Welcome back to the second day of the 2015 General Assembly! Today is packed full of excellent sessions, and this list of highlights is by no means comprehensive! Make sure you complement this information with EGU Today, the General Assembly newsletter, to get the most out of the conference – grab a copy on your way in or download it here.
This year, the General Assembly has a theme – A Voyage through Scales – and to celebrate it there will be Lectures for a general geoscience audience (GL) exploring the Earth’s extraordinary variability extending from milliseconds to its age, from microns to the size of the planet. Today’s lecture (GL1) features water in terrestrial systems and takes place from 13:30–14:30 in Y1. There’s more to the theme than lectures though, and you’ll find a host of exhibits throughout the conference centre! For example, you can experience the evolution of the conference in space, time and volume, during the week, at the scales of the General Assembly exhibit in the Entrance Hall – EGU 2015 in numbers!
We also have an incredible Union-wide session lined up: Celebrating 200 years of modelling of geological processes (US2, 08:30–12:00 in B9). Two hundred years ago Sir James Hall laterally pushed together cloth pieces and clay boxes, thus providing an explanation for folds on the east coast of Scotland. Today’s Union Symposium highlights the many achievements in numerical and analogue modelling since Hall’s pioneering steps – it’s not one to miss! You can also follow the session on Twitter (#EGU15US) and catch up with the EGU 2015 webstream.
The second of four Great Debates take place today too and discusses one of the great challenges facing humanity: water security. Co-organised by the EGU and the AGU (American Geophysical Union), this discussion will seek to addressed questions such as: What can we do to make sure that people have the water they need? And what legacy do we want future generations to inherit in terms of water security? Join in the debate from 15:30–17:00 in Y1. You can follow the session on Twitter with #EGU15GDB, and, if you’re not attending, tune in with the conference live stream.
The day is full of fantastic scientific sessions, from how ground penetrating radar may be applied to civil engineering (GI3.1, orals: 08:30–12:00 in B11, posters: 17:30–19:00 / Red Posters), through to mountains across the oceans: Caledonian, Variscan and Appalachian orogenies through time (TS6.2/GD5.6, orals: 10:30–12:00 in B8, posters: 17:30–19:00 / Blue Posters) and the role of vegetation in soil conservation and hydrological hazards management (SS2.12/BG4.2/GM4.5/HS12.5, orals: 15:30–17:15 in B5, posters: 17:30–19:00 / Blue Posters).
There are also eight Medal Lectures today, in various areas of the geosciences, so make sure to check the programme so that you don’t miss then. The Alexander von Humboldt Medal Lecture by Hubert H. G. Savenije is being streamed live.
The YS Lounge at the 2014 General Assembly.
If you’re a young scientist (YS), this year’s conference has more than ever on offer for the YS community, and today is a bumper day, packed full of YS related activities. Join the EGU Young Scientists Forum (12:15–13:15 in G8) to find out more about the Union and how to get involved. It’s over lunch, so you’ll find a buffet of sandwiches and soft drinks when you arrive! You can also hone your skills during a number of Short Courses on throughout the day:
- Oral presentation feedback round (SC33, 08:30–10:00 in B4)
- Public engagement and outreach – science communication, case studies (SC27: 12:15–13:15 in B4)
- Climate workshop for young scientists: meet the editors (SC40: 15:30–17:00 in B7)
- Your career 1: adding value to your research experience (SC30: 17:30–20:00 in R4)
There is also a treat of Townhall Meetings on this evening. These meetings allow for a lot more open discussion than many of the Assembly’s other sessions and take place outside the usual time blocks. Here are some of the highlights:
- Scientific discourse in the Digital Era: a panel discussion (TM1, 19:00–20:30 in B8)
- Saving our science legacy: international data rescue efforts (TM7, 19:00–20:30 in B7)
- OSGeo: free and open source software (FOSS) in the geosciences (TM5, 19:00–20:30 in R8)
And there’s a suite of smaller Splinter Meetings organised by conference participants too. Why not have a glass of wine with the top shots of Swiss and Austrian mountain research at the Swiss-Austrian Mountain Mixer (SPM1.5, 17:30–20:00 in R2)? Otherwise, learn about The Marine Ice Sheet-Ocean Model Intercomparison Project (SPM1.15, 17:30–19:00 in Y7) or join a discussion on nitrogen ion tracing from planets (SPM1.22, 15:30–17:00 in R10).
Finally, remember to take the opportunity to meet your Division’s representatives at the EGU Booth in today’s Meet EGU sessions and, if you’re in need of a break, head on over to GeoCinema, where you can kick back and relax with a geological film (10:30–19:00 daily in the GeoCinema Room on the Blue Level).
Have a lovely day!
Mya lake in the French Alps. Credit: Sandrine Tacon (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).
