**NSF GEOSCIENCES **

**BEYOND 2000**

#### Understanding and Predicting Earth\'s

#### Environment and Habitability

#### SUMMARY

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

DIRECTORATE FOR GEOSCIENCES

NSF 00-28

Foreword

The geoscience community is eagerly preparing to enter the 21^st^
Century and looks forward to the challenging research and educational
opportunities that confront it during the next decade. In recent years,
the geosciences have enjoyed major advances in understanding the Earth
systems and the complex interactions among the various elements:
atmosphere, ocean, land surface and biosphere. These dramatic advances
are now providing new and enhanced opportunities for geosciences, in
combination with sister disciplines, to provide important services to
the nation through prediction of potentially harmful or beneficial
events.

To provide a strategy to advance and integrate scientific knowledge
across the broad range of geosciences and to provide essential services
to the country, the Directorate for Geosciences periodically engages in
a long-range planning activity to evaluate opportunities and
requirements for research, education, and infrastructure. The process
involves frequent communications and active involvement among the
scientific research and education communities and the Geosciences
Directorate staff. The Advisory Committee for Geosciences has taken a
key role in the development of the long-range strategy. The Committee is
composed of leading researchers and educators from the geoscience
disciplines and from the academic, government, and private sectors. In
addition, a special Working Group was commissioned to assist in the
development of the strategy and this plan.

The document resulting from this close collaboration, *NSF Geosciences
Beyond 2000,* continues the essential geosciences planning process, but
it takes a longer-range perspective in recognition of both the 50^th^
Anniversary of NSF and the start of a new millenium. This plan for its
first decade is based on several key assumptions. The funding available
to the Geosciences Directorate will likely increase over this period,
but pressures will continue to select and make awards to the most highly
rated efforts. The Directorate will continue to seek partnerships within
NSF, with sister agencies, and with the international community to
maximize the impact of its funding. In particular, the Directorate will
increase efforts to expand educational opportunities for all levels from
Kindergarten through graduate school as well as to provide a scientific
foundation for the workforce of the 21^st^ Century.

We are pleased to be able to share the vision espoused in this plan. We
are certain that the new Assistant Director for Geosciences, Dr.
Margaret Leinen, and the new Advisory Committee Chair, Dr. David
Simpson, will strive to expand the role of the geosciences and will
support the community in its efforts to bring the vision to fruition
over the coming years.

Robert W. Corell Susan Avery

Assistant Director for Geosciences Chair, Advisory Committee for
Geosciences

I. THE CONTEXT FOR A DECADE OF DISCOVERY

The Earth is unique in our Solar System. Among the planets, Earth alone
has the capacity to sustain such a vast panoply of evolving life. The
Earth is also ever-changing. Its orbit around the Sun varies; its
physical and chemical structure, climate, weather, and capacity to
support life change on many time scales; ocean currents shift; sea level
rises and falls; continents drift; mountains build and erode; animal and
plant species evolve; and terrestrial and marine ecosystems change. Most
of these variations occur and will continue to occur as the result of
persistent natural forces.

Because the natural variability of Earth has profound effects on society
both economically and in terms of quality of life, geoscientists have
sought to understand the basic processes that account for these changes.
This is the challenge of the geosciences \-- the atmospheric, oceanic,
and solid Earth sciences. The geosciences have made enormous progress in
the 20^th^ Century by unlocking some of the most challenging mysteries
of the Earth system and in so doing, have engendered and enhanced our
appreciation of the uniqueness of planet Earth.

Today we are profoundly aware that society has the ability to alter
and/or exploit the planet's physical, chemical, biological, and
geological environments on all scales \-- local, regional, and even
global. Human impacts on the atmospheric composition, the global ocean,
the climate system, the water cycle, the landscape, the solid Earth, and
the diversity of life itself will almost certainly grow in the next
century as the global population increases, economies expand, and
technologies emerge. At the same time, because of our increasingly
complex social and technological infrastructure, we are more vulnerable
than ever to natural hazards, biological variations, and anthropogenic
influences. Viewed more positively, because of our more comprehensive
understanding of the planet\'s environment, we are offered new and
unforeseen opportunities to improve the standards and quality of life.

In its modern context, geoscience embraces not only studies of the
Earth's components and their interactions, but specifically includes
studies of human influences and considers the impacts on society. These
studies draw upon a broad range of scientific and technological
expertise through both traditional disciplinary and expanding
interdisciplinary investigations. Growing understanding of the linkages
within the Earth system is enabling the development of comprehensive
models that are capable of predicting environmental and planetary events
more accurately than ever before.

