an Ocean Discovery Lecturer! Note C-DEBIer Andreas Teske (UNC Chapel Hill) is one of the lecturers presenting “From Magma to Microbe: The Deep Hot Biosphere of Guaymas Basin”! Open to any U.S. college, university or nonprofit organization. For over 20 years, the Ocean Discovery Lecture Series (formerly the Distinguished Lecturer Series) has brought the remarkable scientific results and discoveries of the International Ocean Discovery Program and its predecessor programs to academic research institutions, museums, and aquaria. Deadline is May 27, 2022.

Friday May 6, 2022 (9:30 – 11:00AM Pacific Time)

Living at the Extremes: Extremophiles and the Limits of Life in a Planetary Context
Nancy Merino (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
Diana Bojanova (University of Southern California)
Michael Wong (Carnegie Institution for Science)

In the context of prokaryotic life, extremophiles are microorganisms that thrive under harsh conditions, including pH, temperature, salinity, and pressure. In fact, many extremophiles persist under multiple extremes and are known as polyextremophiles. Research on extremophiles has revealed key microbial adaptations to extreme environments and enabled us to hypothesize about the origins and evolution of life on Earth. This research also has implications for assessing the feasibility and the search for life on other planetary and celestial bodies. In this virtual meeting, Nancy Merino (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), Diana Bojanova (University of Southern California), and Michael Wong (Carnegie Institution for Science) will discuss their paper titled “Living at the Extremes: Extremophiles and the Limits of Life in a Planetary Context” (written with co-authors Heidi Aronson, Jayme Feyhl-Buska, Shu Zhang and Donato Giovannelli) in which they review the biospace that life operates on Earth and the potential for life elsewhere.

Register in advance of the meeting for connection information.

Did you miss the last VMS on Sampling Oceanic Crustal Fluids: Some Options? Check out the recording with invited speakers Rika Anderson (Carleton College), Julie Huber (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), Susan Lang (University of South Carolina), and Michael Rappé (University of Hawaii) as they discuss the many different types of samplers including those available for sampling hydrothermal fluids with submersibles, and the costs and benefits of the different approaches.

On behalf of the US InterRidge Selection Committee: Ross Parnell-Turner (Scripps Institution of Oceanography), Zach Eilon (UC Santa Barbara), Laurent Montesi (University of Maryland), Joyce Sim (Georgia Tech), Jessica Warren (University of Delaware), we are happy to announce that the U.S. is now once again a ‘Regular’ member of InterRidge. InterRidge is an international, non-profit organization supported by fee-paying member nations, concerned with promoting all aspects of ocean floor research (its study, use, and protection), administered by a rotating office that is currently hosted by Korea. Membership of InterRidge will allow U.S. scientists to more easily identify research opportunities and collaborations with international partners, participate in working groups, and gain access to support for spare berths on cruises and student fellowships. We encourage members of the US Ridge community (broadly defined, including but not limited to geologists, geophysicists, marine chemists, biologists, and physical oceanographers) to fill out this short form to join the US InterRidge mailing list and indicate your interest in serving on the US InterRidge Steering Committee by April 1, 2022.

Friday March 4, 2022 (9:30 – 11:00AM Pacific Time)

Sampling Oceanic Crustal Fluids: Some Options
Rika Anderson (Carleton College)
Julie Huber (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Susan Lang (University of South Carolina)
Michael Rappé (University of Hawaii)

The fluids that circulate through the oceanic crust can provide valuable windows to the microbiology and geochemistry of the subseafloor, but can be challenging to collect in sufficient volume and without contamination. We will discuss the many different types of samplers including those available for sampling hydrothermal fluids with submersibles, and the costs and benefits of the different approaches.

Register in advance of the meeting for connection information.

The GRS application deadline is February 28, 2022 (for Speaker Abstracts) or April 30, 2022. The GRC application deadline is May 1, 2022.

The NSF has asked the U.S. Science Support Program (USSSP) for assistance in developing Science Mission Requirements, or SMRs, for a globally-ranging riserless U.S. drilling vessel to address high priority scientific objectives outlined in the 2050 Science Framework: Exploring Earth by Scientific Ocean Drilling. The SMR effort will begin with an online community survey, which will be accessible through March 15. All survey responses provided by March 15 will be used to guide the virtual forums and in-person workshop. Completion of the survey will serve as one part of your application for attending the in-person workshop. The survey has 28 questions and should take approximately 30 minutes to complete. During the survey period, we will hold open, online sessions to provide answers to any questions you may have about the survey. The first session is scheduled for February 8, 2022 at 3 PM Eastern.

Friday February 4, 2022 (9:30 – 11:00AM Pacific Time)
METABOLIC Bioinformatics Tool
Karthik Anantharaman, Zhichao Zhou, and Patricia Tran (University of Wisconsin)

In the recent decade, metagenomics and single-cell genomics have significantly changed our understanding of the microbial world, especially uncultured microbial taxa. While advanced genomic approaches have allowed scientists to discover a rich diversity of microorganisms from diverse settings, bioinformatic tools which could help us to interpret and organize genomic blueprints into metabolism and biogeochemistry at the individual and community scales are necessary to facilitate research in diverse fields. METABOLIC is a newly developed scalable metabolic and biogeochemical functional trait profiler to comprehensively study microbial metabolism and interactions using genome data.

In this talk, we will present the capabilities of METABOLIC that can enable (1) Metabolic and biogeochemical analyses for genomes and microbial communities, and (2) Visualization of biogeochemical cycling potential and community-scale functional networks.

Register in advance of the meeting for connection information.

The limits of microbial life and the exploration of the biological demand for energy is the focus of the International Workshop on Microbial Life under Extreme Energy Limitation, held 5-9 September at Sandbjerg Manor near Sønderborg, Denmark. We invite researchers and students from different relevant disciplines to participate in the workshop in order to discuss microbial energy requirements and stimulate new thinking and new approaches. Deadline for abstract submission and application: April 1, 2022.

The application for the National Science Foundation-supported training for principal investigators leading collection of marine sediment samples utilizing the U.S. Academic Research Fleet (ARF) is now open! This training will consist of two five-day workshops bracketing a ten day participant-led cruise (8/23/22-9/1/22) aboard the R/V Roger Revelle, during which participants will gain hands on experience via planning and executing a successful sampling program. Training will cover the capabilities of the various ARF platforms/facilities and utilizing the UNOLS Marine Facilities Planning (MFP) System, site selection including use of legacy core and geophysical data, selection of appropriate sampling equipment to meet scientific goals, shipboard site survey, sample collection, physical properties logging, and core description, core curation and archival techniques and ingesting of recovered materials into the NSF Marine Geology Repository system. Application review begins on February 1, 2022.

Goldschmidt is the foremost annual, international conference on geochemistry and related subjects, organized by the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry. The next Goldschmidt Conference will take place in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, USA and online from 10-15 July 2022. The abstract submission deadline is March 1, 2022.

Building from the foundation of C-DEBI, a new NSF-funded network-of-networks started this fall called COBRA – the Crustal Ocean Biosphere Research Accelerator. The goal of COBRA is to generate new knowledge on the structure, function, resilience, and ecosystem services of the crustal ocean biosphere – life attached to the rocks at the bottom of the ocean – to inform decision-making relating to emergent industrial uses of the deep ocean, such as deep-sea mining and subseafloor carbon sequestration, and decrease the likelihood of serious harm to the environment while maintaining the broad benefits that society currently enjoys. COBRA will help to close knowledge gaps by bringing together stakeholders through virtual workshops and supporting cross-coordination and collaboration. As a global community of experts in deep sea and subseafloor deep biosphere science, the C-DEBI community is uniquely poised to make great contributions to COBRA efforts. Join this virtual meeting series to hear from COBRA Director Dr. Beth Orcutt and COBRA Associate Director Dr. Julie Huber (also both C-DEBI scientists) to learn more about how you can get involved and take advantage of opportunities. Register in advance of this meeting on January 7, 2022 (9:30 – 11:00AM Pacific Time).

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for scientific participants on Expedition 399: Building Blocks of Life, Atlantis Massif, aboard the JOIDES Resolution. The Atlantis Massif (AM) Oceanic Core Complex (30°N, Mid-Atlantic Ridge) is one of the earliest sites recognized for the extensive exposure of ultramafic and mafic rocks at the seafloor caused by an oceanic detachment fault. The Lost City Hydrothermal Field (LCHF) is hosted in peridotite on its southern wall and vents alkaline fluids rich in H2 as a by-product of serpentinization. The AM is therefore an ideal natural laboratory for studying tectonics, magmatism, and the interaction between the ocean and lithosphere, as well as their combined influence on ocean chemistry and the subseafloor biosphere. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in all shipboard specialties, including but not limited to sedimentologists, petrologists, micropaleontologists, paleomagnetists, petrophysicists, borehole geophysicists, igneous geochemists, inorganic geochemists, organic geochemists, and microbiologists. Application deadline: February 1, 2022. To learn more about the scientific objectives of Expedition 399, life at sea, and how to apply to sail, register in advance for the webinar on January 5, 2022 (11:00 AM EST).

Field work is often viewed as a career highlight, shaping the trajectories of graduate students and early career researchers. Negative experiences in the field, intimidating behaviors (including hazing, bullying), harassment, discriminatory behaviors, gendered division of labor, and assault, can have severe consequences for victims and their careers. In this event, Dr. Ivona Cetinić (NASA Goddard) will discuss ways to create a safe and productive field climate, focusing on the role that PIs play in setting expectations for (and rules of) behavior, and the accountability for violations. Register in advance of this meeting on December 3, 2021 (9:30 – 11:00AM Pacific Time).

At this year’s AGU Fall Meeting, three hybrid Deep Biosphere sessions – two oral and one poster – will be presented on Friday December 17. Conveners Beth Orcutt, James Bradley, Julie Huber, and Maggie Osburn are delighted to have many early career scientists in these sessions, sharing the latest-and-greatest from continental and marine subsurface investigations. Check the links to see who and what is being presented! I: Oral Session (B53B) Friday 17 Dec 13:45-15:00 CST (UTC-6); II: Oral Session (B54A) Friday 17 Dec 15:30-16:45 CST (UTC-6); and III: Poster Session (B55J) Friday 17 Dec 17:00-19:00 CST (UTC-6). Early bird registration ends November 3, 2021; regular rates are due afterward until the session December 17, 2021.

Our next virtual meeting features  Marisela Martinez-Cola (Morehouse College) who will present “Collectors, Nightlights, & Allies, Oh My! : Advice for Strengthening Cross-racial Mentoring Relationships” on Friday, October 1, 2021 (10:30AM – 12:00PM Pacific Time). The virtual meeting series is held monthly during the first week of each month, with a regular rotation of science workshops and professional development workshops. Each workshop will contain about 90 minutes of programming, including invited speakers to give plenary tutorials and presentations, breakout icebreaker and discussion sessions, and plenary Q&A sessions. Register in advance for the meeting on October 1, 2021.

The curators of the four NSF Marine Geological Samples Repositories (Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory Core Repository, Oregon State University Marine and Geology Repository, University of Rhode Island Marine Geological Samples Laboratory, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Seafloor Samples Repository), invite the community to a virtual Town Hall. Join the curators for an introduction and discussion of the sample repositories, and complete our survey to help shape our conversation on September 8, 2021 at 3:00-4:30 PM EDT.

Mark your calendars for the first Digital Roundtable featuring MacArthur Fellows in the sciences.  Moderated by MacArthur’s Jay Goodwin, stay tuned for C-DEBIer Victoria Orphan (Geobiologist, Class of 2016), Jerry Mitrovica (Theoretical Geophysicist, Class of 2019), and Damien Fair (Cognitive Neuroscientist, Class of 2020) on August 25, 2021 at 12 PM CST.

With the hope that the worst of the pandemic is behind us, we are planning to host an on-site Course in Bioinformatics of Microbial Single Cells at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences on April 3-9, 2022. This course will provide hands-on training in computational techniques for the integration of single amplified genome (SAG) data in studies of microbial ecology and evolution. The intended audience is faculty, postdocs, graduate students and other professionals planning to work with SAG data. The application deadline is December 3, 2021.

