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CHAPTER SIX
Findings, Conclusions,
and Recommendations
A global, integrated understanding of the Earth sciences is of fundamental impor-
tance to enhance U.S. public health and security, safeguard our natural heritage, and sup-
port economic development. For both the public and private sectors of the nation, global
information and knowledge about Earth’s natural processes are absolutely critical for any
engagement in Earth science issues either at home or abroad. Chemical modification of
the world’s oceans and atmosphere has direct consequences for the United States, whether
considering the direct effects on people, plants, animals, or water resources. The effects of
severe weather events, droughts, inland and coastal flooding, crop failures, and sea-level rise
all have an adverse aggregate impact on American life. The future acquisition of additional
fresh water supplies, nonrenewable Earth resources, and a sufficient supply of inexpensive
energy require attention to the changing global conditions on the Earth.
As the Nation’s leading, integrated Earth science agency, the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) has a significant role to play in contributing information and knowledge to address
Earth science issues arising in and beyond U.S. national boundaries. The USGS contributes
effectively to the amelioration of such largely adverse trends, to the benefit of the public.
The committee sees international work as integral to the Survey’s ability to respond to its
national mandate. With this in mind, the committee has developed five recommendations
based on significant findings and conclusions that outline a series of steps for the USGS to
support and strengthen its international activities.
The committee’s initial overarching recommendation, directed to the USGS leader-
ship and with the clear acknowledgment and support of international work already under
way, concerns the benefits of a more proactive approach toward international science. The
committee sees compelling arguments for the USGS to play a dynamic role in international
science. With an eye to the future, the development of a strategic implementation plan for
international science at the USGS is fundamentally important, and the committee outlines
some basic elements that could be part of such a plan. These include scientific opportunities
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I N T E R N AT I O N A L S C I E N C E I N T H E N AT I O N A L I N T E R E S T AT T H E U S G S
in the international arena with strong promise of high return value to the nation and the
USGS together with strategies that may enable the USGS to bypass some of the potential
impediments to engaging effectively in international science activities.
Global Earth science, including deep understanding of ecological systems, is criti-
cal, and becoming more so, as populations increase and access to resources becomes more
challenging. The world is increasingly interconnected, and global environmental problems
frequently impact the United States. The USGS plays an essential role in the systematic
mapping, monitoring, and study of the Earth to fulfill wide-ranging national needs for
information on diverse Earth systems. Although the committee noted caution on the part
of the USGS in fully promoting its numerous and broad-ranging accomplishments in the
international arena, the USGS can be justifiably proud of its widely recognized and suc-
cessful international activities in global Earth science.
RECOMMENDATION: As a necessary first step to strengthen and enhance
USGS international science activities, USGS leadership, in collaboration with
the Secretary of the Interior, should fully embrace and unequivocally commit to
international science as a fundamental part of the USGS’ aim “to help our Nation
and the world” (Gundersen et al., 2011, p. 3) and should be open and clear about
this work—internally and externally.
The committee found that USGS scientists are conducting excellent work in interna-
tional science, as described in Chapter 3 of this report. Current activities include mitigat-
ing humanitarian crises through technical assistance in natural disaster response and in
local capacity building, the advancement of science through interdisciplinary and interna-
tional collaborations, natural resource assessments, and the promotion of national interests
through science diplomacy, technical aid, and other means. However, the continuum of
global problems and issues requiring urgent attention for which the Survey has relevant
expertise makes this a critical time for greater USGS involvement in international science
on behalf of our national interests. The USGS is especially well positioned in terms of its
multidisciplinary expertise and organizational capabilities to play either a leading or col-
laborative role, both in the United States and internationally, in addressing Earth science
problems that will arise as conditions and processes change on our planet.
RECOMMENDATION: The USGS should play an expanded, proactive role
in international Earth science, consistent with, and building upon, its present
strengths and science directions. In developing this expanded role, the USGS
should assess how it can serve as a collaborative international leader in strate-
gically addressing a range of urgent worldwide problems that affect U.S. inter-
ests. These include, but are not limited to natural-resource shortfalls, escalating
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Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations
human and economic losses from natural disasters, a degraded biosphere, bio-
diversity loss, the increasing threat of pandemics, and accelerating global envi-
ronmental change.
As part of this broader international role, and in keeping with the idea that these
endeavors maximize effectiveness in the use of government resources, the USGS can con-
sider forging stronger links and collaborative efforts with a wide variety of international
and domestic partners. Other nations’ geological surveys and international organizations
such as OneGeology are potential partners. In addition to its collaborations within the
Department of the Interior, the USGS already has strong relationships on international
projects with the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, the
Department of Defense, and the World Bank, as well as with other federal agencies such
as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These reliable
partnerships could be further strengthened and serve as a springboard for broader scientific
engagement among all of the Survey’s mission areas. Examples of this kind of approach
might include different USGS mission areas working in concert to develop and propose
innovative international projects that serve the partners’ needs along with best practices
for implementation.