Breakthroughs in observing, modeling, and understanding complex Earth
systems are coming just at the time when society is in critical need of
sound scientific advice on how to mitigate or adapt to changes in the
habitability of the planet. The geosciences stand poised to make
tremendous contributions to improve the quality of life by providing
useful information to decision makers about the key planetary processes,
their complex interactions, and where possible, their future
implications. The benefits of comprehensive geophysical insight are
everywhere apparent \-- the need for advanced research in the
geosciences has never been more urgent \-- the promise has never been
greater.

# II. ** **A VISION FOR THE DECADE AHEAD

Recognizing the vision of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to
enable the Nation\'s future through discovery, learning and innovation,
the Directorate for Geosciences (GEO), in cooperation with the
geoscience community, has developed a focused agenda to advance the
science frontier through its continuing support of challenging ideas,
creative people, and effective tools.

Building on the recent advances in geosciences, the goal of the NSF
Directorate for Geosciences for the first decade of the 21^st^ Century
is:

**To benefit the nation by advancing the scientific understanding of the
integrated Earth systems through supporting high quality research,
improving geoscience education and strengthening scientific capacity.**

Through its responsibility for research, education, and service to the
nation, the Directorate for Geosciences is committed to achieving the
following objectives:

-   · **Fostering discovery and understanding of the factors that define
    and influence the Earth's environmental and planetary processes.**

-   · **Expanding understanding and predictability of the complex,
    interactive processes that: (i) determine variability in the past,
    present and future states of planet Earth; (ii) control the origin
    and current status of the forms of life on the planet; and (iii)
    affect the interdependencies of society and planetary processes.**

-   · **Providing the resulting scientific information in forms useful
    to society.**

The Directorate accepts this challenge and will address the goal and
these objectives through merit-reviewed investments in the work of
individual scientists, small groups and centers, and large teams located
primarily in the nation's academic institutions and private research
organizations. GEO will build on its unique relationship with these
individuals and institutions.

The Directorate's strategic long-range plan is offered in the conviction
that the time is right to respond to the challenge of achieving these
objectives by providing support for a comprehensive national research
and education enterprise. Through its support of the U.S. scientific
community, GEO is prepared to engage scientists, governments, industry,
and citizens around the world in the effort to increase our
understanding of the nature of planet Earth and its present condition.
GEO-supported research and science will provide information to
decision-makers to secure a sustainable future for our planet and for
humankind.

# III. ** **IDEAS \-- THE RESEARCH AGENDA

## 1. The Scientific Agenda

-   The scientific agenda of the geosciences is based on a solid
    intellectual framework which includes:

-   · A greatly enhanced understanding of the various Earth system
    components largely achieved through disciplinary basic research;

-   · Recognition that understanding the complex interaction among Earth
    system components is at the frontier of the key geoscience
    questions;

-   · Great advances in the capability of observing systems, computers,
    and information processing;

-   · Understanding of the historical variation in the Earth system
    components and their interactions to test our models and to provide
    examples of states of the system that might reoccur in the future;

-   · Recognition that fundamental knowledge of our Earth system has
    assumed critical importance since humans are now capable of
    influencing processes on a planetary scale as well as being
    significantly impacted by planetary variations.

Building on this framework, the NSF geoscience agenda focuses on
enhancing our base of knowledge in these fundamental areas:

Ø planetary structure

Ø planetary energetics

Ø planetary ecology

Ø planetary metabolism.

The structure of planet Earth is traditionally examined using a
disciplinary viewpoint that includes the atmosphere, ocean, and body of
the Earth. Planetary energetics and dynamics cut across the conventional
but somewhat artificial disciplinary divisions to emphasize their
essential linkages. Adding the elements of planetary ecology allows the
realm of living sciences to be incorporated. The final element addresses
the concept of planetary metabolism in which planet Earth is seen
holistically. Each of these elements provides a number of critical
challenges which establish the scientific agenda to be pursued during
the period of this long-range strategic plan.

-   Ø **Planetary Structure:**

-   To describe the spatial and temporal variations of the structure and
    composition of all Earth system components, from the inner core to
    the upper atmosphere, through improvements in observational,
    theoretical and modeling capabilities.