Do you have questions about how deep biosphere/microbiology sampling is part of the international scientific ocean drilling program (the International Ocean Discovery Program, IODP), and how subseafloor samples are collected? Have you wondered how you can get more involved with IODP, or how proposals for drilling are handled? Are you curious about the future of IODP beyond the current program, and how deep biosphere/microbiology science can be part of that future?

This Virtual Meeting Series event will feature a panel of deep biosphere scientists highlighting these topics and answering your questions. Everyone is welcome to join – from experienced IODP users to those who have never been involved with IODP. Panelists will include Jennifer Biddle (University of Delaware), Stephanie Carr (Hartwick College), Steven D’Hondt (University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography), Jessica Labonté (Texas A&M University Galveston), Beth Orcutt (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences), and Jason Sylvan (Texas A&M University).

Register in advance for the meeting on September 3, 2021.

Our next virtual meeting features plenary speakers Roman Barco (University of Southern California) and Ileana Pérez-Rodríguez (University of Pennsylvania) who will present on Friday August 6 (10:30AM – 12:00PM Pacific). The virtual meeting series is held monthly during the first week of each month, with a regular rotation of science workshops and professional development workshops. Each workshop will contain about 90 minutes of programming, including invited speakers to give plenary tutorials and presentations, breakout icebreaker and discussion sessions, and plenary Q&A sessions. Register in advance for the meeting on August 6, 2021.

#AGU21 is the leading forum for advancing Earth and space science and leveraging this research toward solutions for societal challenges. Submit an abstract (or two now) to #AGU21 to contribute to these goals and to share your science in-person (New Orleans, LA) and online with >25,000 attendees from 100+ countries representing the global Earth and space sciences community. Most sessions will be recorded and available to this global community of researchers, scientists, educators, students, policymakers, partners, science enthusiasts, journalists and communicators. Abstracts should focus on new scientific results, enabling Earth and space science or its application, and/or the contribution of Earth and space science to society. Submit your deep biosphere abstract to Session B037 – Geomicrobiology of the Deep Biosphere convened by Beth Orcutt, Maggie Osburn, James Bradley, and Julie Huber; or to Session P034 – Tapping the Rhythms of Potential Life on Extraterrestrial Planets and Moons convened by Chui Yim Maggie Lau Vetter, Frederick S. Colwell, and Rosalyn Fey. Abstracts due August 4, 2021.

Our next virtual meeting features plenary speaker Jackie Goordial (University of Guelph) who will present “Squeezing DNA from a rock: DNA extractions from low biomass settings” on Friday July 9 (10:30AM – 12:00PM Pacific). The virtual meeting series is held monthly during the first week of each month, with a regular rotation of science workshops and professional development workshops. Each workshop will contain about 90 minutes of programming, including invited speakers to give plenary tutorials and presentations, breakout icebreaker and discussion sessions, and plenary Q&A sessions. Register in advance for the meeting on July 9, 2021.

The U.S. Science Support Program (USSSP) is seeking scientists to participate on a variety of IODP panels, boards, and committees. There are three open calls for participation, on the U.S. Advisory Committee for Scientific Ocean Drilling (USAC), the Science Evaluation Panel (SEP), or the JOIDES Resolution Facility Board (JRFB). Deadline to apply: July 23, 2021.

The hackweek model has emerged in the data science community as a powerful tool for fostering exchange of ideas in research and computation by providing training in modern data analysis workflows. In contrast to conventional academic conferences or workshops, hackweeks are intensive and interactive, facilitated by three core components: tutorials on state-of-the-art methodologies, peer-learning, and on-site project work in a collaborative environment.  OceanHackWeek is a small hands-on, interactive hybrid in-person and virtual workshop focused on data science and oceanography that will be held during August 3-6, 2021. Join us for four days of tutorials, data exploration, software development and community networking! The in-person event will take place at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, in East Boothbay, Maine, as an all-day workshop. For the virtual event, formal daily activities will take place over a period of up to 3 hours per day. Application deadline: June 14, 2021.

The Spring 2021 NSF Virtual Grants Conference is designed to give new faculty, researchers, and administrators key insights into a wide range of current issues at NSF. NSF program officers will be providing up-to-date information about specific funding opportunities and answering attendee questions. Registration is now open, and the webinar is free of charge.

Our next virtual meeting features plenary speakers Rika Anderson (Carleton College) who will present “Conducting research with undergraduates at a small liberal arts college” and Terry McGlynn (California State University Dominguez Hills) who will present “How to develop an undergraduate research lab with long-term sustainability” on Friday June 4 (10:30AM – 12:00PM Pacific). The virtual meeting series is held monthly during the first week of each month, with a regular rotation of science workshops and professional development workshops. Each workshop will contain about 90 minutes of programming, including invited speakers to give plenary tutorials and presentations, breakout icebreaker and discussion sessions, and plenary Q&A sessions. Register in advance for the meeting on June 4, 2021.

As part of the HOV Alvin 6500m upgrade, the deep submergence science community is seeking applicants to participate in the NSF sponsored HOV Alvin Science Verification Expedition (SVE). The primary objective of the SVE is to test and validate the submarine systems used for science operations. Opportunistic science will also be accomplished on the expedition, including the operation of a night program using an autonomous CTD/lander for water sampling, acoustic monitoring, and imaging at hadal depths. The SVE will take place in October following Navy certification of the submarine for diving to 6500m depth. The expedition will depart from San Juan, Puerto Rico and will conduct ~5 dives at targets that may include seaward and landward trench surfaces, potential methane seeps, and fault exposures in the trench. The expedition will then transit to the Mid-Cayman Spreading Center, where ~5 dives will be conducted on targets that may include high-temperature hydrothermal vents, volcanic features, detachment fault surfaces, and transform faults. We are seeking a diverse group of participants that span disciplinary fields, both with and without previous Alvin experience.  Because the at-sea participation may be limited due to COVID-19 restrictions, the SVE will have both ship-based and shore-based, via a high-bandwidth ship to shore connection, participation. The deadline for applications is May 28, 2021.

During the summer of 2021, we are running a series of workshops engaging three communities in envisioning broadening the impact of scientific ocean drilling in the coming decades. These workshops will strive to chart the future course of science communication and outreach for scientific ocean drilling. The series of workshops will explore STEM education and science communication, engaging workshop participants as collaborators, while paying special attention to issues related to diversity and inclusion. This effort is in direct support of the 2050 Framework for Scientific Ocean Drilling and its call to “communicate far-reaching scientific ocean drilling knowledge to the broader community.” We are seeking a diverse group of participants across many demographics, experience/levels, geographic locations and career areas for the three workshops “Engaging the Public”, “Informing Policymakers, and “Preparing the Next Generation.”  Deadlines to apply are May 17, June 21, and July 1, 2021.

C-DEBI finalist Sabrina Elkassas (MIT-WHOI) will tell her story live in the Reach Out Science Slam Finals on May 4 (7-8 PM Eastern) to a panel of expert science communicator judges. Check out her inspirational promo video, then watch her and 5 other early career researchers from around the country compete to tell the best science story in just 3 minutes and cast your votes for the Audience Choice Winner! Register for the Finals May 4, 2021.

Our next virtual meeting features plenary speaker Roland Hatzenpichler (Montana State University) who will present “Next-generation physiology: Why and how to measure microbial phenotypes under (close to) in situ conditions” on Friday May 7 (10:30AM – 12:00PM Pacific). The virtual meeting series is held monthly during the first week of each month, with a regular rotation of science workshops and professional development workshops. Each workshop will contain about 90 minutes of programming, including invited speakers to give plenary tutorials and presentations, breakout icebreaker and discussion sessions, and plenary Q&A sessions. Register in advance for the meeting on May 7, 2021 (10:30AM – 12:00PM Pacific).

This one-hour gathering is a Q&A session to inform the IODP community. It’s your chance to ask questions about IODP and JR through 2024! Panelists Clive Neal (JRFB), Brad Clement (JRSO), Marta Torres (USAC), Jamie Allan (NSF), and Carl Brenner (USSSP) will answer questions about scheduling and operations of the JOIDES Resolution through 2024, and provide information about the outlook for activities and support within the current IODP (to 2023/2024). We welcome questions from everyone in the IODP community and anyone interested in IODP. All topics related to the JR through 2024 are fair game – and you can send a question even if you can’t attend the live event by emailing the USSSP Office at usssp@ldeo.columbia.edu,. A recording will be posted on the USSSP page. Register in advance for the meeting on April 28, 2021 at 11 AM Pacific / 2 PM Eastern Time.

Apply to host an Ocean Discovery Lecturer for the 2021-2022 academic year. The Ocean Discovery Lecture Series (formerly the Distinguished Lecturer Series) brings discoveries of the International Ocean Discovery Program to academic research institutions, museums, and aquaria. The 2021-2022 lecturer topics range from climate history, ocean circulation, ice sheet dynamics, marine magnetics to geomicrobiology and more; including C-DEBIer Karen Lloyd (University of Tennessee, Knoxville) on “The mysterious deep subsurface biosphere: What sustains one of the largest, slowest ecosystems on Earth?”.  Application deadline: May 15, 2021.

The University of Southern California will host the first virtual Southern California Geobiology Symposium on May 20-21 (through Zoom and Gathertown). The SoCal Geobiology Symposium is an annual student-organized symposium for scientists interested in astrobiology, climate science, ecology, geochemistry, geology, microbiology, oceanography, and paleobiology. We welcome scientists from all levels of academia and both those living in Southern California and from around the world. Undergraduates, graduate students, and post-docs are encouraged to submit abstracts for posters or talks to share their research; selection will prioritize those from the rotating SoCal Geobio host institutions (USC, Caltech, and UC Riverside).  Registration and abstract submission deadline: April 23, 2021.

Submit a proposal for general scientific sessions, Union and special sessions, town halls, and scientific workshops to help shape discussions at the AGU Fall Meeting 2021 and within the Earth and space sciences community. This year’s Fall Meeting (December 13-17) is planned to be a hybrid in-person (New Orleans) and online meeting. Deadline: April 14, 2021.

The Bioinformatics Virtual Coordination Network (BVCN) presents “Holistic Bioinformatic Approaches used in Microbiome Research”, a step-by-step open access conference showcasing state-of-the-art bioinformatics pipelines for microbiome research to be held June 7-11, 2021. This online conference will bring together early career researchers from across the globe who are equally committed to reducing entry barriers into bioinformatics for researchers, and who would like to exchange and share their research and bioinformatics experiences in a step-by-step format with a global and interdisciplinary audience. The BVCN was established to facilitate entry of researchers in environmental and biomedical sciences into computational biology. To further this goal, this upcoming conference is designed to provide a platform for showcasing bioinformatic projects from inception to publication. The holistic analysis of data intensive projects may contain many steps that are not covered in the tutorials or documented in the methods section of publications – our speakers will try and capture these elements in their presentations. Registration is due April 14, 2021.

C-DEBI semi-finalists Sabrina Elkassas (MIT-WHOI) and Rachel Weisend (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) will tell their stories live in the Reach Out Science Slam Semi-final Round #2 on April 13 (7-8 PM Eastern) to a panel of expert science communicator judges. Watch them and 17 other early career researchers from around the country compete to tell the best science story in just 3 minutes and cast your votes to help decide who will make it to the Finals Event on May 4. Register for the Semifinals April 6, 13, and 20.

The U.S. National Committee for the Ocean Decade has issued a call for submission of “Ocean-Shots”, defined as an ambitious, transformational research concept that draws inspiration and expertise from multiple disciplines and fundamentally advances ocean science for sustainable development. The goal is to spark transformative research for potentially “disruptive” advances that will open avenues for progress toward Decade goals. The second call for submissions is due July 1, 2021.

Join us Monday, April 5, 2021 (10:30AM – 12:00PM Pacific Time) for the inaugural C-DEBI Virtual Meeting on New Tools in Bioinformatics. Building on the enthusiasm of our first virtual annual meeting in 2020, we continue to bring the C-DEBI community together through a virtual meeting series. These virtual events will be held monthly during the first week of each month, with a regular rotation of science workshops and professional development workshops. Each workshop will contain about 90 minutes of programming, including invited speakers to give plenary tutorials and presentations, breakout sessions, and plenary Q&A sessions.

