Check-in Opens

***Member Reps must check-in via the Google Form
to count for the quorum and to eligible to vote.***

11:00 am

UCAR Election and Voting Information

Membership Nominating Committee Report

Governance Task Group Report

• Presentation
• Redline
• Have a Question or Comment for GTG? Submit this form.

Membership Committee Report

Voting Process and Procedures

Washington D.C. Update and Q&A Session

Presentation Slides

Break

***Ballot Opens***

U.S. National Science Foundation Update and Q&A Session  

Presentation Slides

UCP Breakout Sessions

COMET: Tools and Techniques for Effective Remote Teaching
Creating in-person assessments is difficult. Moving those assessments online requires careful planning, thoughtful design, and accurate implementation. In this presentation, the COMET Program will share assessment suggestions and best practices within Learning Management Systems (LMSs).  The session will cover moving away from using questions that assess the recall of information and instead creating questions focused on the application of information, problem-solving, and synthesis of information from various sources.  The presentation will also include suggestions for creating a portfolio-based assessment system. While instructors have concerns about academic dishonesty in an online environment, we will mention simple, yet effective, solutions to discourage it. Beyond just the online environment, these best practices can also be applied to in-person classes when face-to-face sessions resume. 

Presentation Slides

Sci/Ed & GLOBE: Opportunities to Collaborate on Broader Impacts Requirements with UCAR Community Programs (UCP)
UCP welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with our university partners and principal investigators on the broader impacts requirements for proposals. In this session, participants will learn about some guiding principles for broader impacts and ways you can collaborate with the UCAR Center for Science Education and the GLOBE Program to reach national and international audiences. Resources for this session can be found here.

Unidata Science Gateway to Support Education and Research in Universities
Unidata has developed and deployed data infrastructure and data-proximate scientific workflows and analysis tools using cloud computing technologies for accessing, analyzing, and visualizing geoscience data. To that end, Unidata has been fostering the adoption of technologies like pre-configured virtual machines through Docker containers and Jupyter notebooks, and other computational and analytic methods. These resources implemented via the Unidata Science Gateway on the NSF-funded Jetstream cloud facility. The aim is to give geoscientists an ecosystem that includes data, tools, models, end-to-end and well-integrated workflows, and workspaces for conducting teaching and research, as well as collaboration and sharing of resources. In this breakout session, we will present the details of the available resources, how they have supported universities during the coronavirus pandemic, and how university faculty can benefit from them in the future.

Using COSMIC-2 GNSS Radio Occultation data for Weather and Space Weather Research
COSMIC will start the session with an overview presentation of the GNSS RO technique and then summarize recent highlights from the COSMIC-2 mission. Then examples of weather and space weather science applications with COSMIC-2 data will be presented. The session will end with a discussion of how to access the COSMIC-2 and other RO mission data from the UCAR website.

Networking Social Event with Lab and Program Directors

Get a refreshment from your kitchen and join us for a casual time with lab and program directors from NSF NCAR and UCP. Meeting attendees will be randomly assigned to Zoom breakout rooms, then moved to different rooms to hear about different aspects of NSF NCAR and UCP while connecting with each other in a casual environment.

Virtual Coffee with PACUR

What are your questions about UCAR and NSF NCAR? What are university needs and challenges that UCAR should know about? Members of the President's Advisory Committee on University Relations (PACUR) will host Zoom breakout rooms and meeting attendees will be randomly assigned to rooms for this opportunity to share and be heard.

Members Meeting Reconvenes

• Reporting of Election Results

NSF NCAR Breakout Sessions

The purpose of these five sessions is to begin to discuss with the broader community and get feedback on specific scientific themes that are being explored at NSF NCAR to advance the goals and objectives of the new NSF NCAR strategic plan. The goal of each session is to capture community membership input to help NSF NCAR prioritize emerging science while engaging and supporting our University community. All of these themes involve science from multiple NSF NCAR labs as breaking down unnatural barriers that confine research on important scientific questions is an important objective in the new strategic plan.

