Page 53 - GSA Today December 2022

(Flowers et al., 2019). The AGeS program approaches to BAJEDI, which can be assim-
AGeS-Grad Numbers was created as a collaborative strategy to ilated into other community efforts. Still
77 AGeS-Grad awards address needs articulated in the 2012 NRC broader engagement and integration will be
$8,250 avg. award amount report “New Research Opportunities in the sought through annual, virtual, fully open
311 submitted proposals
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6 proposal cycles Earth Sciences” (NRC, 2012) to expand AGeS community meetings, and an AGeS
63 AGeS partner labs access to geochronology data and training. website that will host project summaries and
>100 geochronologist mentors AGeS has accomplished this through a com- other tangible products. AGeS adopts a for-
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petitive graduate student micro-support pro- malized governance model that includes
AGeS-DiG Numbers gram supported by two NSF awards (AGeS1 steering and review committees with rotat-
6 AGeS-DiG awards and AGeS2). Each year this funding oppor- ing members who will balance experience
$14,350 avg. award amount tunity has provided a concrete deadline to with new engagement. Evaluation of the
16 submitted proposals
1 proposal cycle motivate new connections between geochro- structure, administration, and governance of
nology data users and experts to discuss and AGeS can contribute to the development of
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tune ideas for cross-disciplinary research. a potentially transferable or generalizable
Figure 2. Project numbers associ- Through this process, hundreds have been model of community-led initiatives.
ated with the AGeS1 and AGeS2 pro-
grams. The AGeS-DiG program was involved in AGeS proposals (Fig. 2). AGeS1 For more information about AGeS , go to
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first piloted in 2022. and AGeS2 count 87 abstracts; 30 peer- www.agesgeochronology.org.
review articles published, in review, or in
identified geochronology needs. Examples substantial preparation; and many other pre- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
of AGeS-TRaCE projects include, but are sentations and products. The AGeS program We are grateful to all of the AGeS review panels
not limited to, accessible webinars, tutori- has also developed a loose consortium of 63 for their substantial time and energy invested in the
als, and workshops on best practices, lab U.S. partner labs and >100 affiliated geo- proposal evaluation process. AGeS is supported by
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procedures, instrument design, statistics chronologists, consisting mostly of individ- NSF Frontier Research in Earth Science awards
EAR-2218547, -2218544, -2218504 to R.M. Flow-
and uncertainties, or data interpretation; ual-investigator based facilities that contain ers, J.R. Arrowsmith, V. McConnell, and L. Ar-
focused meetings to discuss interlabora- the majority of the geochronology technical thurs. AGeS2 was supported by NSF EAR-1759200,
tory calibration, spikes, new and emerg- infrastructure distributed across the U.S. -1759353, -1759201 awards to R.M. Flowers, J.R.
ing chronometers, data management sys- The list of partner labs on the AGeS web- Arrowsmith, and V. McConnell. AGeS1 was sup-
tems, or modeling tool development; and site continues to offer a key informational ported by awards EAR-1358514, -1358554,
other community needs. AGeS plans to resource to connect geochronology data con- -1358401, -1358443 to R.M. Flowers, J.R. Arrow-
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smith, T. Rittenour, B. Schoene, and J.R. Metcalf.
fund ~20 TRaCE projects over two pro- sumers and producers. For each lab, infor-
posal cycles. mation about instrumentation, training, sam- REFERENCES CITED
A common element of the three activities ple preparation, analysis, analytical rates, Flowers, R., Arrowsmith, J.R., McConnell, V., Met-
is making small investments that cumula- and contact personnel is provided. The suc- calf, J., Rittenour, T., and Schoene, B., 2019, The
tively advance the field. The well-estab- cessful trajectory of this micro-award pro- AGeS2 (Awards for Geochronology Student re-
lished AGeS-Grad program will promote gram will continue in AGeS through the search 2) Program: Supporting Community
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interdisciplinary science between graduate AGeS-Grad activity. Geochronology Needs and Interdisciplinary Sci-
.
students and geochronology labs. The pro- ence: GSA Today, v. 29, no. 3, https://doi org/
10.1130/GSATG392GW.1.
totype AGeS-DiG and new AGeS-TRaCE A COLLABORATIVE GEOSCIENCE National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and
programs will serve as innovation incuba- MODEL Medicine, 2020, A Vision for NSF Earth Sci-
tors, addressing challenges in diversity, AGeS is designed around a collaborative ences 2020–2030: Earth in Time: Washington,
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inclusion, disciplinary expertise, and tech- geoscience model that harnesses expertise D.C., The National Academies Press, https://doi
.org/10.17226/25761.
nique development by enabling the grass- and creativity across the earth sciences NRC, 2012, New research opportunities in the
roots ideas of community members to be to address challenges in geochronology. earth sciences (NROES): Washington, D.C., The
piloted and grown. Assessment and evaluation will provide National Academies Press, 117 p.
formative feedback to shape the initiative Rappert, B., 2017, Fostering data openness by en-
BUILDING ON THE SPIRIT OF over its arc. Belonging, accessibility, justice, abling science: A proposal for micro-funding:
AGES1 AND AGES2 equity, diversity, and inclusivity (BAJEDI) Data Science Journal, v. 16, https://doi.org/
10.5334/dsj-2017-044.
AGeS expands and adapts the successful will be integrated throughout all activities.
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model used by the AGeS (Awards for In particular, AGeS-DiG provides the Manuscript received 5 sept. 2022
Geochronology Student) research program opportunity to evaluate, test, and learn new Manuscript accepted 11 sept. 2022

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