This meeting on new tools in bioinformatics will include plenary speakers:

Dr. Ben Tully, University of Southern California
EukMetaSanity: A customizable workflow for the gene prediction and annotation of Eukaryotic genomes

Dr. Jake Weissman, University of Southern California
Estimating maximal microbial growth rates from cultures, metagenomes, and single cells via codon usage patterns

Megan Mullis, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, will present “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast: A microbial tale of survival within the marine deep subsurface” in the next Networked Speaker Series live on March 18, 2021, 9:30am HAST/ 12:30pm PST / 3:30pm EST.

Abstract: Microbes play fundamental roles in ecosystem function through mediating biogeochemical cycles, yet we know very little about how microbes interact and what drives community diversity. The marine deep subsurface hosts a massive reservoir of microbial biomass that can be actively surviving (or even thriving) harsh conditions, such as high pH, low nutrients, or extreme temperatures. There are various methods to analyze microbial community diversity and functionality within the marine subsurface including culture-independent and -dependent methods. The studies presented here utilize this two-pronged approach to investigate microbial diversity, functionality, and specific survival mechanisms within two marine subsurface environments. The Mariana Forearc sediments were sampled through use of the International Ocean Discover Program Expedition 366 from December 2016 – February 2017. Sediments were extracted for total RNA as a proxy for microbial activity and sequenced using Illumina NovaSeq. These metatranscriptomes were analyzed for microbial diversity and metabolic capabilities and indicates microbial life is persisting through partial denitrification (nirKS) and anaerobic methane oxidation (pmoABC). The western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (commonly referred to as North Pond) sediments were sampled via push cores aboard the R/V Atlantis in October 2017. We utilized a novel method of high-throughput single-cell sorting using Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) to cultivate individual cells from shallow North Pond sediments. Individual cells from sediment slurries were sorted into a modified artificial seawater medium and extracted for whole genome sequencing using Illumina MiSeq. I will present novel methodology and genome characterizations from Idiomarina abyssalis strain KJE, Marinobacter salarius strain NP2017, and Marinobacter salarius strain AT3901.

The 2021 nomination period is open for AGU honors, including the Asahiko Taira International Scientific Ocean Drilling Research Prize. The Taira Prize is given annually in recognition of outstanding, transdisciplinary research accomplishment in ocean drilling to an honoree within 15 years of receiving their Ph.D. The Taira Prize is generously funded through the International Ocean DISCOVERY Program and is given in partnership between AGU and the Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU). It is presented at the AGU Fall Meeting.  An extended nomination period aims to increase selection and diversity among the nominees and to allow more time for nominators to develop multiple nomination packages. Deadline: April 15, 2021.

The University of Southern California Wrigley Institute proudly announces our upcoming 2021 Delta Murphy Distinguished Lecture. Join three pathbreaking scientists to discuss their unique experiences overcoming inequitable obstacles, and to address the critical importance of diverse voices leading the scientific enterprise: Rita Colwell, PhD – Former Director, National Science Foundation; Professor, University of Maryland; Dawn Wright, PhD – Chief Scientist, Esri; Oceanographer; and Hope Jahren, PhD – Author, ‘Lab Girl’; Professor, University of Oslo.  This event will be moderated by Dr. Carly Kenkel, Gabilan Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, USC, and co-sponsored with the USC Marine and Environmental Biology Department (MEB), and the USC Environmental Studies Program (ENST).  Register in advance for the webinar on March 11, 2021 at 12-2pm PST.

Join us during Women’s History month for one or more of the weekly seminars and panels in celebration of 20 years of NSF ADVANCE and 30 years of the NSF Division of Human Resource Development. This series includes some of the many outstanding faculty and administrators who have spent thousands of hours researching faculty gender equity, developing interventions based on the science, and implementing and evaluating systemic change strategies within their institutions over the last 20 years. Register for the online series March 3-31, 2021.

Goldschmidt is the foremost annual, international conference on geochemistry and related subjects, organized by the European Association of Geochemistry and the Geochemical Society. The European Association of Geochemistry and the Geochemical Society believe that, with the appropriate safety measures in place, it should be possible to hold a safe and rewarding meeting at the Lyon Congress Centre. The Organizing Committee has therefore decided that Goldschmidt2021 will be in a hybrid format, combining an onsite meeting for delegates who can travel, with an online meeting for those who cannot, while aiming to promote as much interaction as possible between the two types of delegates. We also know that it is very difficult to predict what the situation will be like in July and, should a physical conference in Lyon ultimately not be possible, we may need to move to a fully online meeting. Abstract submission deadline: February 26, 2021.

The ​JOIDES Resolution​ Facility Board (JRFB) is issuing a request for information (RFI) to understand the international scientific community’s intent to propose to the ​2050 Science Framework​. Responses to the RFI will be considered by the JRFB in consultation with the other Facility Boards, funding agencies, and the IODP Forum, and they will inform planning on a potential future drilling program. Submissions to the RFI require completing an online form in the Proposal Database System (PDB) that asks about science goals that would be addressed by your future proposal, the region that would be studied, and some additional planning information. You may submit more than one response. Submit by June 10, 2021 for consideration by the JRFB.

The UNOLS Deep Submergence Science Committee (DeSSC) invites you to attend their fall meeting, Friday, December 4, 2020 at 1pm EST. Ocean scientists and students interested in deep submergence science are encouraged to attend the DeSSC meeting. Registration via the website is required.

Attending the 2020 AGU Fall Meeting, December 1-17, online? Check out these deep biosphere-related sessions:

• B018 – Chemolithotrophs as extreme ecosystem engineers; how microbial communities and environments influence each other under non-standard conditions
• B028 – Evaluating the role of the deep biosphere in the global carbon cycle: novel methodologies and tools from field sampling to lab scale investigations
• B077 – Coupled Elemental Cycles in Microbial Metabolism I Posters
• B091 – Investigating the Role of the Extreme Biosphere in the Global Element Cycles: How Microbial Communities and Environments Influence Each Other in the Deep Subsurface and Beyond II Posters,
  B098 – Investigating the Role of the Extreme Biosphere in the Global Element Cycles: How Microbial Communities and Environments Influence Each Other in the Deep Subsurface and Beyond I
• B095 – Soils in the Anthropocene: Mechanisms of Stabilization and Change III Posters
• B111 – Geovirology: Viruses in Earth’s Biomes and Their Impacts on Microbial Ecology and Biogeochemistry II Posters,
  B124 – Geovirology: Viruses in Earth’s Biomes and Their Impacts on Microbial Ecology and Biogeochemistry I
• B113 – Advances in Understanding and Predicting Microbial Functions in Earth System Processes Under Climate Change II Posters
• H081 – Reactive Transport in Real Rocks: From the Pore to the Field Scale I
• H160 – Fluids in the Earth’s Crust: From Depth to Surface I
• OS016 – Seafloor Cold Seeps Dynamics: Local to Global Impacts of Methane Emission and Gas Hydrates on the Marine Environment I Posters
• OS024 – The Science Behind the Framework for Scientific Ocean Drilling Through 2050 II Posters,
  OS026 – The Science Behind the Framework for Scientific Ocean Drilling Through 2050 I
• OS043 – Hydrocarbon (Methane or Oil) and Carbon Dioxide Seepage into Marine, Lacustrine, and Terrestrial Environments: Emissions and Impacts on Local to Global Scales I Posters
• P055 – The New Mars Underground (and Beyond) 3.0 III Posters,
  P057 – The New Mars Underground (and Beyond) 3.0 I,
  P058 – The New Mars Underground (and Beyond) 3.0 II
• P064 – Getting the Most Out of Data in Astrobiology: Overcoming the Too Little, Too Rare, and Too Different I Posters
• P075 – Ice and Ocean Worlds: Geology, Oceanography, Chemistry, Habitability I,
  P076 – Ice and Ocean Worlds: Geology, Oceanography, Chemistry, Habitability IV Posters,
  P083 – Ice and Ocean Worlds: Geology, Oceanography, Chemistry, Habitability II,
  P086 – Ice and Ocean Worlds: Geology, Oceanography, Chemistry, Habitability III

Missing a session of interest? Let us know!

The National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization Council (NOMEC Council), a group of federal agencies established to carry out the National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive Economic Zone, is requesting your input on developing an Implementation Plan and setting strategic priorities for the effort to map the entire U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) by 2040 and explore and characterize strategic areas. The public is invited to two Virtual Public Listening Sessions to discuss the NOMEC Strategy and Implementation Plan: Session #1: Ocean Exploration and Characterization [Register for November 16, 2:00-3:30pm EST via Zoom]; Session #2: Ocean Mapping [Register for November 18, 2:00-3:30pm EST via Zoom]. Request for Comments: The public is particularly encouraged to provide comments via email on the development of the NOMEC Implementation Plan and strategic priorities. 1) Implementing a National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the U.S. EEZ The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a notice stating that the NOMEC Council requests input from all interested parties on the development of an Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the U.S. EEZ (“National Strategy”) 85 Fed. Reg. 64446 (10/13/20). 2) Strategic priorities for mapping, exploring, and characterizing the U.S. EEZ NOAA issued a second notice stating that the NOMEC Council requests input from all interested parties on the strategic priorities to be included in the Implementation Plan for the National Strategy 85 Fed. Reg. 64448 (10/13/20). Please submit comments and letters by email no later than November 12, 2020, to nomec.execsec@noaa.gov, with subject line “Public Comment on Implementation Plan for the National Strategy” for request #1 and subject line, “Public Comment on Exploration Priorities for the Implementation Plan” for request #2.

With Dr. Julia McGonigle, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences on “Formate metabolism by Chloroflexi is key in unlocking deep carbon for the Lost City chimney ecosystem.” Abstract: The Lost City hydrothermal field on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge supports dense microbial life on towering calcium carbonate chimney structures. This microbial life is fueled by chemical reactions between the ultramafic rock under the chimneys and ambient seawater. These serpentinization reactions provide reducing power (as hydrogen gas) and organic compounds that can serve as microbial food. Previous studies have characterized the interior of the chimneys as a single-species biofilm inhabited by the Lost City Methanosarcinales, but genomic evidence indicating this methanogen is able to metabolize the most abundant carbon source (formate) is lacking. I will present recent metagenomic results that suggest the non-formate utilizing species inhabiting Lost City chimney biofilms might rely on carbon-cycling activity of a Chloroflexi population. I will also present current comparative genomic work on a distantly-related Chloroflexi population, obtained through hydrothermal fluid sampling, suspected to reside in the subsurface habitat under the Lost City chimneys.

The National Academies is introducing a national committee that will serve as the voice of the U.S. scientific community during the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, which will run from 2021 to 2030. The U.S. National Committee for the Decade is comprised of the experts who regularly advise the National Academies’ Ocean Studies Board, joined by experts who advise the National Academies’ Science and Technology for Sustainability Roundtable, Marine Board, and Gulf Research Program. Committee functions include establishing communication channels among participating organizations, organizing webinars, and convening meetings to promote and highlight Decade activities. The Committee is hosting a public session Meet the Committee and Help Define the Decade on Friday, October 16, from 2:00-4:00PM EDT.  The meeting will feature a request for the research community to submit “Ocean-Shots”, defined as transformational research concepts. Examples of such research will be presented by speakers at the session. Register to attend the event.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee on “Advancing a Systems Approach to Studying the Earth” requests your input. The committee is tasked to develop a compelling vision for a systems approach to studying the Earth and to identify the facilities, infrastructure, coordinating mechanisms, computing, and workforce development needed to support that vision. The committee seeks feedback from the scientific community across all components of the Earth system including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and human institutions and infrastructure. Your answers to this questionnaire will help the authoring committee better understand the range of issues associated with this complex topic.

The National Science Foundation is sponsoring a series of workshops to accelerate the convergence between academic, industry, government agencies, and foundations. The NSF Convergence Accelerator’s mission is to address national-scale societal challenges through use-inspired convergence research. Using a convergence approach, the Accelerator integrates multidisciplinary research and innovation processes to transition basic research and discovery toward impactful solutions. Please join October 5, 7, and 9, 2020 for the Future of Oceans: Innovation, Exploration, and Utilization Workshop. This workshop, organized by MIT, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and NSF, will explore ongoing challenges and emerging opportunities in ocean innovation, exploration, and utilization.