-   Traditionally, the structure of our planetary system has been
    studied from the perspective of the established disciplines of
    atmospheric sciences, ocean sciences, and solid Earth sciences.
    Through decades of observational, theoretical, and modeling efforts,
    we have developed a fairly detailed understanding of the basic
    planetary structure that now leads us to new frontiers in the
    integration of these sciences. Knowledge of the physical and
    chemical structure of the Earth's components has given us important
    clues, leading to an ever greater understanding of the planet's past
    and its evolution to the present and into the future. Further
    research remains to describe the structure and composition of the
    solid, liquid, and gaseous components of Earth, particularly in the
    geologic past. Examples of these challenges include understanding
    and monitoring the compositional variation of the atmosphere, ocean,
    and solid Earth; determining the role of clouds, aerosols, and
    biogeochemical feedbacks in the radiative balance of the atmosphere
    and climate; enhancing the resolution of lateral and vertical
    variations of fine structure throughout the solid Earth; and
    understanding the structural relationships between the mantle, the
    overlying crust and lithosphere, and the underlying core.

-   Ø **Planetary Energetics and Dynamics:**

-   To understand the links between physical and chemical processes by
    focusing on the exchange of energy within and among the components
    of the Sun-Earth systems.

-   The geosciences have made rapid progress in understanding the
    dynamics of the mass and energy fluxes that are driven by energy
    from two huge reservoirs: the Sun and the heat produced and stored
    in the interior of the Earth. The former drives the atmosphere and
    hydrosphere, and the latter, the dynamics of the solid Earth from
    core to crust. During the past 30 years, our understanding of
    planetary energetics and dynamics has been transformed through
    observational and theoretical studies. Similarly, understanding of
    the biogeochemical cycles has been greatly enhanced. We are now
    poised to make meaningful predictions about the implications of
    climate change on national and regional scales. The challenge is to
    extend and build upon these past efforts to reach a more profound
    and holistic understanding of the energetics and dynamics of the
    complete Earth system. Examples of key challenges are to understand
    the evolution of the deep Earth and the interactions between the
    planetary interior and exterior; the dynamics of climate and
    paleoclimate including the effects of atmospheric constituents and
    oceanic processes; natural and human-influenced changes in the
    biogeochemical and hydrological cycles; the magnetosphere and upper
    atmosphere including the energetic and dynamic consequences of
    Sun-Earth interactions.

-   Ø **Planetary Ecology:**

-   To understand the Earth's marine and terrestrial ecosystems and
    their evolution, and the interactions of the biosphere with Earth
    system processes.

-   Planetary ecology and biocomplexity consider the terrestrial and
    marine biospheres which consist of diverse ecosystems varying widely
    in complexity and productivity, in the extent to which they are
    managed, and in their value to society. Ecosystems directly provide
    food, timber, forage, and fiber, as well as water cycling, climate
    regulation, recreational opportunities, and wildlife habitat. The
    proper functioning of sustainability of ecosystems may be threatened
    by stresses arising from a number of global environmental changes.
    The linked climate-terrestrial biome system is a critical case in
    point. Climate affects the terrestrial biome over nearly all time
    scales since the climate system integrates the shorter-term
    processes and applies feedbacks to the terrestrial biome. Future
    efforts must track the different stresses on ecosystems; uncover the
    key relationships between the environment and individuals,
    populations, communities, and ecosystems; and improve understanding
    of the physical and biological controls on carbon cycling and CO~2~
    uptake. Examples of issues facing planetary ecology include the
    interactions among biogeophysical processes and terrestrial and
    oceanic ecosystems; large-scale atmosphere-ecosystem exchanges, and
    how they might be altered in a world higher in carbon dioxide and
    temperature; the roles of nutrient and toxic inputs on ecosystems
    and their ability to support human activities* *and sustain
    biodiversity; and how potential changes to global biodiversity and
    climate could affect global net primary production, trace gas
    exchange, and other critical ecosystem functions.

-   Ø **Planetary Metabolism: **

To understand the links and feedbacks among the Earth's physical,
chemical, geological, biological, and social systems, how they have
evolved, and how they affect the biocomplexity in the environment of the
planet.