Convergence
Convergent science is research that uses deep integration across disciplines with the goal of addressing specific, complex, and compelling societal problems. The primary objectives of this breakout session are to define this research at NSF NCAR in the context of the strategic plan, discuss efforts so far, understand and synthesize the needs and interests of the membership community and identify the large, complex societal problems that we should collectively address. The long-term intended outcome is to position the Earth system science community to be at the forefront of integrated and societally beneficial scientific research. Review One-Page Summary prior to session.

Application Modernization in Support of Actionable Science and ESS
This session will discuss how new disruptive computational technologies, including cloud computing, GPUs, and artificial intelligence, will impact Earth system science (ESS). We will also cover science opportunities as a result of an enhanced ESS workflow capability, performance, efficiency, and flexibility. We will look to identify the technical challenges within the field as it relates to refactoring software, retooling our workforce, and rethinking how we verify results. We aim to understand how NSF NCAR can play a leading role in supporting the university community advance in this area.
Review One-Page Summary prior to session.

Unified Modeling/SIMA
The System for Integrated Atmosphere Modeling (SIMA) represents the next step in unified modeling that utilizes existing atmospheric model components, in addition to new components, to provide new capabilities to support our science based on various configurations. This session will discuss the science goals and needs for the weather, climate, and space weather communities while also providing an overview of SIMA as a solution to enabling these goals. We will also be sharing the outcomes of a recent community-wide workshop which helped to define the near-term and long-term developments for SIMA.

Boundary Layer
Building boundary layer knowledge, expertise,  and predictive skill across the Earth system science community remains an important challenge in our field. The goal of this session is to discuss the development of community tools that can strengthen observations and model connections, enhance the observing and modeling capabilities, and advance scientific understanding of the boundary layer processes. Subject matter experts will be present to share updates on NSF NCAR-supported research and highlight some of the past field campaigns that targeted key issues in regional and global models where boundary layer turbulence is at the forefront. Review One-Page Summary prior to session.

Integration of Modeling and Observations
This session will discuss opportunities for closer integration of observations and models to advance Earth system science for the community. This will include evaluating the scientific drivers for the integration of modeling and observations, such as reliable climate projections, understanding practical predictability limits for weather and space weather hazards, and quantifying the physical processes and chemical mechanisms involved. We will also discuss the use of models to support field campaign design and execution, such as designing observing strategies that use synthetic observations and giving context for novel observations. Finally, this session will consider future strategic opportunities for data assimilation that would improve models and their use by the broader Earth system science community.

Presentation Recording (View in Chrome)

NSF Program Manager Breakout Sessions   

Support for Education, Broadening Participation, and Career Development at NSF
AGS aims to encourage and inspire a new generation of scientific leaders by promoting interest in the atmospheric and geospace sciences, enhancing educational opportunities and experiences, and supporting early career faculty. This is accomplished through the emphasis on broader impacts in traditional science grants as well as targeted solicitations such as CAREER and Research Education for Undergraduates. AGS also runs a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship program for recent PhD's.  During this breakout session, program directors will provide information on ongoing efforts at AGS, as well as on GEO and NSF-wide activities. There will be an opportunity to take questions and feedback from members.   

Support for Lower Atmosphere Observational and Experimental Research
During this breakout session, AGS program directors will discuss funding opportunities for researchers conducting observational and laboratory research, including the new “Community Infrastructure and Facilities” solicitation, the NSF-wide Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure initiative, and support for community field campaigns.  There will be an opportunity to take questions and feedback from members.   

Presentation Recording (View in Chrome)

Research Programs in the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences
The Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences supports fundamental research into the physical, chemical, and biological processes that impact the composition and physical phenomena and behavior of matter between the sun and the surface of the Earth.  AGS also participates in many NSF-wide interdisciplinary programs. During this breakout session, program directors will cover the goals of some of the flagship programs in AGS as well as NSF-wide efforts. There will be an opportunity to take questions and feedback from members.   

10:00 am - 2:15 pm