With speakers LPI/USRA astrobiologist and geomicrobiologist Dr. Kennda Lynch, WHOI marine microbiologist Dr. Julie Huber, WHOI marine geoscientist Dr. Chris German, and special guest, comedian Eugene Mirman. Earth’s ocean is essential to life and may have even given rise to life on our planet billions of years ago. We now know that vast oceans of liquid water also exist beneath the icy shells of moons in our own solar system. These ocean worlds provide compelling targets in the search for extraterrestrial life, perhaps within the next human generation. Join us for a stimulating discussion of how the exploration of the depths of our ocean can help inform the search for life beyond Earth. Register now!

We have decided to further postpone ISSM2020. It will be held in 2021. The date is not yet set, likely in spring/summer. The accepted presentations and poster remain accepted. Possibly we will reopen abstract submission later this year. If you are a selected presenter (including key note speakers), and you are declining (hopefully not), please, let us know. We do apologize for this inconvenience in these crazy times and thank you for your understanding.

With Dr. Rose Jones, University of Minnesota on “Menu for a deep microbe; attempts in understanding microbe-mineral interactions in the deep marine seafloor.” Abstract: For microbes in the deep marine subsurface, inorganic chemical energy often is the sole energy source, catalyzing redox reactions of chemical species dissolved in fluid or from solid substrate. This influences the environment by altering subsurface minerals and geochemistry. I’m currently looking for evidence of how microbes influence mineralogy at East Pacific Rise 9.5°N, using Synchrotron microprobe X-ray fluorescence mapping (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray absorption spectroscopies (XAS) to map element distributions and phase identification for crystalline and poorly-crystalline minerals. With this information we can describe how minerals change in space and time during the transition from active to inactive venting, providing context for understanding microbial community patterns. Using bioelectrochemistry, I also found evidence of microbes capable of influencing cool, oxic basalt at North Pond, Mid-Atlantic ridge through directly transferring electrons from the minerals. Overall, our results are attempting to understand how microbes and minerals influence each other and local geochemistry in the deep marine seafloor.

As some of you may have noticed (e.g. at the Ocean Sciences meeting in San Diego in February) a small group of us have been working at the interface between Ocean Sciences and Planetary Sciences of late, beginning to think about what it would take to make sure that the expertise that we can bring from study of Earth’s Oceans can be harnessed to maximize returns from future Space Missions to explore the oceans recently revealed to be present in some abundance, right here in our own solar system. Since the start of the year, NASA has established a research coordination network called the Network for Ocean Worlds which you can learn more about (and sign up to become affiliated with) at oceanworlds.space. I am writing now because starting later this Summer is when NASA, working in concert with the National Academies, undertakes a decadal planning process for its priorities in Planetary Science and Astrobiology. To that end, our Network has developed a new White Paper advocating for a national program of Ocean Worlds Exploration, starting in the coming decade, precisely because we reason that such research provides the greatest opportunity to find life beyond Earth within the lifetime of anyone reading this email. The vision includes partnership between NASA and the UNOLS agencies. If you think this sounds of interest please a) download the paper (7 pages / 20yr vision / implicit budget of >$10Bn); b) add any suggestions for improvement to the White Paper via the comment box; and c) sign up to endorse what we are proposing if you would like to see NASA prioritize Ocean Worlds studies. The latter is important: you will find that a number of your oceanographic colleagues’ names already appear on the endorsement page but the more the better to show the National Academy & NASA that this is something that oceanographers are interested in contributing to. Lastly, even if your priorities remain Earth-bound, note that this initiative would inevitably result in a new branch of NASA investing in new ocean technologies; a vote for NASA to be interested in Ocean Worlds doesn’t mean that you have to believe study of Earth’s Oceans is not vitally important to society. – NOW Co-Leads: Alison Murray (Desert Research Institute), Kevin Arrigo (Stanford), Alyssa Rhoden (Southwest Research Institute). Chris German (WHOI).

Attending (virtually or in person) the AGU Fall Meeting, December 7-11, 2020? Consider submitting your abstracts (due July 29, 2020) to these deep biosphere-related Session Proposals:

• B003: Advances in representing microbial functions in ecosystem and Earth system models
  Conveners: Yang Song, University of Arizona, Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, Gangsheng Wang, University of Oklahoma Norman Campus, and Scott R Saleska, University of Arizona, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
• B018: Chemolithotrophs as extreme ecosystem engineers; how microbial communities and environments influence each other under non-standard conditions
  Conveners:Rose Jones, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and Tomasa Sbaffi, University of Exeter, United Kingdom
• B021: Coupled Elemental Cycles in Microbial Metabolism
  Conveners:William C Nelson, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Biological Sciences, Jianqiu Zheng, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Michael J Wilkins, Colorado State University, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences
• B028: Evaluating the role of the deep biosphere in the global carbon cycle: novel methodologies and tools from field sampling to lab scale investigations
  Conveners:Anais Cario, CNRS, ICMCB, Bordeaux, France, and Samuel Marre, CNRS, Paris, France
• B034: Geovirology: Viruses in Earth’s Biomes and Their Impacts on Microbial Ecology and Biogeochemistry
  Conveners:Joanne B Emerson, University of California Davis, Ella Sieradzki, University of California, Berkeley, Simon Roux, Joint Genome Institute, Environmental Genomics, and Gareth George Trubl, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• B039: Integrating molecular insights to advance predictive biogeochemistry: theories, observations and modeling
  Conveners:Jianqiu Zheng, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Debjani Sihi, University of Florida, Melanie A Mayes, ORNL, Oak Ridge, TN, and Timothy D Scheibe, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• ED033: Undergraduate Earth, Atmospheric, Ocean, and Space Science Research and Outreach
  Conveners:Andria P Ellis, UNAVCO, Inc. Boulder, Education and Community Engagement, Kadidia V. Thiero, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, Pranoti M. Asher, American Geophysical Union, and Virginia L Peterson, Grand Valley State University
• ED035: Virtual and In-Person Educator and Student Research Programs Promoting Authentic Scientific Experience
  Conveners: Edgar A Bering III, University of Houston, Sanlyn Buxner, Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, and Constance E Walker, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL, United States
• P002: Aquaplanetology: Aqueous environments and habitability in the Solar System
  Conveners:Yasuhito Sekine, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Gabriel Tobie, LPGN Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes, Nantes, France, Bethany L Ehlmann, California Institute of Technology, Geological and Planetary Sciences, and Morgan L Cable, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
• P010: Detecting life through space and time: from geochemistry to biology
  Conveners:Luoth Chou, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Solar System Exploration Division, Natalie Grefenstette, Santa Fe Institute, Heather Graham, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Solar System Exploration Division, and Sarah Johnson, Georgetown University
• P017: Getting the Most out of Data in Astrobiology: Overcoming the Too Little, Too Rare, and Too Different
  Conveners:Diana Gentry, NASA Ames Research Center, Haley M Sapers, University of Western Ontario, Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration, and Amanda M. Stockton, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• P018: Ice and Ocean Worlds: Geology, oceanography, chemistry, habitability
  Conveners:Catherine C Walker, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Steve Vance, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Alyssa Mills, University of Alabama, Department of Geological Sciences, and Mallory J Kinczyk, North Carolina State University, Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences
• P042: The New Mars Underground (and Beyond) 3.0
  Conveners:Rachel Lee Harris, Princeton University, Department of Geosciences, Jesse Dylan Tarnas, Brown University, Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Ana-Catalina Plesa, German Aerospace Center DLR, Berlin, Germany
• OS023: Seafloor Cold Seeps Dynamics: Local to Global Impacts of Methane Emission and Gas Hydrates on the Marine Environment
  Conveners:Davide Oppo, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Adam D Skarke, Mississippi State University, Miriam Römer, MARUM – University of Bremen, Department of Geosciences, and Samantha Benton Joye, University of Georgia, Department of Marine Sciences
• OS025: The Science Behind the Framework for Scientific Ocean Drilling through 2050
  Conveners:Clive Robert Neal, University of Notre Dame, Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben, Alfred Wegener Inst Polar, Bremerhaven, Germany, Nobukazu Seama, Kobe University, Japan, and Dick Kroon, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Missing a session of interest? Let us know!

For over 20 years, the Ocean Discovery Lecture Series (formerly the Distinguished Lecturer Series) has brought the remarkable scientific results and discoveries of the International Ocean Discovery Program and its predecessor programs to academic research institutions, museums, and aquaria. Since 1991, over 1,000 presentations to diverse audiences have been made through the Lecture Series. Participation of researchers in the USSSP Ocean Discovery Lecture Series is essential to the program’s goal of bringing scientific results and discoveries to the geoscience community. The nomination period for the 2021-2022 Ocean Discovery Lecturers is now open. Please submit nominations by the deadline of July 22, 2020.

The first season of the NASA Astrobiology Program’s Network for Ocean Worlds quarterly Lecture Series, “Life on Ocean Worlds,” continues today, June 15th at 2 PM Eastern time. Episode 2: “Life on the seafloors and in the oceans” will consist of two live 20-minute lectures:

1. “Earth: Life on the seafloors and in the oceans” by Dr. Julie Huber, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
2. “Ocean Worlds: Life on the seafloors and in the oceans,” by Dr. Kevin Hand, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The event is will be held via WebEx. The lectures will each be 20 minutes with 10 minutes for questions. Afterwards, the lines will stay open for an additional 30 minutes for an audience discussion of crosscutting themes between the exploration of oceans and ice on the Earth and in the Solar System. The meetings will be recorded and made available online.

Join the NSF Geosciences Directorate’s Division of Ocean Sciences on Thursday, June 18, 2020, 12:00 PM – 4:30 PM EDT for the virtual 2020 Frontiers in Ocean Sciences Symposium. The theme of this year’s Symposium is Partnerships. Four NSF-funded scientists will share their pioneering research, their stories, and how they have fostered and learned from partnerships in their career. A panel of alumni from last year’s Symposium will convene for an update on their research and for an engaging discussion with you. See the agenda and registration flyer for details.

Save the date for our season finale on “Oceans Beyond Earth: From Earth’s deep ocean to the search for extraterrestrial life.” With NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory astrobiologist Kevin Hand, WHOI oceanographer Julie Huber, and WHOI deep-sea explorer Chris German and special guest, comedian Eugene Mirman.

The American Geosciences Institute is conducting a year-long study to understand how geoscience employers and educational institutions are changing their workplace and instructional environments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to discover which of these changes will become permanent. This study is open to all geoscientists, including geoscience students, retired, and not currently employed, who reside in the United States, and are at least 18 years old. Over the next 52 weeks, we will email a brief online status survey twice a month to each participant. The information you provide will be valuable in helping geoscience academic institutions, geoscience employers and decision makers to understand the short-term and long-term structural impacts on the geoscience enterprise from the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from the study will be reported only in aggregate and in a manner that ensures the confidentiality of the responses. Participation is voluntary, and you may discontinue your participation at any time.

For 2020, the U.S. Science Support Program in association with IODP is seeking new U.S.-based members for the U.S. Advisory Committee for Scientific Drilling (USAC) and the Science Evaluation Panel (SEP), as well as one senior U.S.-based scientist to serve on the JOIDES Resolution Facility Board (JRFB). All new members will serve three-year terms, beginning in October 2020. Scientific disciplines particularly needed for SEP this year include paleoceanography / paleoclimate, hydrology, geomechanics, structural geology & tectonics, marine geology & geophysics, sedimentology / stratigraphy, and geochemistry. For USAC, USSSP seeks expertise in all scientific disciplines relevant to IODP. Candidates for the JRFB should have an extensive history of participation in scientific ocean drilling. We encourage the involvement of early and mid-career scientists on USAC and SEP, as well as those with more experience. Scientists interested in volunteering for these opportunities should apply by July 10, 2020.

