| NSF Org: |
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | February 21, 2019 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | February 21, 2019 |
| Award Number: | 1924710 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Marguerite Toscano
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | March 1, 2019 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2019 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $12,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $12,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
601 S HOWES ST FORT COLLINS CO US 80521-2807 (970)491-6355 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
200 W. Lake Street Fort Collins CO US 80521-4593 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Geomorphology & Land-use Dynam |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
This award will enable eight U.S.-based scientists to attend an international EGU Galileo conference in Nepal on October 13th-19th, 2019. This scientific conference is being held at the site of the catastrophic 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake. It will bring together experts from various scientific fields to present and discuss research and new directions for studies of extreme events on earth surface dynamics, biogeochemical cycles, and ecosystems on a range of timescales. It will be topically focused, consist of 50-80 participants and include 3.5 days of talks, poster presentations, and breakout sessions and a 1.5-day field trip to a catchment heavily impacted by the Gorkha earthquake and a 2016 glacial lake outburst flood. The meeting will provide the basis for an upcoming special issue in the journal Earth Surface Dynamics focused on the response of near-surface systems to extreme events. Organizers of the meeting will draft a public document defining grand challenges and research needs in "extreme event science" with input from participants gathered during planned breakout sessions. Participation of U.S. scientists in this meeting will foster international collaboration. Selection of U.S. participants will occur through an application process vetted by the Principal Investigator and co-organizers of the meeting. They will select applicants based on need and give preference to minorities and other underrepresented groups in the geosciences.
Extreme events, such as large earthquakes, high magnitude precipitation events, floods, wildfires, and volcanic eruptions, perturb earth surface dynamics instantaneously, have cascading effects, and are likely important in dictating system behavior on short and long timescales. The immediate impact of these events often grabs global attention and response due to the associated natural hazards. Recent advances in monitoring techniques, such as ground-based instrumentation and remotely sensed satellite data, has allowed quantification of the landscape, biogeochemical and hydrologic response to such events with unprecedented accuracy and precision. Such studies document the initial catastrophic consequences and ensuing process cascades. Modeling efforts have shed light on the potential long-term consequences of extreme perturbations, and suggest that in many cases these rare high-magnitude events are more important than slow and steady "background" processes when integrated over time. Scientific interest in improving understanding of extreme events on landscape dynamics on short to long timescales has grown in the past decade. However, despite recent progress, significant knowledge gaps exist, particularly with respect to the complex response to perturbations and potential feedbacks between various systems that operate in the Earth's near-surface environment. In addition to bringing together a wide range of scientists with the aim of identifying knowledge gaps and future research directions in the role of extreme events on earth surface dynamics, this conference will set forth guidelines for how to best approach such studies in the aftermath of an event.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
From October 13th – 19th, 60 scientists from throughout the world gathered in Kathmandu, Nepal for the European Geosciences Union Galileo conference Perturbations of Earth Surface Dynamics Caused by Extreme Events. The National Science Foundation Geomorphology and Land use Dynamics program generously provided support for the travel costs of 8 U.S.-based participants (6 – early career, and 4 – from underrepresented groups in the geosciences). The meeting consisted of keynote talks (2 keynote speakers supported by the NSF), short-format presentations, breakout sessions, and a field excursion all centered on the question of how extreme events perturb Earth surface dynamics.
The conference covered the state-of-the-art in the science of large natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, and tsunamis). A key element of the conference was discussion sessions on topics of the morality and ethics of conducting science in disaster zones, best-practices in “extreme” event scientific research, commonalities different natural disasters, grand challenges and key open research questions, and international coordination and cooperation to best address these grand challenges. The scientific discussions were nicely complemented by a large delegation of Nepali government officials and professors that discussed their personal and professional experiences with the 25 April 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake.
The conference conveners are now preparing a whitepaper that will be submitted to the Open Access EGU Copernicus Journal, Earth Surface Dynamics, this spring. The objective for white paper is to synthesize the state-of-the-art in “extreme” event science based on the presentations at the conference, outline best practices in conducting science in the immediate aftermath of an event, highlight key research questions, and call for improved international coordination to better tackle outstanding scientific questions.
Last Modified: 01/01/2020
Modified by: Sean F Gallen
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