Plenary Sessions

The Workshop kicks-off at 8am on Wednesday, June 13 and adjourns with an early evening BBQ on Friday, June 15.

The plenary sessions have been organized to build towards the theme of looking far ahead.

Recent Science Drivers and Enablers, Rick Aster and Don Forsyth
What lessons can be learned about facilitating advances from recent past? "Drivers" refers to the scientific challenges and the needs of broader society that drove the geophysical community to take certain directions. "Enablers" refers to technological or other developments that were available to anyone but taken advantage of by geophysicists. Have there been important advances when there was only a driver or only an enabler? Or, have drivers in the absence required enablers led geophysicists to butt their collective heads against a wall? And, in the absence of a relevant driver, have new technologies been distractions rather than enablers of important new science?

  • Michael H. Ritzwoller, "Once upon a Time on USArray"
  • Brandon Schmandt, "Community-Driven Data Collection and an Evolving View of Lithospheric Structure and Dynamics"
  • Mike Brudzinski, "New Insight into Episodic Tremor and Slip from Improved Recording Networks"
  • Mark Benthien, "Shakeouts, Scenarios, and Advances in Public Awareness and Planning"

Imagine ... Anticipated Science to Meet New Challenges, John Vidale and Anne Sheehan
What new scientific directions might address "Seismological Grand Challenges in Understanding Earth's Dynamic Systems"? The organizers and speakers are asked to envision outcomes from innovative research. The 2009 "Challenges" report detailed many drivers and listed some enablers for geophysics. The 2011 NRC report on "New Research Opportunities in the Earth Sciences" in late 2011 is broader and will be an important guide for NSF as plans its support of the Earth sciences in the next decade. In order to help us address the challenges more quickly or directly, can we imagine what researchers will be accomplishing at least five or ten years from now?

  • Kelin Wang, "Seismology Beyond Seismic Waves: The Way Forward in the Study of Subduction Earthquakes"
  • Meredith Nettles, "Seismic Studies of the Cryosphere, Atmosphere, and Oceans"
  • Matt Haney, "The Detection of Small, Time-Varying Crustal Properties: Diving into the Seismic Dumpster for Treasure"
  • Greg Beroza, "Faulting from First Principles"

New Technology and Media, Bob Nigbor and Elizabeth Cochran
What developments outside of Earth science are likely to facilitate new discoveries? We are all generally aware of "Moore's Law", but can we foresee how such change will impact how we will collect, process, and visualize data? Are there particular ways that broader society is building on exponentially improving computing and communications capabilities that can be adapted for geophysical research? Are there developments apart from IT that could be enablers?

  • James Stasiak, "CeNSE - Hewlett-Packard’s Central Nervous System for the Earth"
  • Adam T. Ringler, "Where We Were, Are, and Hope to Go with Ground Motion Recording Systems"
  • Frank Vernon, "Communications Enabling the Next Generation of Seismic Systems"
  • Dan Fay, "Communicating and Advancing Environmental Understanding"

Facilities for the Next Twenty-Five Years, Richard Allen and Jim Gaherty
What facilities are needed in light of anticipated science and new technology? By the time that we reach the concluding plenary session, the Workshop participants will have reviewed what facilitated recent scientific success, imagined scientific endeavors in response to contemporary drivers, and considered enablers for that science. How will it all be put together? Are there important ways in which existing facilities must be adapted? Are there entirely new facilities that could expedite use of important enablers in geophysical research?