This OCE program officers and staff invite you and colleagues to a special OCE Virtual Town Hall to provide updates on NSF/OCE responses to the current pandemic and answer any general questions you may have. The meeting will be led by OCE staff including program officers from the science programs and from ship operations. It will be held on two dates: May 4 and 5, at 2PM Eastern time. The two sessions will be the same, so you would likely want to choose one. The meeting will be conducted as a zoom webinar and you must pre-register in advance to participate.  There will be a short presentation followed by Q+A conducted using the chat (text) function that will be moderated. Register in advance for the May 4 webinar or register in advance for the May 5 webinar.

We are now accepting proposals for Fall Meeting 2020, including Innovative Sessions, a new format inspired by programming at 2019’s Centennial Central. Due to COVID-19, AGU has extended the deadline until Thursday, April 23, 2020.

In November 2019, the President issued a Memorandum related to ocean mapping activities. The original memo is available here. Subsequently, two notices were published in the Federal Register requesting information from the public relating to Section 2, National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring and Characterizing the U.S. EEZ, and Section 4, Efficient Permitting of Mapping Exploring and Characterization. The Ocean Policy Committee is soliciting public input through these RFIs to obtain information from a wide range of stakeholders, including academia, private industry, and other relevant organizations and institutions, in order to inform the Ocean Policy Committee as it prepares to identify these opportunities and develop recommended actions. Comments are required prior to March 12, 2020.

Biodegradation is one of the most important in situ processes determining the quality of oil in conventional and unconventional reservoirs or hydrocarbon attenuation in contaminated aquifers. Moreover, microbial processes such as methanogenesis, sulfate reduction, and biofilm formation have significant direct or indirect impacts on oil recovery. Despite these effects, there is yet a significant gap of knowledge about the activity and dynamics of microbial communities in oil reservoirs and hydrocarbon contaminated sites. The topics of interest include but are not limited to mechanisms of anaerobic biodegradation of hydrocarbons, ecology of hydrocarbon degrading microbial communities, food webs and nutrient recycling, degradation processes and controlling environmental factors, and identity-function relationships in microbial communities. This conference is expected to provide better insights into the ecology of oil-degrading microbial communities and develop future research directions in the field. The deadline for registration and abstract submission is April 1, 2020.

We are arriving at an important benchmark in our planning for future scientific ocean drilling and present the first version of the 2050 Science Framework, entitled Exploring Earth Through Scientific Ocean Drilling, now ready for your examination and peer review. This new 2050 Science Framework has a 25-year outlook to 2050, inspiring state-of-the-art approaches for scientific ocean drilling far into the mid-21st century. Foundational Earth science research is described in seven Strategic Objectives and five Flagship Initiatives that encourage innovation and new discoveries. The major objective of scientific ocean drilling is to advance our understanding of Earth as an interconnected system through multi-disciplinary and societally-relevant collaborative research endeavors. As the structure and roadmap to produce this framework were previously reviewed via online community postings on IODP.org in August 2019 and endorsed by the IODP Forum in September 2019, we are at this stage primarily seeking input from the international science community on the framework’s scientific merit, accuracy, and completeness, so that each chapter strongly conveys the aspirations for future scientific ocean drilling through 2050. The deadline to review the document and respond has been postponed to March 31, 2020.

This conference has been withdrawn from the 2020 conference schedule.

C-DEBI seeks nominations for three speakers for the 2020 program. C-DEBI is continuing the Networked Speaker Series (begun in Fall 2011) as a means to enhance communication and the exchange of ideas among our spatially distributed community. Potential speakers can be nominated by colleagues, mentors, or those mentored by C-DEBI participants; they can also self nominate. Selected C-DEBI Networked Speakers will make a presentation online, using video conferencing tools, with assistance from the C-DEBI main office at USC. Nominated C-DEBI Networked Speakers should be capable of combining compelling visual materials with the ability to communicate effectively to a broad audience. We are particularly enthusiastic about giving young researchers a chance to present work to the C-DEBI community. Being selected to be a C-DEBI Networked Speaker is an honor.

For more information about the Speaker Series and nomination request, please see: https://www.darkenergybiosphere.org/outputs-resources/networked-speaker-series/.

The inaugural Southern California Biogeochemical Ocean Observations & Models (SoCal BOOM) symposium will be held on Saturday March 21, 2020 at the University of Southern California from 9AM – 8PM. The meeting aims to bring together students, postdocs, researchers, and faculty from across Southern California with an interest in measuring and modeling ocean biogeochemistry. This free one-day symposium is designed to highlight the work of early-career researchers, with both the symposium and the poster session featuring presentations by graduate students and postdoctoral researchers (with faculty encouraged to attend). The aim of this meeting is to foster interaction and collaboration among oceanographers who use measurements and modeling approaches to understand Earth systems. We welcome scientists engaged in a wide range of ocean biogeochemical research, and encourage participants to highlight aspects of their research which draw upon theoretical or numerical modeling approaches. Register by March 1, 2020.

Attending this year’s JPgU Annual Meeting? Consider submitting your asbtracts (DUE TODAY) to Session U-19: A deep dive into planetary habitability as related to subsurface architecture, energy, and water (organizers: Heather Graham, Atsuko Kobayashi, Vlada Stamenkovic, Shino Susuki).

For over 20 years, the Ocean Discovery Lecture Series (formerly the Distinguished Lecturer Series) has brought the remarkable scientific results and discoveries of the International Ocean Discovery Program and its predecessor programs to academic research institutions, museums, and aquaria. Since 1991, over 1,000 presentations to diverse audiences have been made through the Lecture Series. For the 2020-2021 academic year, an exciting lineup of distinguished lecturers is available to speak at your institution. The topics of their lectures range widely, including hydrothermal microbial communities with C-DEBI researcher, Jessica Labonté (Texas A&M, Galveston). USSSP will provide support for the lecturer’s travel to your institution, while hosting venues are responsible for housing, meals, and local transportation. Open to any U.S. college, university, or nonprofit organization. Deadline to apply to host a lecturer: May 15, 2020.

Due to the current situation with COVID-19 the workshop has been postponed to 2021. Applications for admission open January 1, 2021, deadline March 15, 2021.

At several hundred meters below our feet or below the sea floor, the energy flux and the theoretical growth rate of bacteria are orders of magnitude below anything we can understand from research on cultivated microorganisms. Studies of the carbon and energy turnover deep beneath the seafloor and in the terrestrial subsurface indicate that the prokaryotic cells living here subsist at an energy flux that barely allows cell growth over tens to thousands of years. It remains unexplained whether the organisms have properties beyond our current understanding of microbial life and whether these organisms in fact represent the predominant mode of microbial life on our planet – or whether energy sources may be available that have not yet been identified. The limits of microbial life and the exploration of the biological demand for energy is the focus of the International Workshop on Microbial Life under Extreme Energy Limitation (co-sponsored by C-DEBI), held 7-11 September 2021 at Sandbjerg Manor near Sønderborg, Denmark. We invite researchers and students from different relevant disciplines to participate in the workshop in order to discuss microbial energy requirements and stimulate new thinking and new approaches.

Drs. Samantha Joye, Anna-Louise Reysenbach and Adam Soule will host a Town Hall at the 2020 Ocean Sciences Meeting. The Town Hall is scheduled for Monday, February 17 from 12:25 to 1:45 pm at the San Diego Convention Center, 9, UL. The Town Hall is aimed at researchers who are interested in contributing to development of a grassroots community vision that will promote a new phase of deep sea discovery through coordinated transdisciplinary research efforts made possible through development of a Research Coordination Network proposal. This effort will advance the field and create new directions in deep sea science, promote new collaborations, and foster coordination and training across disciplinary, organizational, geographic, and international boundaries all while broadening participation in deep ocean science.

Conveners: Thomas C. (University of Geneva, Switzerland), Petráš D. (Czech Geological Survey, Czech Republic), Pérez A.M. (Institute of Palaeontology ZRC SAZU, Slovenia). Session description: From iron formations to stromatolitic facies, microbes have been instrumental for the formation, composition and preservation of sedimentary units since the dawn of life on Earth. As such, the chemical and isotopic signatures imparted by their activity in these rocks have been used to disentangle the long-term chemical evolution of the atmosphere and ancient oceans. Nonetheless, assessing the primary origin and biogenicity of certain minerals and textures remains challenging, despite these factors being crucial to our quest to understand key stages in evolution of life and earth systems. The diversity and complexity of life forms and metabolisms interacting from the moment of deposition and during shallow burial, along with the rare availability of exceptionally well-preserved ancient chemical rocks has also encouraged an active search for modern analogues to ancient microbially influenced sedimentary deposits. For this session, we seek contributions envisioning approaches for understanding the signatures derived from microbial activity on any type of sedimentary archive, including carbonates, silica-rich deposits, shales, modern lacustrine or marine sediments, soil crusts, etc. Studies describing how active microbes act as key agents in both mineral authigenesis and diagenetic alteration are particularly welcome. Given the complexity of studying such processes, the session is also open to the presentation of approaches allowing multiscale analyses, at the interface between biology and geology. Abstract submission is open until the February 15, 2020 and there are options for early career scientists to find support for coming to beautiful Prag in June via the IAS.

The Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU) commemorates the coming year 2020; it is the 15th anniversary since JpGU was founded in 2005, and the 30th anniversary since its predecessor, the Japan Earth and Planetary Science Joint Meeting, was first held in 1990. On this occasion, the 2020 annual meeting will be held joint with the American Geophysical Union (AGU) as the JpGU-AGU Joint Meeting 2020, following the first cooperative effort with AGU in 2017. Furthermore, the Joint Meeting anticipates expansion and enrichment of joint sessions with the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) and the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The JpGU has recently grown to embrace over 51 members of academic societies and over 10,000 individual members. The attendance at the 2019 Annual Meeting exceeded 8,400 total participants (including approximately 2,400 students), with over 650 participants from abroad (covering 41 nations and areas). The meeting provides an indispensable opportunity for participants from the fields of Earth and planetary science to interact. The annual survey indicates that the participants would like to see a wider range of session programs, including some open to the public, and an expansion of English-language sessions. Hopes are high for the promotion and expansion of interdisciplinary and border-area researches and further internationalization of Earth and planetary science research. Abstract submission deadline: February 18, 2020.

The UNOLS Council has the standing goal of improving the quality and capability of existing ocean science facilities and the quality, reliability and safety of their operation. Many improvements have been made over the past decade, including the addition of new research vessels. UNOLS Council would also now like to turn attention to improving the quality of life and morale while working at sea, for both the permanent crew and itinerant scientists. For example, technological improvements in satellite internet connections have changed and enhanced life at sea, enabling those onboard to attend to personal business  and maintain family connections, but these technological improvements often come with high financial costs. Simpler, less expensive efforts can also improve morale and quality of life at sea, such as cook outs on the deck or swim calls (long ago …). Please help us improve the quality of life at sea by filling out this brief three question survey. Please complete the survey by February 28, 2020.

The University of Southern California (USC) is excited to host the 17th annual Southern California Geobiology Symposium. The symposium will be held on April 4th, 2020. Information about registration/abstract submissions, program details, and specific location will be available in January 2020. The SoCal Geobiology Symposium is an annual student-organized symposium for scientists interested in astrobiology, climate science, ecology, geochemistry, geology, microbiology, oceanography, and paleobiology. We welcome scientists from all levels of academia and both those living in Southern California and from around the world. Undergraduates, graduate students, and post-docs are encouraged to submit abstracts for posters or talks to share their research. Abstract submission and registration will close on March 4, 2020.

Join us for a National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored workshop focused on the integration of Ocean Observing Initiative (OOI) data into undergraduate teaching of oceanography themes and concepts. Participants will explore a collection of Data Labs created by oceanography professors who attended the 2019 OOI Data Lab summer workshops. Learn from your peers lessons learned on how to effectively teach with data. Participants will share new teaching resources and brainstorm new ideas for how to integrate OOI data into introductory oceanography and Earth and environmental science courses. Professors who teach introductory (100 and 200 level) oceanography courses are encouraged to attend. Participants will receive a $300 stipend (issued post-workshop) along with complimentary light breakfast and lunch. Attendance is limited to 35 people. We will accept online submissions until January 15, 2020 or capacity is reached, whichever is sooner.

Considering the restrictions in mobility and in meeting organization due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Organizing Committee of the Serpentine Days 2020 meeting has postponed the meeting to the last week of September or the first week of October 2021. We will keep you posted via the website about our future decisions.

