Thread: UNAVCO IRIS Joining Forces Newsletter

Started: 2021-11-09 11:01:14
Last activity: 2021-11-09 11:01:14
Scott Johnson
2021-11-09 11:01:14
*Joining Forces Newsletter November 2021*
*Polar Team Training*

The UNAVCO and IRIS-PASSCAL Polar engineering teams have enjoyed the
opportunity to collaborate in support of Principal Investigator projects in
Antarctica for nearly a decade and a half and the two consortia have a
long-standing joint advisory body, the Polar Science and Technology
Committee, through which seismo-geodetic community members participate in
advising the facilities and reporting to the two Boards.



There are appreciable commonalities in the technology and infrastructure
required for remote, autonomous Antarctic field work, as well as in field
logistics and operations. The PASSCAL and UNAVCO engineering staff have
thus worked together to share experience, leverage technical knowledge, and
support a number of common projects. In the spirit of this collegial
history, the two facilities continue to cross-train staff and PI group
members on seismic and geodetic instruments to better support science, and
each other, in these challenging projects.



This year was no exception, with the two teams meeting in Socorro, NM and
in Boulder, CO in early October to review the operation and troubleshooting
of instrumentation and hardware.
[image: photo of staff with instruments on table]

*Erika Schreiber, Madeline Hunt, and Nicolas Bayou in cross training
session at the PASSCAL Instrumentation Facility in Socorro.*
Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Both organizations have increased focus on diversity, inclusion, and
anti-racism work since summer 2020 through IRIS’s JEDI (Justice, Equity,
Diversity and Inclusion)
https://www.iris.edu/hq/about_iris/jedi_efforts?utm_source=newsletter_jf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=n2
working group and UNAVCO’s IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and
Accessibility)
https://www.unavco.org/committees/idea-committee/?utm_source=newsletter_jf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=n2
committee. In the coming months, they will be working together on a plan
for how to merge the two groups and their ongoing work as part of the
EarthScope Consortium.



Already, parallel organizational cultural assessments have been conducted
with help from the same outside consulting firm and the resulting
recommendations were used to determine upcoming joint IRIS-UNAVCO staff
training on topics of implicit bias, language, and microaggressions. Staff
from both organizations have also worked together through an URGE pod
https://urgeoscience.org/pods/iris-unavco/?utm_source=newsletter_jf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=n2
(Unlearning Racism in Geoscience) and have produced a series of
recommendations for organizational policies and procedures intended to help
EarthScope design a more inclusive structure from inception, as well as
collaborate on an AGU presentation related to inclusive field safety
practices.
*News*

*Save the Date*

UNAVCO and IRIS will hold a joint virtual meeting on Tuesday, November 30.
The 2 hour meeting will begin at 1:00 pm EST. All community members are
invited to attend. Connection information will be sent in advance of the
meeting.



*Board Decision on EarthScope Staffing*

The joint Boards approved proposals to: ensure the continuity of leadership
and staffing through the merger transition, set operational objectives for
the transition, and lay the groundwork for developing joint governance for
the new consortium. More information and details about these proposals can
be found on the Joining Forces website
https://sites.google.com/iris.edu/united/updates?authuser=0&utm_source=newsletter_jf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=n2
.


*NSF Management Review of SAGE and GAGE*

In late September, the NSF conducted a management review of the SAGE and
GAGE facilities. This review is part of the typical process for all NSF
facilities. It was an opportunity for IRIS and UNAVCO to receive feedback
on facility operations from a panel of experts representing other major
science facilities as well as for NSF to learn more details about the
facility management and upcoming merger planning. A formal report will be
provided to IRIS and UNAVCO management later this year.
*Did you know?*

*Membership in EarthScope*

Once the EarthScope Consortium merger is implemented, all current voting
members of IRIS and UNAVCO and all Educational Affiliate members of IRIS
(previously non-voting), will automatically become *Voting Member
Institutions* of the EarthScope Consortium. All other non-voting members of
IRIS and all non-voting members of UNAVCO will become non-voting *Associate
Members*.

In early 2022, each Voting Member institution will be required to appoint
one individual as its designated representative (“Member Representative”),
and to appoint another individual as its alternate representative
(“Alternate Member Representative”) to act and vote if the Member
Representative is unable to do so.


Member institutions who currently have distinct member representatives for
IRIS and UNAVCO are asked at the earliest opportunity to identify a single
member representative, and an alternate member representative, for
EarthScope Consortium. Once those selections have been made, please send
the information to community<at>unavco.org and community<at>iris.org.



*(Image: Anna Shlyapnikova/Wikimedia)*

*Questions? Feedback? Reach out via our feedback form
https://sites.google.com/iris.edu/united/feedback?utm_source=newsletter_jf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=n2.
A member of the Steering Committee will follow up with you.*
http://unavco.org?utm_source=newsletter_jf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=n2

http://unavco.org
http://unavco.org?utm_source=newsletter_jf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=n2
https://sites.google.com/iris.edu/united/home?utm_source=newsletter_jf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=n2

Joining Forces Website
https://sites.google.com/iris.edu/united/home?utm_source=newsletter_jf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=n2
http://iris.edu?utm_source=newsletter_jf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=n2

http://iris.edu
http://iris.edu?utm_source=newsletter_jf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=n2

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