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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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1

Introduction

The complex, dynamic interactions among natural components of the Earth system—the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, biosphere, and geosphere that cycle energy, water, nutrients, and other trace substances—have maintained life on our planet for billions of years. Our understanding of these interactions—and their importance to humanity for providing food, water, and a hospitable climate—has grown substantially over the past few decades. However, our understanding has struggled to keep pace with the rapid changes in the Earth’s natural systems, the magnitude of human influences on them, the systems’ impacts on human and ecosystem sustainability and resilience, and the effectiveness of different pathways to address these challenges.

Filling these knowledge gaps is urgent for our nation and the world. The Earth’s systems are an integration of natural and social processes. Human technologies and activities have expanded economies and consumed resources, coming to rival and even exceed the magnitude of natural processes in driving the behavior of the Earth’s systems (see Figure 1.1). Decisions made today will shape the future functioning of the planet’s life support system and thus will continue to impact, and be impacted by, human society. Examples of systems and system interactions that are essential for understanding our planet, predicting how it may change and the impact of uncertainties, and securing a sustainable future include (1) the food–energy–water nexus and associated carbon–energy–water cycles that underpin this nexus; (2) interactions between the cryosphere and oceans accounting for rising sea level convolved with

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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FIGURE 1.1 Essential elements of an integrated approach for understanding the Earth’s systems emphasize research on complex interconnections and feedbacks between natural (e.g., physical, chemical, and biological) and social (e.g., cultural, socioeconomic, and geopolitical) processes. Such integration will include attention to diverse, inclusive, equitable, and just approaches to the research; partnerships and stakeholder engagement; support for computational and observing infrastructure; and support for workforce education and training. The goal is to develop an understanding of the feedback loops, nonlinearities, and emergent properties that contribute to understanding the planet, monitoring processes and predicting change, managing natural resources and hazards, and sustaining life.

subsiding and/or eroding coastlines and deltas; and (3) freshwater, nutrient, and sediment exchanges between land seas and their mediation by atmospheric, hydrologic, and geologic processes; among numerous others (e.g., Reid et al., 2010; Steffen et al., 2020). Equally essential is that this knowledge be developed using equitable, inclusive, and just practices that harness the diversity of experiences and backgrounds to understand the Earth’s systems, and that this knowledge is shared and communicated effectively to all stakeholders.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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The National Science Foundation (NSF) is uniquely positioned to strengthen the scientific foundation necessary to explore these issues. NSF’s mission is to promote the progress of science and to advance the nation’s health, prosperity, and welfare (Public Law 81-507). It funds curiosity-driven and use-inspired basic research in all Earth science and engineering disciplines, along with supporting observations, modeling, and data analysis capabilities, education, and workforce development.

To date, most NSF-funded research on advancing understanding of the Earth’s systems has been through disciplinary studies of the Earth’s components and selected interdisciplinary studies of their interactions and feedbacks. Interdisciplinary research combines contributions from individual disciplines while preserving their distinctiveness (NRC, 2014; NASEM, 2019a). Such research can be inspired by curiosity or the use to which the knowledge will be put (see Box 1.1). More recently, NSF has begun to explore convergent approaches, which use a shared conceptual framework to address a common problem or question. For example, the CoPe (Coastlines and People) program supports Coastal Research Hubs, structured using a convergent science approach, to improve understanding of interactions among natural, human-built, and social systems in coastal, populated environments. This type of research is especially useful for tackling so-called wicked scientific, social, or technological problems, which involve novel integration of widely diverse fields of knowledge—such as natural and social sciences, computational sciences, and engineering disciplines—and diverse perspectives and expertise—such as from decision makers and local communities (e.g., NASEM, 2019b).