The workshop aims at gathering scientists interested in the geological, physical and (bio-) chemical processes of serpentinization and the life it sustains, its impact on development of mineral resources, of new energy sources and the environmental and societal impact of serpentine exploration and exploitation.

Goldschmidt is the foremost annual, international conference on geochemistry and related subjects, organized by the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry. Abstract submission deadline: February 14, 2020.

SSP 1.4 Achievements and perspectives in scientific ocean and continental drilling: Scientific drilling through the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) continues to provide unique opportunities to investigate the workings of the interior of our planet, Earth’s cycles, natural hazards and the distribution of subsurface microbial life. The past and current scientific drilling programs have brought major advances in many multidisciplinary fields of socio-economic relevance, such as climate and ecosystem evolution, palaeoceanography, the deep biosphere, deep crustal and tectonic processes, geodynamics and geohazards. This session invites contributions that present and/or review recent scientific results from deep Earth sampling and monitoring through ocean and continental drilling projects. Furthermore, we encourage contributions that outline perspectives and visions for future drilling projects, in particular projects using a multi-platform approach. The deadline for abstract submission is January 15, 2020.

Nominations are now open for 2020 AGU honors, including the Asahiko Taira International Scientific Ocean Drilling Research Prize. The extended nomination period aims to increase selection and diversity among the nominees and to allow more time for nominators to develop multiple nomination packages. Deadline extended to: June 1, 2020,

This conference has been withdrawn from the 2020 conference schedule.

Due to health concerns and travel restrictions being put in place due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, we have decided to postpone The International Society of Subsurface Microbiology ISSM 2020 Conference in the Netherlands from June 14-19 to November 1-6. The deadline for submitting poster abstracts (oral presentation abstract submissions are now closed) has been extended to July 30, 2020.

Attending the 2019 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, December 9-13, 2019? Be sure to check out these C-DEBI-related sessions of interest:

Monday, December 9, 2019

8:00 – 12:20

Moscone South – Poster Hall

• B11H: Centennial Session: Biogeosciences at the Threshold of the Next Centennial: State of the Art and What We Still Need to Learn About Our Living Planet III Posters
  Conveners: Durelle Scott (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Aditi Sengupta (University of Arizona), Benjamin N Sulman ((Princeton University), Dork L Sahagian (Lehigh University)
• B11L: Filling the Gaps in the Sulfur Cycle: Using Modern Biotic and Abiotic Analogues to Understand Ancient Systems I Posters
  Conveners: Cody Sheik (University of Minnesota Duluth), Kathryn M Schreiner (University of Minnesota Duluth), Sergei Katsev (University of Minnesota Duluth)
• B11K: Exploring the Biotic Fringe I Posters
  Conveners: Everett Shock (Arizona State University), Marshall Wayne Bowles (Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium), Elizabeth Trembath-Reichert (Arizona State University), Mark Alexander Lever (ETH Zurich, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Biogeochemistry & Pollutant Dynamics)
• ED11B: Amazing Technologies and Capabilities That Contribute to STEAM II Posters
  Conveners: Emily Law (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Brian Hamilton Day (NASA Ames Research Center),  Kristen J Erickson (NASA Headquarters), John S Taber (IRIS)

11:20 – 12:20

Moscone South – Hall D, Centennial Central

• U12D: Ingredients for Life
  Conveners: Kanani K M Lee (Department of Geology & Geophy), Dominique Weis (University of British Columbia), Catherine Johnson (University of British Columbia), France Lagroix (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris)

13:40 – 15:40

Moscone West – 3003, L3

• B14B: Centennial Session: Biogeosciences at the Threshold of the Next Centennial: State of the Art and What We Still Need to Learn About Our Living Planet II
  Conveners: Durelle Scott (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Aditi Sengupta (University of Arizona), Benjamin N Sulman ((Princeton University), Dork L Sahagian (Lehigh University)

16:00 – 18:00

Moscone West – 3003, L3

• B13C: Centennial Session: Biogeosciences at the Threshold of the Next Centennial: State of the Art and What We Still Need to Learn About Our Living Planet I
  Conveners: Durelle Scott (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Aditi Sengupta (University of Arizona), Benjamin N Sulman ((Princeton University), Dork L Sahagian (Lehigh University)

18:15 – 19:15

Moscone West – 2020, L2

• TH15D: EarthCube: A Community-Driven Cyberinfrastructure for the Geosciences–A Progress Report
  Primary Contact: Lynne Schreiber (University of California San Diego)

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

8:00 – 12:20

Moscone South – Poster Hall

• P21E: Getting the Most Out of Astrobiological Data: Overcoming the Too Little, Too Rare, and Too Different Posters
  Conveners: Diana Gentry (NASA Ames Research Center), Haley M Sapers (University of Western Ontario)

10:20 – 12:20

Moscone West – 3012, L3

• B22B: Global Biogeochemical Cycles as Drivers for Climate and Life Evolution Through Earth’s History I
  Conveners: Flavia Boscolo-Galazzo (Cardiff University), Ernest Chi-Fru (Cardiff University), Gordon Neil Inglis (University of Bristol), Jamie Devereux Wilson (University of Bristol)

13:40 – 15:40

Moscone South – eLightning Theater II

• ED23E: Efforts to Improve and Support REU Internship Programs eLightning
  Conveners: Valerie Sloan (National Center for Atmospheric Research), Gabriela Noriega (Southern California Earthquake Center, University of Southern California), Diane Y Kim (University of Southern California), Kenneth Voglesonger (Northeastern Illinois University)
• V23A: Magmatic and Hydrothermal Activity of the Yellowstone Plateau, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Volcano I
  Conveners: Karen M Luttrell (Louisiana State University), Michael P Poland (USGS), Madison Myers (Montana State University), Erin White (National Park Service)

13:40 – 18:00

Moscone South – Poster Hall

• B23J: Ecology of the Cryosphere: Biological and Environmental Interactions in Seasonally and Permanently Cold Ecosystems II Posters
  Conveners: Megan Dillon (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Alexandra Contosta (University of New Hampshire Main Campus), Patrick Sorensen (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Neslihan Tas (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
• ED13C: Advancing Access to Undergraduate Research Through Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs): Models, Access, and Adoptability I Posters
  Conveners: Mark Lord (Western Carolina University), Kristina J Walowski (Middlebury College), Jeffrey G Ryan (University of South Florida)
• OS23C: Cold Seeps of the Eastern Pacific: New Technologies Yield New Perspectives on the Biogeochemical Processes of a Well-Studied Subduction Margin I Posters
  Conveners: Richard Camilli ((Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), Lori L Summa (Rice University,  Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), Erik E Cordes (Temple University), Benjamin Ayton (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

18:15 – 19:15

Moscone West – 2005, L2

• TH25C: Supporting Top Researchers from Anywhere in the World: Funding Opportunities from the European Research Council
  Primary Contact: David Krasa (European Research Council)

16:00 – 18:00

Moscone South – 303-304, L3

• U24B: The Asahiko Taira International Scientific Ocean Drilling Research Prize Ingredients for Life
  Conveners: Karen G Lloyd (University of Tennessee), Judith A. McKenzie (ETH-Zurich), Awardee: Beth Orcutt

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

8:00 – 10:00

Moscone South – 151, Upper Mezz.

• V31B: Hydrothermal Systems in 4-D I
  Conveners: Tobias Walter Höfig (Texas A&M University), Frieder Klein (Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.), Susan E Humphris (WHOI), Emily H.G. Cooperdock (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

10:20 – 12:20

Moscone South – 151, Upper Mezz.

• V32B: Hydrothermal Systems in 4-D II
  Conveners: Tobias Walter Höfig (Texas A&M University), Frieder Klein (Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.), Susan E Humphris (WHOI), Emily H.G. Cooperdock (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

13:40 – 18:00

Moscone South – Poster Hall

• V33E: Hydrothermal Systems in 4-D III Posters
  Conveners: Tobias Walter Höfig (Texas A&M University), Frieder Klein (Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.), Susan E Humphris (WHOI), Emily H.G. Cooperdock (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Thursday, December 12, 2019

8:00 – 10:00

Moscone South – 151, Upper Mezz.

• DI41B: Quantities, Movements, Forms, and Origins of Carbon and Other Volatile Elements in Earth and Planetary Bodies I
  Conveners: Craig M Schiffries (Carnegie Institution for Science), Marie Edmonds (University of Cambridge), Michael Forster (Macquarie University), Chenguang Sun (Brown University)

8:00 – 12:20

Moscone South – Poster Hall

• B41H: Global Biogeochemical Cycles as Drivers for Climate and Life Evolution Through Earth’s History II Posters
  Conveners: Flavia Boscolo-Galazzo (Cardiff University), Ernest Chi-Fru (Cardiff University), Gordon Neil Inglis (University of Bristol), Jamie Devereux Wilson (University of Bristol)
• P41C: The New Mars Underground 2.0: Toward a 3-D Understanding of the Martian Crustal Subsurface III Posters
  Conveners: Vlada Stamenkovic (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Nina Lanza (Los Alamos National Laboratory), Kris Zacny (Honeybee Robotics), John F Mustard (Brown University)

12:30 – 13:30

Moscone West – 3005, L3

• TH43D: Centennial Early-Career Scientist Forum
  Primary Contact: Caitlyn A Hall (Arizona State University)

13:40 – 15:40

Moscone West – 2002, L2

• OS43A: Fluid Migration and Gas Hydrate Systems in Continental Margins I
  Conveners: Christian Berndt (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel), Sverre Planke (Volcanic Basin Petroleum Rsch)

Moscone South – 213-214, L2

• P43B: The New Mars Underground 2.0: Toward a 3-D Understanding of the Martian Crustal Subsurface I
  Conveners: Vlada Stamenkovic (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Nina Lanza (Los Alamos National Laboratory), Kris Zacny (Honeybee Robotics), John F Mustard (Brown University)

13:40 – 18:00

Moscone South – Poster Hall

• PA43C: Ocean Exploration: Communication and Outreach About Uncovering Earth’s Secrets from the Seafloor and Beyond Posters
  Conveners: Sharon K Cooper (Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory), Carol Cotterill (British Geological Survey), Karen Romano Young (Self Employed), Douglas Harned (FilmAxis.org)

16:00 – 18:00

Moscone West – 3005, L3

• B44C: Microbial Metabolisms and Biogeochemical Processes in Earth’s Subsurface I
  Conveners: James Andrew Bradley (University of Southern California), Cara Magnabosco (Simons Foundation), Nagissa Mahmoudi (McGill University)

Moscone South – 213-214, L2

• P44B: The New Mars Underground 2.0: Toward a 3-D Understanding of the Martian Crustal Subsurface II
  Conveners: Vlada Stamenkovic (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Nina Lanza (Los Alamos National Laboratory), Kris Zacny (Honeybee Robotics), John F Mustard (Brown University)

Friday, December 13, 2019

8:00 – 12:20

Moscone South – Poster Hall

• EP51D: Earth 4-D: A Deep Dive into the Habitability of the Blue Planet II Posters
  Conveners: John F Mustard (Brown University), Magdalena R Osburn (Northwestern University), Haley M Sapers (University of Western Ontario)
• OS51B: Advances in Understanding Seafloor Volcanism and Life: Axial Seamount: A Wired Submarine Volcano Observatory I Posters
  Conveners: Deborah S Kelley (University of Washington Seattle Campus), William W. Chadwick (NOAA PMEL Earth Ocean Interactions Program)
• V51G: Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc System: Synthesis and Remaining Questions II Posters
  Conveners: Susan DeBari (Western Washington University), Charles Geoffrey Wheat (NURP/ Univ Alaska), Shuichi Kodaira (Yokohama National University), Julie Prytulak (Imperial College London)

13:40 – 18:00

Moscone South – Poster Hall

• B53L: Microbial Metabolisms and Biogeochemical Processes in Earth’s Subsurface II Posters
  Conveners: James Andrew Bradley (University of Southern California), Cara Magnabosco (Simons Foundation), Nagissa Mahmoudi (McGill University)
• B53G: Exploring Microbial Ecosystems Using Cutting-Edge Advances in Isotope and Omics Analyses II Posters
  Conveners: James Moran (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory), Paul Dijkstra (Northern Arizona Univ), Steven Blazewicz (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
• B53O: Mapping Biodiversity Through Space and Time: Integrating Sedimentary DNA, Metagenomics, Phylogenetics, and Ecological Approaches to Resolve Biodiversity Gaps II Posters
  Conveners: Sarah E Crump (University of Colorado at Boulder), Emily Jane McTavish (University of California Merced), Trisha Spanbauer (University of Toledo, University of Texas at Austin), Kyle Copas (GBIF Secretariat)

16:00 – 18:00

Moscone West – 3009, L3

• EP54B: Earth 4D: A Deep Dive into the Habitability of the Blue Planet I
  Conveners: John F Mustard (Brown University), Magdalena R Osburn (Northwestern University), Haley M Sapers (University of Western Ontario)

Moscone South – 153, Upper Mezz.

