Vienna in spring: European Geosciences Union General Assembly

This year was my first time at the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). Even though it felt overwhelming at times, it is also a very stimulating conference including sessions related to important topics beyond scientific topics, such as short courses about various subjects (e.g. peer-review, grants) and more general sessions about scientists' well-being and diversity and equality for instance.

The EGU General Assembly (GA) is a week-long conference taking place yearly in Vienna since 2005 (the first GA was in Nice, France, in 2004). It is huge (really!) and brings together over 16'000 scientists (new record this year) from 113 countries representing all fields related to space and Earth Science, such as atmospheric sciences, climate science, oceanography, biogeosciences, cryosphere research, hydrology, seismology, volcanology, planetary science, among many others.

As the Atmospheric Sciences division is on of the largest of EGU and as I have been in this field for quite many years, it was nice to meet accidentally many people I know from my previous affiliations and collaborations that I did not see for a very long time and catch up with them.

All set up to present our study on #OHreactivity of emissions from boreal trees today between 10:45 and 12:30 in Hall X5 (296) at #EGU19. There will be chocolate!! 😉 @EuroGeosciences @heidiphellen pic.twitter.com/gn1fPO5E9D

— Arnaud P. Praplan (@arnaudpraplan) April 10, 2019

Besides very interesting scientific talks in my field, the opportunity to present my research on a poster (see tweet above), discuss other people's work during poster sessions and network during coffee breaks, I also took the time to look into the less scientific programme. For instance, I attended a class on peer-review and even if I have done some peer-review before, I got some good tips on how to do it better. I also listened to presentations from the session called Promoting and supporting equality of opportunities in geosciences and noted the following take-home messages:

1. "Treat people better than your data!" This was the message from Dr. Erika Marín-Spiotta (Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) pleading for a more respectful and humane work environment. (Yes, data is important too, but...)
2. We're still far from achieving parity between men and women. It's by the way not a leaking pipe, but an unfair hurdle run (see tweet below)
3. EGU should be renamed the Western European Geosciences Union as scientists from Eastern European countries are underrepresented. Actually, statistics show that they are less present than scientists from outside Europe at the General Assembly (based on abstracts' affiliations and not the nationality of the authors).

The leaky pipeline isn’t just a waiting game to reach parity, @emsaurios reminds us in #EGU19 session on equality in geoscience opportunities #JpGU #theAGU pic.twitter.com/UVCi7KMiuO

— Margaret Moerchen (@astroMargaret) April 11, 2019

Overall the week passed by quickly (it also included the iLEAPS 2019 Flux and Chemistry of Volatile Organic Compounds Technical Workshop Friday and Saturday), but I cannot shake off the feeling that science is really part of society and must contribute actively to its shaping. Academia is strongly connected to it and one has to look beyond the day-to-day routine, further than the "publish or perish" mantra. At the same time, while it is noble to work towards a better society and future for the upcoming generations, one also has to recognize academia's own shortcomings, either of its own making or inherited from the society in which it is operating.

Now, who is better armed to do the work? People in position of power which substantial leverage on how things are done or people getting together (like at the EGU General Assembly) and working towards better science and society? I have not made up my mind yet, what do you think?