Science and Society

By Brittany Schieler One of my favorite television series of the early 2000’s was “Friday Night Lights.” On the show, a charismatic high school football coach dramatically recites the team’s motto before big moments: “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.” To this I day I still find myself repeating this mantra. The pithy saying has a lot of relevance beyond high school ...

by Teresa L. Curto, ASLO Executive Director; Mike Pace, ASLO President; Adrienne Sponberg, ASLO Director of Communications and Science   This week, ASLO joined over 125 scientific societies and journal publishers to respond to a rumored forthcoming Trump Administration executive order that would make all papers produced by federally funded research freely available upon publication. If implemented, this would completely eliminate the ...

By Maha Joana Cziesielski On November 6th the Supreme Court of the United States held a hearing for the case County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund. The arguments pertained to the question on whether the Clean Water Act requires a permit for the discharge of pollutants when the pollutant has traveled from a point source and through groundwater into ...

By Maha Joana Cziesielski   The County of Maui is being taken to the Supreme Court by a number of advocacy groups, led by the Hawaii Wildlife Fund, after a study showed that wastewater from the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility injected into groundwater could be traced into the Pacific ocean. The Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge of pollutants from a point ...

By Brittany Schieler Quick overview: The EPA proposed changes to implementation of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2019-0405) which will significantly restrict a state or tribe’s authority in certifying infrastructure projects that will impact its waters and watershed habitat.  On August 8th the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed changes to implementation of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), which were officially entered into the Federal Register on August 22, 2019 (Docket ID ...

By Brittany Schieler Summer break is quickly coming to a close for many, meaning it’s that time of year again! Time to dust off that syllabus from last year and get ready for the academic year ahead. If you are an instructor or teaching assistant preparing for a course in oceanography, limnology, or general earth science, ASLO may be able ...

In my role at ASLO, I’ve coordinated or facilitated dozens of workshops and panel discussions geared to encourage and to train scientists to communicate their science to policymakers, the public and the media. What I’ve heard over and over again from participants is: “This is important. This takes time. This doesn’t count towards tenure.” Researchers, particularly early career researchers, are ...

By Brittany Schieler One of the reasons I came to D.C. after graduation was to step out of the research bubble and get some first-hand exposure to how science and data are used to solve problems and shape policy. I felt this was important to my career because no matter how narrow and focused our science question is, science is ...

By Brittany Schieler Thesis proposal? Check. A carefully crafted list of courses? Check. Peer-reviewed articles and conference attendance? Check, check. I had hit all of the important educational and professional benchmarks typically required in a science Ph.D. program. But what about a visit to my congressman’s office on Capitol Hill? Preparation of a “one-pager” and a clear list of my ...

In Fall 2014, the Advisory Committee for the NSF Geosciences Directorate (AC-GEO) released an important report: "Dynamic Earth: GEO Priorities and Frontiers 2015-2020". The report identifies geoscience imperatives in research, including investments in "basic water cycle research to foster a better understanding of water as a primary agent for transporting mass and energy throughout the Earth."  ASLO was invited to comment. The ...