• V54B: Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc System: Synthesis and Remaining Questions I
  Conveners: Susan DeBari (Western Washington University), Charles Geoffrey Wheat (NURP/ Univ Alaska), Shuichi Kodaira (Yokohama National University), Julie Prytulak (Imperial College London)

See also the Deep Carbon Observatory’s AGU Fall Meeting Guide and consider attending IODP’s AGU Town Hall, ICDP’s Town Hall, and OOIFB’s Town Hall. and Missing a session of interest? Let us know.

With Dr. James Bradley, Queen Mary University of London on “The power of microbial life in marine sediments.” Abstract: Marine sediments harbor more than half of all microbial cells in the ocean, many of which have been shown to survive for millennia – calling into question the limit for life. The energy turnover, i.e. power, of subseafloor microorganisms sets a limit on gene expression, mutation rates, and the survival of rare and novel taxa. However outside of measurements, laboratory experiments and modelling from specific sites, the power of subsurface life is virtually unknown. Here, we simultaneously quantify the distribution, rate and thermodynamic properties of particulate organic carbon degradation, as well as the global distribution of cells, and electron acceptors. Based on these factors, we estimate cell-specific power utilization in all Quaternary sediments. We report extreme and widespread energy-limitation in subseafloor sediments: >80% of cells subsist at powers that are less than the lowest energy flux calculated for any microbial habitat previously. Furthermore, we find global delineation of major subsurface metabolic zones, with stepwise decreases in per-cell power utilization following the redox state of the sediment. We assert that sediments should be considered as critical to understanding the cell-specific minimum power requirement for survival, as well as to predict the habitable boundaries of life on Earth.

Missed the last seminar with Dr. Jessica Labonté on “You are what you eat: a geochemical and microbial study of a 3000-year old stratigraphic sediment succession”? Watch it on YouTube.

Goldschmidt is the foremost annual, international conference on geochemistry and related subjects, organized by the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry. Session Proposal Deadline: October 18, 2019.

The U.S. Science Support Program, associated with the International Ocean Discovery Program, is currently accepting proposals for planning workshops. Proposed workshops should promote the development of new ideas and strategies related to the study of the Earth’s processes and history using scientific ocean drilling. The workshop program encourages wide scientific community involvement to bring a broader and multidisciplinary approach to standing hypotheses and to explore new directions for IODP research and communication. Workshops may focus on a specific IODP scientific theme or topic, or they may focus on a geographic region, integrating multiple topics. Regionally-focused workshops offer opportunities to synthesize scientific results from past expeditions, or to develop drilling proposals for future expeditions. Prospective workshop proponents should consider long-term projected ship tracks in identifying potential geographic areas for focus. Workshops aimed at developing drilling proposals for implementation in the period beyond the current IODP science plan (2023) are welcomed. Funding may be requested for U.S.-based meetings or to support U.S. participants at larger international workshops. Broad-based scientific community involvement, co-sponsorship by related programs, and the active participation of early career researchers are strongly encouraged. The submission deadline is December 1, 2019.

Scientific ocean drilling is central to the study of Earth’s climate history, tectonic evolution, geohazards, and deep biosphere. In an effort to foster a larger, more dynamic, and more diverse ocean drilling community, we encourage early career researchers to apply to this workshop, Demystifying the IODP Proposal Process for Early Career Scientists: Pacific Ocean. The workshop will begin with a series of speakers explaining the structure of IODP and how early career scientists can become involved in IODP activities, from sailing to expedition proposals. Then, workshop participants will work on the initial stages of developing real drilling proposals in the Pacific Ocean, where the JOIDES Resolution is expected to be operating beginning in 2023-2024. We aim to attract a diverse array of specialists (in geophysics, paleoceanography, deep biosphere, tectonics, etc.) to facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations. Workshop participation support is available from the U.S. Science Support Program for IODP, for a limited number of graduate students and early career researchers (i.e., those who have completed their PhD within the past 10 years) from U.S. institutions and organizations. The deadline to submit has been extended to November 6, 2019.

With Dr. Jessica Labonté, Texas A&M Galveston on “You are what you eat: a geochemical and microbial study of a 3000-year old stratigraphic sediment succession.” Abstract: Microbes make up the majority of the biomass in sediment, where they play a role in cycling organic carbon and regulate the fluctuation of organic matter. In anoxic sediment, the relationships between geochemical gradients, genomic potential, and virus-host interactions remain understudied and poorly understood. I will present the results of our study of stratified sediments from anoxic sinkhole (Blackwood Sinkhole, Bahamas), where we analyzed the pore water chemistry analysis (nutrients, carbon, nitrogen), microbial community composition (16S rRNA gebe and metagenomics), and virus-host interactions. Through the characterization of the relationships of microbes between each other and with their environment, we aim to identify the role organic and inorganic matter availability plays in shaping viral and prokaryotic communities, as well as how microbial communities shape their environment. Missed the last seminar with Taylor Royalty on “Quantitatively partitioning microbial genomic traits among taxonomic ranks: implications for subsurface microbial communities?” Watch it on YouTube.

The UNOLS Deep Submergence Science Committee (DeSSC) is seeking nominations to fill one membership vacancy that will become open in the fall of 2019. The DESSC is the UNOLS Committee charged with providing oversight and advice to the National Deep Submergence Facility (NDSF) operator on matters concerning utilization, upgrades, and long-term planning of its vehicles (Alvin, Jason, and Sentry). The Committee strives to maintain awareness of the needs of the users for new sensors and equipment to address important scientific questions, and to provide this information to the NDSF operator and the federal agencies. Additionally the Committee works to engage early career scientists and promote outreach initiatives on the use of NDSF vehicles in deep submergence research. Candidates should be experienced in the use of deep submergence vehicles. For additional information about DeSSC, visit the Committee website. For information about committee responsibilities contact the DESSC Chair, Anna-Louise Reysenbach at bwar@pdx.edu or Alice Doyle (alice@unols.org). Terms of office are three years, with the possibility of re-appointment for a second term. The DeSSC has a spring meeting at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and then there is a community meeting prior to the annual AGU meeting each year. Applicants or nominees should submit a brief statement of interest in serving on DeSSC along with a CV to Alice Doyle of the UNOLS office by email (alice@unols.org) by September 13, 2019. Experience using deep submergence facilities should be highlighted in the statement of interest. Committee members are appointed by the UNOLS Chair based on the recommendation of the DeSSC and with the concurrence of the UNOLS Council.

In July 2019, eighteen international delegates comprising the Science Plan Working Group met to produce a Science Plan Structure and Road Map document highlighting the commonalities in the workshop outcomes and indicating a potential way forward towards a new science plan. This Science Plan Structure and Road Map document is now available for community commenting before it will be discussed at the annual meeting of the IODP Forum in Osaka in September 2019. Now is a key moment in which the IODP community can provide input, in particular to the overall new structure of the proposed science plan. In January and March 2020 there will be two other commenting cycles, when successive drafts of the future science plan will be made available to the community on the IODP.org website. As this is a new plan in support of the future generations of scientific ocean drilling researchers, we especially seek input from early- and mid-career scientists. Please respond before August 26, 2019.

Within the scope of an IODP Day at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the “Expedition to Guaymas” Science Symposium will be held the afternoon of September 16, 2019 at the Scripps Forum, UC San Diego.  Hear from Guaymas Basin researchers including the team on IODP Expedition 385: Guaymas Basin Tectonics and Biosphere before they set sail.

Symposium schedule and speaker list

On May 6th and 7th, 88 U.S. scientists with a strong interest in scientific ocean drilling (SOD) convened a workshop in Denver, CO, entitled “NEXT: Scientific Ocean Drilling Beyond 2023” to discuss United States priorities for SOD after the current IODP science plan ends. Joining the workshop were several representatives from the JOIDES Resolution Science Operator (JRSO), experts in drilling/coring, geoscientists from other organizations, and about 30 international partners. In total, approximately 140 people participated. Goals of the NEXT workshop included: What new scientific challenges should be addressed in the new SOD program? What should the framework or structure of the new science plan look like? And what is needed in a new U.S. riserless drilling vessel (from coring to shipboard analysis) to respond to the new challenges identified in this next science plan?

Attending the AGU Fall Meeting, December 9-13, 2019? Consider submitting your abstracts (due July 31, 2019) to these deep biosphere-related Session Proposals:

B036 Creating Data Synchronicity Across Earth Microbiome Research 
Elisha M Wood-Charlson¹, Bonnie L Hurwitz², Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh³ and Kjiersten Fagnan³, (1)Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States(2)University of Arizona, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Tucson, AZ, United States(3)Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA, United States

B046 Exploring microbial ecosystems using cutting edge advances in isotope and omics analyses 
James Moran, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, United States, Paul Dijkstra, Northern Arizona Univ, Flagstaff, AZ, United States and Steven Blazewicz, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United States

B047 Exploring the Biotic Fringe 
Everett Shock¹, Marshall Wayne Bowles^2,3, Elizabeth Trembath-Reichert¹ and Mark Alexander Lever⁴, (1)Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States(2)MARUM – University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany(3)Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Chauvin, LA, United States(4)ETH Zurich, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Biogeochemistry & Pollutant Dynamics, Zürich, Switzerland

B059 How Microbial Functional Traits Regulate Terrestrial Carbon And Nutrient Cycling From Local To Global Scales 
Yang Song¹, Melanie A Mayes¹ and Malak M Tfaily², (1)Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Climate Change Science Institute & Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge, TN, United States(2)University of Arizona, Soil, Water and Environmental Science, Tucson, AZ, United States

B074 Microbial contributions to methane cycling 
Christopher Abin, University of Oklahoma Norman Campus, Microbiology and Plant BIology, Norman, OK, United States, Ellen Grace Lauchnor, Montana State University, Civil Engineering, Bozeman, MT, United States and Erika Espinosa-Ortiz, Montana State University, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Bozeman, MT, United States

B076 Microbial Metabolisms and Biogeochemical Processes in Earth’s Subsurface 
James Bradley, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Cara Magnabosco, Simons Foundation, Flatiron Institute Center for Computational Biology, New York, NY, United States and Nagissa Mahmoudi, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

B085 Omics-Informed Models of Microbial Dynamics and Processes from Cells to Ecosystems 
Timothy D Scheibe, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, United States, Romy Chakraborty, Lawrence Berkeley Nat’l Lab, Berkeley, CA, United States, Pamela Weisenhorn, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, United States and John D Moulton, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, United States

ED021 Curating the creative: Science, art, and public engagement 
Katie Pratt, University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography, Narragansett, RI, United States, Darlene Trew Crist, Deep Carbon Observatory, Narragansett, RI, United States and Emma Liu, University of Cambridge, Earth Sciences, Cambridge, United Kingdom

ED024 Efforts to improve and support REU Internship Programs 
Valerie Sloan, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Education & Outreach, Boulder, CO, United States, Gabriela Noriega, Southern California Earthquake Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Diane Y Kim, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States and Kenneth Voglesonger, Northeastern Illinois University, Earth Science and Environmental Science Program, Chicago, IL, United States

EP018 – Earth 4D – a Deep Dive into the Habitability of the Blue Planet
John F Mustard, Brown University, Barbara Sherwood Lollar, University of Toronto, Magdalena R Osburn, Northwestern University

H034 Characterizing Spatial and Temporal Variability of Hydrological and Biogeochemical Processes across Scales 
Bhavna Arora, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States and Haruko Murakami Wainwright, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA, United States

OS001 Advancements in Understanding Seafloor Volcanism and Life: Axial Seamount  – A Wired Submarine Volcano Observatory 
Deborah S Kelley, University of Washington Seattle Campus, School of Oceanography, Seattle, WA, United States and William W. Chadwick Jr, Oregon State University, CIMRS, and NOAA/PMEL, Newport, WA, United States

OS004 Beyond Hydrography: Seafloor Mapping as Critical Data for Understanding Our Oceans 
Nicole Raineault, Ocean Exploration Trust, Narragansett, RI, United States, Vicki Lynn Ferrini, LDEO, Palisades, NY, United States, Rachel Medley, NOAA Office of Exploration and Research, Silver Spring, United States and Maria T Judge, Geological Survey of Ireland, Marine Geology, Dublin, Ireland

OS014 General topics in biological or chemical oceanography in poster format 
John Crusius, USGS Alaska Science Center at UW School of Oceanography, Seattle, WA, United States and Zackary I Johnson, Duke University, Beaufort, NC, United States

P038 – The New Mars Underground 2.0: Towards a 3D Understanding of the Martian Crustal Subsurface
Vlada Stamenkovic, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Nina Lanza, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Kris Zacny, Honeybee Robotics, John F Mustard, Brown University

V027 Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc system:  synthesis and remaining questions 
Susan DeBari, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, United States, Julie Prytulak, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom, Charles Geoffrey Wheat, NURP/ Univ Alaska, Moss Landing, CA, United States and Shuichi Kodaira, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Japan

Missing a session of interest? Let us know!