The USGS has recently identified seven mission areas, which are applied to national
Earth science activities. Internationally, new science opportunities exist to support these
national directions; however, most of these opportunities require examining Earth processes
as an interconnected system, thus requiring a systems approach. The latter is already being
fostered by the USGS in its domestic science strategies. Integrated efforts, across USGS
mission areas, can strengthen the Survey’s scientific capabilities, increase knowledge and
understanding of Earth processes, and support informed and effective decision-making.
A selected, though not exhaustive, set of international science opportunities with demon-
strable potential to benefit national priorities is described in Chapter 4. Many of these
offer further opportunities to evolve the institutional culture within the USGS in terms of
interdisciplinary research and collaboration.
RECOMMENDATION: The Survey leadership should continue advancing
the integration and coordination of activities across the seven mission areas,
and consider using international science opportunities such as those outlined
in Chapter 4, to motivate further scientific integration within the USGS.
From the standpoint of the structure of USGS’ international activities, the committee
noted that international work seems to be managed very differently in different mission
areas and identified marked contrasts in the support, reward structures, and planning for
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I N T E R N AT I O N A L S C I E N C E I N T H E N AT I O N A L I N T E R E S T AT T H E U S G S
such efforts. Although some differences among USGS mission areas are to be expected and
are likely healthy, identification of current best practices for successful development and
execution of global scientific projects is warranted and could facilitate adoption of those
practices more broadly across the different mission areas. Encouraging engagement among
the mission areas in developing international, interdisciplinary scientific opportunities could
allow the Survey to better prepare for official project requests from external partners and
could enhance readiness to explore new international science opportunities. The absence of
a more proactive approach to international science activities at the Survey probably weakens
the overall success of the USGS in conducting such efforts.
RECOMMENDATION: A Survey-wide plan for international work should
be developed to allow the USGS to fully embrace international activities. Such
a strategy could be developed through the integrated efforts of the Director of
the USGS, the leaders of the seven mission areas, and the Office of Interna -
tional Programs. The overall goal of the plan should allow the USGS to provide
a dynamic, proactive response to the challenges of global geoscience problems.
Elements of the plan could include guidelines or mechanisms that would
• foster activities and collaborations that anticipate and address impending
global crises;
• identify and prioritize key international opportunities that support domes-
tic and global science goals and address U.S. government priorities, includ-
ing opportunities for international collaboration with other federal science
agencies;
• formulate a consistent approach to international activities across all USGS
science areas, with internal and extramural mechanisms to provide feedback
on and evaluate the success of international projects;
• enhance coordination between USGS and other foreign Earth-science
agencies;
• explore opportunities to collaborate internationally with academic institu-
tions based in the United States and overseas;
• promote the development of a new organizational culture that encourages
and rewards international research activities and publication of research in
peer-reviewed journals; and
• fast-track the execution of international agreements.
As outlined in Chapter 5, the reciprocal benefits to the Nation of USGS global activi-
ties are not fully appreciated and do not generally make their way into public perception.
From our own committee experience, information on USGS international activities is not
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Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations
readily available to the public in a conveniently organized, useful, and informative way. The
committee had the advantage of becoming well informed about the Survey’s international
science activities from a variety of extramural as well as Survey sources, and the resulting
overview led us to be impressed by the great value of such activities and partnerships, includ-
ing benefits to the USGS domestic mission and clear relevance to U.S. national interests.
This same value would not be evident to someone in the general public attempting to
understand more about USGS international work.
RECOMMENDATION: To increase public awareness of the value to the na-
tion that results from USGS international scientific activities, the USGS should
promote more effective communication and outreach about nonsensitive inter-
national work. Effective communication can convey the importance, benefits,
and rationale of the Survey’s international science activities to the public, other
stakeholders, and potential international and domestic partners. An interest-
ing, user-friendly website focusing on global Earth science and featuring brief
descriptions of the Survey’s current and recent international activities and col-
laborations, with reference to more detailed information elsewhere on the USGS
website, would allow for greater public appreciation and understanding of these
activities.
REFERENCE
Gundersen, L.C.S., J. Belnap, M. Goldhaber, A. Goldstein, P.J. Haeussler, S.E. Ingebritsen, J.W. Jones, G.S. Plumlee, E.R.
Thieler, R.S. Thompson, and J.M. Back. 2011. Geology for a changing world 2010–2020—Implementing the U.S. Geo-
logical Survey science strategy: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1369, 68 p. Available at pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1369.
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