The preceding three research thrusts, dealing with Earth's structure,
mass and energy cycling, and biogeochemical processes, lead us naturally
to address the integrated issues of planetary metabolism and
biocomplexity in the environment. The novel thrust in the 21^st^ Century
will be the recognition that Earth's past history and future course
cannot be understood without an explicit integration of the effects of
its biological activity, including that of humans. Our understanding of
the evolution of life on the planet is still developing, but it is
increasingly clear that life arose relatively early in Earth history and
that its effects on atmospheric composition and on geological formations
have been enormous. Our oxygenated atmosphere is intrinsically unstable
over millions of years and can only be maintained through biological
processes. On the early Earth, primitive photosynthetic life set the
stage for higher cellular life forms and ever-more-efficient metabolic
pathways which ultimately led to *Homo sapiens*. The challenges for this
research element include determining how the biogeochemical cycles of
carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur are coupled;
identifying what energy transformations control the biosphere and
climate systems; and developing sufficiently sophisticated models to
explain the historic evidence and to predict future changes in planetary
metabolism.

## 2. Service to Society

The enhanced understanding gained in the four areas outlined in the
Research Agenda will in turn serve society and improve the quality of
life. Three principal areas have been identified: 1) predicting
hazardous events, 2) assessing environmental quality, and 3) predicting
longer-term change and variability.

-   Ø **Predicting Hazardous Events:**

-   To enable reliable predictions of significant changes to Earth's
    current state. Earthquakes, severe storms, solar storms, and
    biological invasions represent threats, but we have the opportunity
    to mitigate these threats for society. Predictions of extreme
    planetary events can help save lives and/or lessen property damage.

-   Ø **Assessing Environmental Quality:**

-   To provide the basis for assessments of potential natural and
    anthropogenic changes to the environment such as air and water
    quality, coastal pollution and erosion, and soil degradation.

-   Ø **Predicting Longer-Term Change and Variability: **

-   To furnish information that may be used to mitigate losses,
    alleviate undesirable impacts, and take advantage of opportunities
    arising from climate variation and change.

The provision of reliable information on geophysical phenomena, both
natural and human-influenced, that is well targeted to meet societal
needs is a significant product resulting from geoscience research.
Losses in the United States from geophysical disasters have risen
rapidly. Single extreme events, such as hurricanes, tornadoes,
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, solar storms, and floods, can cause
losses of several billion dollars and severely disrupt commerce and
daily human activity. The cumulative effects of less dramatic conditions
in the environment, such as drought, erosion, long-term changes in
climate, and pollution can be equally devastating.

It should be recognized that the provision of reliable information also
provides many positive opportunities. Short-term weather forecasts are
of inestimable value in many businesses; projections of El Niño provide
opportunities to well-informed organizations and economic sectors;
advanced characterization of soils and surface conditions provides
critical inputs for agricultural and hydrological interests; and knowing
ground conditions permits estimates of potential earthquake severity
which lead to improved construction techniques.

By linking basic science, engineering, public policy, and economics, it
is possible to develop infrastructures that mitigate the impact of both
natural and anthropogenically induced hazards. Rational policymaking and
planning are critical in reducing risks to an increasingly complex
global society. Fundamental geoscience information is an essential
underpinning for developing rational policies and plans to protect
infrastructure in areas at risk.

# IV. ** **PEOPLE \-- THE EDUCATION AGENDA

Over the next ten years, environmental stresses in society such as those
associated with population growth, pollution, dwindling resources,
extreme weather, climate change, land-use changes, and space weather are
expected to become even more acute and costly. A balanced strategy to
respond to these stresses should include efforts to use the best
available scientific data and reduce scientific uncertainty along with
responsible mitigation and adaptation. The strategy must include an
effective educational component to ensure a competitive workforce for
the 21^st^ Century. Thus, the geoscience community must be prepared with
adequate Earth system science knowledge and information systems,
capabilities for prediction and assessment, and an agenda to develop
informed and educated leaders to help make decisions. Geoscience
education at a broad range of levels will be key to ensure the tools and
leadership are in place by 2010. A new, innovative program of Earth
system science training and education at all levels should be initiated
and developed now to ensure an informed citizenship in 2010.

Such readiness demands a broad range of educational activities with
investments at several levels including: 1) graduate education as
training for future research scientists and educators through research
fellowships and training opportunities to broaden experiences; 2)
undergraduate education through new and emerging instructional
technologies and active, hands-on, inquiry-based study; 3) kindergarten
to grade12 to feed the insatiable curiosity about the Earth among young
students; 4) public geoscience literacy* *by taking advantage of the
natural window on the Earth provided by the geosciences; and 5) an
across-the-broad commitment to diversity to increase the participation
of under-represented groups in the field of geosciences. These
activities will all be catalyzed by the development of a vibrant Earth
science curriculum to be developed in concert with other partners both
in NSF and other agencies, universities, professional societies, and the
private sector.