There will be a 1-day symposium held at Caltech on Monday, June 24, sponsored by the International Geobiology Course. The topic of the symposium is “Geobiology of Symbiosis” (see PDF for the detailed schedule). The symposium will be held in the Sharp Lecture Hall on Monday, June 24 starting at 9am. It is open to the scientific public and free of charge. You are cordially invited to attend, either in part or for the entire symposium depending on interest. A continental breakfast and buffet lunch will also be served to symposium participants. If you are interested in participating, please click here to RSVP so that we can plan appropriately for food and drink. If you want to just stop by to hear a speaker or two, please feel free and there is no need to respond.

Deadline: June 24, 2019.

Don’t miss the first of the 2019 online seminars with Dr. Jeanine Ash (Rice University) on “Making and Breaking Molecules.” Abstract: Gases like molecular oxygen and methane are fundamentally significant to Earth’s habitability and the evolution of life.  The concentration of these gases in our atmosphere are the result of constant interplay between the biological and geological process that create and consume them. My work focuses on the enzyme-level processes that make and break these molecules, and how recent advances in isotope ratio mass spectrometry can provide new tools for tracing these process at the global level.  In this talk I’ll introduce the concept of multiply-substituted isotopologues (commonly called “clumped” isotopes), and share case studies that show how these tools can be used to illuminate deep biosphere processes.

The International Society for Subsurface Microbiology (ISSM) is made up of microbiologists, ecologists, geoscientists, and other researchers around the world fascinated by the various aspects of subsurface microbiology, a rapidly expanding field that focuses on microbial life below the surface of the earth. ISSM has organized numerous symposiums on subsurface microbiology in locations as diverse as Germany, Japan, New Zealand, USA and the UK. These symposia are meant to showcase the latest technologies and research in subsurface microbiology, including microbial ecology. The International Society of Subsurface Microbiology is honoured to invite you to its 11th international conference in Utrecht (The Netherlands) in June 2020. Abstracts due in September 2019.

As AGU marks its Centennial in 2019, we return to San Francisco, the home of the Fall Meeting for more than 40 years. Join our diverse community at the newly renovated Moscone Center as we collaborate across borders and boundaries to explore and develop our research. Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in Centennial presentations and special events that will bring to life the past, present and the future of our science. Today we experience “Science at the Speed of Life.” Fall Meeting will prepare you for what’s ahead: rapid developments in our science, new approaches to observing our Earth and beyond, the introduction of new data streams, growing demand for accessible science, the expansion of convergent science, and more. There is no better place than Fall Meeting to look into the future and develop your skills and your understanding of other disciplines at the same time. At Fall Meeting, we will draw inspiration from each other and will show how earth and space science enables a more resilient and sustainable future for all. Proposal deadline: April 17, 2019.

This workshop will be held in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, on September 22-26, 2019. Workshop goals are to stimulate progress in single cell genomics (SCG) through the exchange of breakthroughs in research applications and method development, with a focus on microorganisms and the prediction of cell’s phenome.  During this four-day workshop, we aim to create an opportunity for effective, creative interactions among principal investigators, postdocs and students who utilize microbial SCG in research and/or develop SCG technology, building on the success of our prior SCG workshops that were held in 2007, 2010 and 2015. To ensure the best experience by workshop participants and due to logistical constraints, the number of participants will be limited to 90. Application deadline: March 31, 2019.

The Geochemical Society is offering grants to qualifying students to attend the 2019 Goldschmidt Conference, the world’s largest meeting devoted to geochemistry and related fields. These grants are available to students who meet any one of these criteria: 1) Undergraduate or graduate students who are US citizens or permanent residents and who self-identify as members of underrepresented groups in the science and engineering student population, as designated by the NSF, in this case African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders; 2) Undergraduate or graduate students from underrepresented institutions, including Baccalaureate Colleges, M1, M2, M3 universities, tribal colleges or community colleges; 3) Graduate students or postdoctoral scholars working at universities or institutions in the U.S. and  its territories on subjects related to planetary science (e.g., planetary geology, cosmochemistry, astrobiology). All applications must be completed by March 15, 2019.

C-DEBI seeks nominations for three speakers for the 2019 program. C-DEBI is continuing the Networked Speaker Series (begun in Fall 2011) as a means to enhance communication and the exchange of ideas among our spatially distributed community. Potential speakers can be nominated by colleagues, mentors, or those mentored by C-DEBI participants; they can also self nominate. Selected C-DEBI Networked Speakers will make a presentation online, using video conferencing tools, with assistance from the C-DEBI main office at USC. Nominated C-DEBI Networked Speakers should be capable of combining compelling visual materials with the ability to communicate effectively to a broad audience. We are particularly enthusiastic about giving young researchers a chance to present work to the C-DEBI community. Being selected to be a C-DEBI Networked Speaker is an honor.

For over 20 years, the Ocean Discovery Lecture Series (formerly the Distinguished Lecturer Series) has brought the remarkable scientific results and discoveries of the International Ocean Discovery Program and its predecessor programs to academic research institutions, museums, and aquaria. Since 1991, over 1,000 presentations to diverse audiences have been made through the Lecture Series. For the 2018-19 academic year, an exciting lineup of distinguished lecturers is available to speak at your institution, including C-DEBI researchers Ginny Edgcomb and Brandi Kiel Reese. The topics of their lectures range widely, and include monsoon history, ice sheet dynamics, sediment diagenesis, and more. Open to any U.S. college, university, or nonprofit organization. Application deadline to host an Ocean Discovery Lecturer: May 17, 2019.

Following a very successful “Geobiology 2017” with 200 registrants, the Geobiology Society will again host a 3-day meeting at the Banff Conference Center. The dates for the conference are June 9-13, 2019. As before, this meeting will be an ideal venue for us to discuss the latest developments in Geobiology and build international collaborations in a relaxed but stimulating environment. Please register to confirm your attendance by April 19, 2019.

Registration is now open for the Southeastern Biogeochemistry / Geobiology Symposium. The submission deadline for presenters is February 15, 2019. General registration will remain open through March 16, 2019. For planning purposes early registration is appreciated.

Attending the Astrobiology Science Conference taking place from June 24-28, 2018 in Seattle, Washington? Submit your abstract to our session and we hope to see you there! Description: Recent discoveries on ocean worlds as well as remnants of ancient aqueous environments on Mars set important foundations in the search for extraterrestrial life. To better prioritize targets for investigation, select high-value analysis sites, and develop exploration strategies for potential ancient or extant biosignatures, a diverse set of analog environments on Earth are extremely valuable. Given the rapidly emerging nature of the field, as well as the ocean world missions under development, key details of how such findings translate into habitability are timely. We welcome in particular abstracts addressing geological contexts or spatial scales that could inform the search for habitable environments or biosignatures on our solar system’s Ocean Worlds. Relevant work will contextualize terrestrial studies – including those pertaining to Pre-Cambrian glacial “Snowball” conditions – within the framework of aqueous paleoenvironments on Mars and our expanding knowledge of celestial bodies like Europa, Enceladus, Titan, Ceres, and Triton. Subjects could include (but are not limited to) geophysical analyses that constrain habitable environments or geochemical gradients, assessments of energetics for past or extant life, the effect of ice cover on physical and chemical processes, or biological activity that could generate diagnostic biomarkers. We also encourage “process-based” abstracts that detail how the exploratory approaches used in terrestrial contexts – such as mission operations, instrument testing, and field site selection – may be mobilized in support of the future astrobiology missions. Abstracts are due March 6, 2019.

As you are aware, scientific ocean drilling is half a century old this year, marked by the maiden voyage of the Glomar Challenger in 1968. Discoveries from scientific ocean drilling through the DSDP, ODP and IODP programs have helped reveal Earth’s history and have been critical to shaping our understanding of how our planet works. But although results from scientific ocean drilling have never have been stronger, addressing future challenges in the Earth sciences will require improved technologies that are not currently available on the JOIDES Resolution. The current phase of scientific ocean drilling will end after 2023, which is only five years away. At that same time the JOIDES Resolution will be 45 years old. In short, we are approaching a critical point with the current science plan expiring and the JOIDES Resolution in need of a replacement. Continuation of scientific ocean drilling beyond 2023 requires planning and action now. We are co-chairing the steering committee Instituting U.S. Scientific Ocean Drilling Beyond 2023 (SOD23+) to lead the U.S. planning for the post-2023 era in scientific ocean drilling and need broad input and support from the U.S. and international communities to consider the scientific plan and our future platform needs. In order to prepare the U.S. community for this critical time, we are organizing a two-day Workshop on May 6-7, 2019 in Denver that will bring together roughly 80-90 U.S.-IODP researchers and perhaps 20 international collaborators from non-U.S. IODP countries. Application window to the Denver3 Workshop opens January 28, 2019 and closes February 15, 2019.

The workshop Anatomy of a Long-Lived Oceanic Arc: Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc System and Analogs aims to: (1) review the results of extensive drilling by four recent IODP expeditions; (2) review other (non-drilling) approaches used to study the Izu-Bonin-Mariana (IBM) system; (3) present mantle and ocean floor drilling objectives in other systems and synthesize these with IBM results and goals; (4) make comparisons with arc and ophiolite field analogs around the globe; and (5) identify avenues for future collaborative research. The workshop will involve synthesizing results in the IBM arc system and analogous modern systems and outcrop analogs, a mid-week field trip to examine IBM rocks, and targeted discussion of thematic and geographic areas ideal for collaborative research, synthesis papers, and new research proposals. A number of travel support grants will be available for participants from U.S. institutions and organizations. Support for a limited number of international participants will need to be provided by individuals or IODP member countries. In addition to scientists within the IODP community and early career researchers, we also encourage researchers, including field geologists and modelers, who do not normally participate in IODP projects to apply. Workshop participation is open to U.S. and international researchers and the deadline to apply is May 1, 2019.

Scientific drilling through the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) continues to provide unique opportunities to investigate the workings of the interior of our planet, Earth’s cycles, natural hazards and the distribution of subsurface microbial life. The past and current scientific drilling programs have brought major advances in many multidisciplinary fields of socio-economic relevance, such as climate and ecosystem evolution, palaeoceanography, the deep biosphere, deep crustal and tectonic processes, geodynamics and geohazards. This session invites contributions that present and/or review recent scientific results from deep Earth sampling and monitoring through ocean and continental drilling projects. Furthermore, we encourage contributions that outline perspectives and visions for future drilling projects, in particular projects using a multi-platform approach. The abstract submission deadline is January 10, 2019.