*Apply for NSF Coastlines & People (CoPe) Scoping Sessions by August 12, 2018*
Coasts are paramount to our nation’s economic prosperity, sustainability and national security. NSF is looking to better understand research priorities related to the impacts of coastal environmental variability and natural hazards on populated coastal regions. Four, simultaneous, three-day scoping sessions will be held September 26-28, 2018. Travel support will be provided for participants invited to attend. Applicants will be notified by late August. Visit the CoPe scoping workshop website for more information and a frequently asked questions section.

Help us get the word out! NSF just released the Science Nation Video: Rock arches are singing and scientists are listening,” about the Earth Sciences (EAR)-funded research of geologist Jeff Moore and his team at the University of Utah. Join more than 350,000 other viewers who have tuned into the vibrations of natural arches that help assess their structural integrity and possible collapse of these fascinating formations.

Lina Patino continues to serve as Acting Division Director for EAR in the Directorate for Geosciences (GEO), as the selection process for the next Division Director continues. The vacancy announcement for this position is currently being revised, and the agency will share it with the community as it becomes available. As the selection process moves forward, the division will continue providing merit-based support that advances our community’s cutting-edge research, education and infrastructure. Questions about the vacancy or the Division Director position should be directed to Lina Patino.

The division encourages the community to engage in the National Academies’ Catalyzing Opportunities for Research in the Earth Sciences (CORES) study process. The study will provide advice that can be used by EAR to set priorities and strategies for investments in Earth sciences research, infrastructure and training over the coming decade. We look forward to your input.

The sun is shining on our new talent! The division welcomes HACU Summer Scholar Ileana Cortes Santiago and two new rotator program directors, Margaret Fraiser from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Steven Whitmeyer from James Madison University. Sonia Esperanca joins the division’s leadership team as the acting Integrated Activities section head.

NSF-funded researcher John Van Stan and colleagues took a rain check, literally. Rain, a major component of the water cycle, deposits most fresh water on Earth. Georgia State University researchers found more going on with water droplets than meets the umbrella. The MinuteEarth video, “Why most rain does not reach the ground”, explains how our perception of precipitation may be all wet. The research team uses video as a creative broader impact activity to explain rain’s role in the water cycle while drawing on symbolism such as trees creating “invisible rivers in the sky.” Join the ~half a million who have already watched and engaged in science learning.

In May, EAR Program Director Justin Lawrence attended the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS) Annual Meeting. Lawrence is program director for both EAR’s Geomorphology and Land Use Dynamics and GEO’s Prediction of and Resilience against Extreme Events (PREEVENTS) programs. He wrote a short op-ed about his first experience at the CSDMS Annual Meeting, co-funded by EAR’s EarthCube and PREEVENTS.

COMING SOON: NSF 2026 Idea Machine Competition! The National Science Foundation (NSF) 2026 Idea Machine, a competition to identify new directions for research, will set the U.S. agenda for fundamental research in science and engineering. Participants can earn prizes and receive public recognition by suggesting pressing research questions for the coming decade—the next set of “Big Ideas” for future investment by NSF.

New Dear Colleague Letter (DCL):
NSF 18-090- Dear Colleague Letter: Research Coordination Networks (RCNs) for Driving Convergent Science in the Critical Zone
Approaching Proposal Deadlines:
8/13: *NEW* 18-559- GeoPRISMS
8/22: 13-542- Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
8/31: PD12-8084- Computational and Data-Enabled Science and Engineering
9/04: 18-546- Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP)
9/11: 18-505- International Research Experiences for Students (IRES)
9/18: 16-562- Prediction of and Resilience against Extreme Events (PREEVENTS)
9/19: *NEW* 18-565- NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowships (EAR-PF)
9/24: 16-572- Cooperative Studies Of The Earth's Deep Interior (CSEDI)
Click here for a full list of upcoming NSF proposal due dates

The ADVANCEGeo Project has launched an Online Community Resource Center to address sexual harassment in geosciences. The resource center contains relevant research and tested strategies to respond to sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination in academia. Funded by a 4-year NSF ADVANCE Partnership award (1725879), ADVANCEGeo is a collaboration among the Earth Science Women's Network, Association for Women Geoscientists and American Geophysical Union.

A new blog has been started by EAR-funded geophysicists exploring the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone. Recently co-funded by the GeoPRISMS and EarthScope programs (1654568), the Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment is deploying an onshore-offshore array of seismometers in the east-central Alaska Peninsula region in 2018 and 2019 to study the seismically active Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone.

The 2018 Annual Consortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sciences (COMPRES) meeting will be held August 5-8 in Albuquerque, NM. COMPRES, a community-based consortium, enables Earth Science researchers to conduct the next generation of high-pressure science on world-class equipment and facilities and is supported by EAR under NSF Cooperative Agreement 1661511.

The American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists (AASP)-The Palynological Society (TPS) has partnered with the Canadian Association of Palynologists (CAP) to host a joint annual meeting on August 5-10 in Alberta, Canada.

The 28th Goldschmidt Conference will be held August 12-17 in Boston, MA. In addition to technical sessions, a Data Management Planning workshop will be at 1 pm on Thursday, August 16 in Room 108. This workshop, geared toward faculty and researchers, will provide guidance for creating a data management plan (DMP) and demonstrate online tools that support and facilitate the generation of high-quality DMP. Please register for the workshop.

The National Association of Black Geoscientists (NABG) 37th Annual Technical Conference will be held September 5-8 in Houston, TX. NABG is a nonprofit organization committed to the continuous training of minority geoscientists that was established in 1981 by black geoscientists in TX. The Division of Earth Sciences will be an exhibitor at the conference.

The 2018 Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) Annual meeting will be held September 9-12 in Palm Springs, CA. SCEC coordinates fundamental research on earthquake processes using Southern California as its principal natural laboratory and is currently co-funded by cooperative agreements with the NSF (EAR-1600087) and the USGS.