Activities will include:

-   · Facilitating a more integrated graduate education agenda that will
    result in greater flexibility in training;

-   · Strengthening interest in undergraduate education in geosciences;

-   · Systematizing and centralizing K-12 efforts;

-   · Strengthening the focus on public science literacy and diversity;
    and

-   · Expanding partnerships with the NSF Education and Human Resources
    Directorate.

# V. ** **TOOLS \-- THE IMPLEMENTATION AGENDA

***1.** **GEO Investments in Research Capability***

Successfully addressing the new challenges and opportunities in research
and education will require new investments as well as new modalities.
Intensive observing, computing, and information systems will be needed
to support the proposed research and education efforts in the plan.

Geoscience research often requires large investments in facilities and
instrumentation. Field projects require significant capital investments
in order to study complex, interdependent processes extending over large
areas and long periods of time. Thus, progress in the science requires a
commitment to improve and extend facilities to collect and analyze data
on local, regional, and global spatial scales and appropriate temporal
scales**. **Investments are needed to equip laboratories with the
necessary tools to conduct comprehensive studies across the broad range
of geosciences.

Real time information is the hallmark of much of geosciences. For
example, field programs are now using so-called "targeted observations"
to maximize the predictability of geophysical systems; this activity
cannot be performed after the fact. The value of real-time data in
geoscience research and education is well established, and this mode of
data gathering must continue to be supported if the solid Earth,
atmosphere, and hydrosphere are truly to be studied as a coupled system.

As in all sciences, modern computational facilities are an essential
resource for research, however, the highly data-intensive nature of much
of the Earth sciences creates some unique problems. Massive data
archiving and distribution systems, both hardware and software, are
required to provide access to geodata. Global communications systems,
including the Internet, are increasingly important in collecting data
from remote parts of the planet and distributing them to researchers.
The scale and complexity of models for describing the dynamics of
individual Earth systems, let alone the interactions among them,
requires access to the most powerful of supercomputers. The geosciences
play a central role in developing and using information technology.

######### Challenges for the future in infrastructure and technology include:

-   · Maintaining and upgrading existing facilities for airborne,
    shipboard, space-based, and ground‑based instrumentation and
    platforms;

-   · Establishing data collection programs with a commitment to
    long-term observations;

-   · Providing computational infrastructure necessary to support the
    increasing demands of modeling, data analysis and archival, and
    research;

-   · Stimulating emerging technologies to build better observational,
    communications, and computational tools.

The Geosciences Directorate remains dedicated to investing, primarily
through the nation's academic institutions, in the proposed research and
educational programs and the essential infrastructure. While principal
investigator-based peer-reviewed grants will continue to be the primary
mode for research investments, it will be necessary to augment
traditional grants with new approaches to address the multidisciplinary
and team-oriented projects that will form a part of the future strategy.

Among the approaches that will be explored are:

-   · Longer-term support for multidisciplinary institutes focused on
    significant research problems;

-   · Group proposals to support teams of researchers to undertake
    research on specific geoscience problems that require the
    application of multiple methodologies; and

-   · Cooperative support mechanisms across several science agencies on
    geoscience research problems of mutual interest.

***2.** **GEO Partnerships***

Innovative partnerships within NSF, across the federal science and
mission agencies, with other U.S. institutions, and international
organizations are essential to achieve a more complete understanding of
Earth as a complex system. GEO will work with and through the NSF
coordination mechanisms and will seek out those new partnerships that
are essential to the realization of the challenges posed by the science
agenda. GEO is committed to working with existing interagency
coordinating bodies and individual agencies to develop the partnerships
and programmatic collaborations necessary to realize the goals laid out
in this plan.

####### It is clear that many nations and international organizations around the world increasingly share both the scientific challenges and the goal of gaining a predictive understanding of Earth systems outlined here. It is evident that the implementation of science programs flowing from this science agenda will require expanded and/or new partnerships with other governments and entities abroad. GEO will continue to work with a variety of national agencies and international institutions around the world to develop and implement partnership arrangements to enable the goal and objectives of this plan to be realized. GEO is committed to playing a key role in U.S. leadership efforts to support and implement major international cooperative research programs. Finally, a special effort will be made to expand collaborations that link U.S. and foreign scientists, particularly scientists from developing countries.

