Standing Committee Meeting Report Education and Public Outreach

October 2019

EPO Standing Committee Fall Meeting

October 23-24, 2019, UT Austin

Action Items

  • Transmit the committee's recommendations for EPOSC member nominations to CoCOM/ IRIS BOD.  
  • Express appreciation to John and Donna and respective staff for overseeing a smooth integration toward an effective E&O program.  
  • For CoCom:  Recommend a workshop involving parallel meetings of the staff and committees, as well as a joint meeting of the entire group, to develop a combined vision for the structure and function of UNAVCO and IRIS EWO programs as an integrated whole.   
  • For CoCom:  Review the revised joint IRIS EPO and UNAVCO ECE advisory committee charge with Donna and present to CoCom (prior to being presented to the Board of Directors). (John) 
  • For CoCom:  Interested in discussing acquisition of additional equipment for shallow geophysics (IGUANA) in collaboration with PASSCAL  
  • Kathy to send John an email commending IRIS E&S staff for implementing an extraordinary and high quality E&O program.    
  • Create a draft proposal to re-envision the IRIS distinguished lectureship program so that it is consistent with both the needs/expectations of potential host organizations, and to think about speakers who can pioneer new modes of public engagement (e.g., TEDx talks).  
  • Kathy to introduce Rosalia Gomez of TACC to Heather Houlton for collaboration related to the careers module.  
  • Involve SSA in the positive evolution of the successor to the speaker's series.  
  • Consider a conjecture map to convey the overarching vision of the EWO program, to augment the logic model.  (John & Michael)
  • Explore lower-cost and more effective alternatives to the IRIS-UNAVCO calendar.
  • Take the lead with soliciting ideas for the EPOSC to consider for the evolution of the speaker series. (Debbi)
  • Consider and recommend on the investment returns associate with participation in NAGB annual meeting. (Michael)

Meeting Summary

The EPO Standing Committee met on October 23-24, 2019 at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG), Pickle Research Campus, Austin, TX. The attendees for part or all of the meeting included: In Person: Kathy Ellins, Vince Cronin, Eric Riggs, Eric Riggs, Michael Thorne, Robert Wegner, Deborah Kilb, Alex Nikulin, John Taber;  Virtual:  Perle Dorr, Michael Hubenthal, Wendy Bohon, Danielle Sumy, Tammy Bravo, Zhigang Peng;  Visiting Observers: Edgar Garza, Rosalia Gomez (Texas Advanced Computational Center)

The meeting began with a review of the minutes and action items from the previous meeting, followed by a presentation and discussion on EPO program highlights over the past six months and the staff priorities for the next 6 months.  A newly revised and updated EPO logic model was presented and discussed, followed by a general presentation and discussion about ongoing and potential formative and summative evaluation of the EPO program. Then there was a status report and discussion on the new urban and environmental geophysics diversity initiative now named IGUaNA (Introducing Geophysics for Urban and Near-surface Applications).  

After lunch, there was a presentation on TAAC E&O by Edgar Garza, followed by a tour of the TAAC facility. The future of the IRIS/SSA Distinguished Lecturer program was then discussed, with a decision that the program should be continued in its present form for one more year (e.g. 2021), while plans are being made for a new program.   The next topic was an update on the status of the Mars InSight mission, data release schedule, and IRIS’s role in providing data access and resources for the public, via an outreach award from JPL.  Along with this topic was a discussion of the status and use of IRIS EPO jAmaseis software. This was followed by a UNAVCO ECE program update from Donna Charlevoix.  This was followed by a discussion of IRIS/UNAVCO collaboration, and recent NSF guidance on the plan for single seismic and geodetic facility.  Then the committee was briefed on the status of CORES panel activities, including the seismic and geodetic facilities meeting and report.  This was then followed by discussion of several items related to NSF SAGE II implementation, including the draft NSF SAGE website, NSF SAGE and IRIS branding, and SAGE II budget status.  The day finished with the selection of committee member nominations for 2020.

The 2ndday began with the usual committee-only executive session. After the end of the executive session, there was a discussion of IRIS EPO’s potential role in the upcoming Geo-education infrastructure planning meeting.    This was followed by a discussion of a draft joint IRIS/UNAVCO committee charge and potential joint activities.  The meeting concluded with the creation of a list of cross-program issues and information items for the Board that the EPOSC desired to be brought to the upcoming CoCom meeting.