# VI. ** **CONCLUSION

In recent times civilization has clearly become both an agent and a
potential victim of environmental change. The impacts of human-induced
changes on the climate system, on air and water quality, on land use,
and on the diversity of life will certainly increase in the 21^st^
Century. With an increasing world population, an expanding global
economy, and the development of new technologies, humans have become
powerful agents for environmental change on global, regional, and local
scales. Over the period since the industrial revolution, scientific
evidence has documented environmental changes that are the result of a
complex interplay among a number of natural and human-related systems.

Our past successes in geosciences have helped us understand the causes
and impacts of the Earth\'s natural variations in the atmosphere,
oceans, and the planet's interior and surface. This knowledge, in turn,
has led to a better understanding of how those variations can affect our
lives and has begun to illuminate how our current actions can cause
future change.

This plan for the Directorate for Geosciences is an integral part of the
overall National Science Foundation strategic plan for achieving
national and international goals. It is built on the knowledge base that
has emerged from our past accomplishments in research and responds to
the challenges posed by the interactions between the environment and
human activities. The plan outlines the scientific directions needed to
continue the expansion of our base of knowledge of Earth systems through
thoughtful investments in ideas, people, and tools necessary to
accomplish our goals.

Our increased understanding, combined with the powerful observing and
monitoring capabilities described in this plan, can create skillful
predictions of future variations in our planetary systems. With this
capability comes a responsibility to provide relevant information to
society in a timely and comprehensible manner, and to help educate our
citizens and leaders so that they can make informed decisions responding
to environmental changes.

######### This plan is a key element in setting the future course for the nation. We may long for the simpler times in which nature functioned beautifully and mysteriously, and we did not pose a threat to it. However, we have knowledge that we do pose potentially serious threats to the environment and consequently we are challenge to act responsibly. With that challenge comes the exciting vision \-- that we can shape and determine a course that will allow both our society and our unique planet to have a healthy and prosperous future.

### Acknowledgements

This summary version and the associated full plan, Geosciences Beyond
2000, were prepared with the active participation of many individuals.
The overall project was conducted under the auspices of the Advisory
Committee for Geosciences, chaired by Dr. Susan Avery. A select Working
Group was invited to develop materials and review draft versions.
Representatives of many of the NSF divisions and programs provided
valuable input. The plan was vetted widely in the geoscience community
through numerous discussions and town meetings. The assistance of all
parties is gratefully acknowledged. Particular recognition should go to
Dr. Robert Corell for his vision and enthusiasm for the project, to Dr.
Richard Greenfield who led the effort during the critical drafting
stages, and to Dr. Thomas Spence who saw the project through to
conclusion.

##### Members of the Advisory Committee for Geosciences during the project

Dr. Susan Avery, Former Chair University of Colorado

Dr. David Simpson, Chair Incorporated Research Institiutions for
Seismology

Dr. Eric Barron Pennsylvania State University

Dr. Otis Brown University of Miami

Dr. Inez Fung University of California, Berkeley

Dr. Robert Gagosian Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Dr. George Hornberger University of Virginia

Dr. Emi Ito University of Minnesota

Dr. James Knox University of Wisconsin, Madison

Dr. Charles Kolb Aerodyne Research, Inc.

Dr. Margaret Leinen University of Rhode Island (now at NSF)

Dr. Marcia McNutt Monterey Bay Acquarium Research Institution

Dr. Alexandra Navrotsky University of California, Davis

Dr. John Orcutt Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Dr. Joseph Pandolfo

Dr. Judith Parrish University of Arizona

Dr. David Schimel National Center for Atmospheric Research

Dr. Sharon Smith University of Miami

Dr. Denise Stephenson-Hawk Spelman College

Dr. Lynne Talley Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Dr. Robert White National Academy of Engineering

##### Members of the Working Group

Dr. William Bishop Desert Research Institute

Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier University of Oklahoma

Dr. Peter Eisenberger Columbia University

Dr. Jack Fellows University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Dr. Rana Fine University of Miami

Dr. Vijay Gupta University of Colorado

Dr. Bradley Hager Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Frank Harris University of Tennessee

Dr. Thomas Jordan Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Timothy Killeen University of Michigan

Dr. William Merrell Heinz Center

Dr. Berrien Moore University of New Hampshire

Dr. Nicklas Pisias Oregon State University

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