1.1 PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

At the request of NSF, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine established a committee to develop a vision for a robust, integrated approach for studying the Earth’s systems and to identify NSF facilities, infrastructure, coordinating mechanisms, computing, and workforce development to support that vision. Six NSF directorates joined the request for this study, including the directorates for Biological Sciences; Computer and Information Science and Engineering; Education and Human Resources; Engineering; Geosciences; and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. The participation of multiple directorates in this study signals NSF’s recognition of the responsibility to better harness the knowledge, approaches, and capabilities of multiple fields across the social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, and computer sciences. It also recognizes the importance of developing and training a workforce with the diverse expertise and perspectives that will be used to carry out the necessary interdisciplinary and convergence research.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
×

The committee was charged with five tasks (see Box 1.2). Task 1 was to develop a vision for studying the Earth’s systems, including the value and characteristics of an integrated approach. Task 2 was to identify scientific and programmatic opportunities and barriers for achieving an integrated approach. In this report, “Earth’s systems” refers to components of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and the individuals, institutions, and technologies that respond to and influence these dynamics as well as their interactions and feedback through time (see Box 1.3).

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Tasks 3 through 5 concern the implementation of the committee’s vision for Earth Systems Science at NSF, including ways to leverage NSF facilities, infrastructure, and coordinating mechanisms (Tasks 3 and 4), and to build a workforce with the diverse skills, approaches, and perspectives desired to carry out the research (Task 5). Addressing Task 3 as written would have involved a review of all relevant NSF facilities and infrastructure, which the NSF sponsors acknowledged was not possible in the confines of the study. Instead, the committee discussed synergies that would enable convergence research and advance Earth Systems Science.

The committee organized its analysis of Tasks 3–5 around the key characteristics outlined in its vision, and drew on insights and outcomes from the results of a committee questionnaire; workshops on social and behavioral science, engineering, computation, and education and workforce development; and roundtables to discuss coordination mechanisms and computing and observing facilities (see Appendix A). NSF has a large number of coordinating mechanisms and major facilities, so the committee chose examples that are managed by different directorates, that were not discussed in the workshops, and that were not recently reviewed in National Academies reports.

1.2 NSF’S ROLES IN EARTH SYSTEMS SCIENCE

Earth Systems Science aims to discover and integrate knowledge on the structure, nature, and scales of interactions among natural (e.g., physical, chemical, and biological) and social (e.g., cultural, socioeconomic, and geopolitical) processes. The goal is to develop an understanding of the direct interactions, feedback loops, nonlinearities, and emergent properties that contribute to understanding the planet, monitoring processes and predicting change, managing natural resources and hazards, and sustaining life. NSF makes a vital contribution to such efforts by funding research across the Earth system, supporting relevant facilities and infrastructure, and helping educate and train the current and future workforce.

NSF is organized into seven directorates that cover broad thematic areas: biological sciences; computer and information science and engineering; education and human resources; engineering; geosciences; social, behavioral, and economic sciences; and mathematical and physical sciences (see Figure 1.2). Each directorate includes several divisions focused on disciplines or topics within the thematic area, and each division includes several focused programs. Outside of this structure are cross-division and cross-directorate programs chosen to advance scientific and strategic priorities.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Research on the Earth’s Systems

Research within and across NSF directorates is key for advancing understanding of the Earth’s systems. Disciplinary studies, which are largely managed through the divisions, provide the foundation for understanding components of the Earth system, the processes that govern their dynamics, and how they have evolved over time. Interdisciplinary studies, which are typically managed through cross-division or cross-directorate programs, provide a means for exploring interactions and feedbacks among the components of the Earth system and for developing innovative approaches to studying complex problems related to the Earth’s systems.

Discipline Foundations.

The Geosciences Directorate, which manages the majority of research traditionally considered to be Earth Systems Science, covers atmospheric, oceanic, hydrologic, geologic, and polar science (see Figure 1.2). Decades of research in these areas has substantially advanced our knowledge of the Earth. For example, insights from climatology, atmospheric chemistry, meteorology, and geology have illuminated how the Earth’s climate has evolved and changed over geologic time and furthered our ability to project future trajectories of climate change. Oceanographers have helped quantify the multi-decadal warming of the global oceans and changes in ocean chemistry caused by the absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and the resulting declines and geographic shifts of marine life. Studies of geology and geophysics have helped reveal the dynamic processes by which the Earth’s geologic systems have changed over time and continue to shape contemporary conditions. Studies in hydrology have contributed to understanding floods, droughts, and freshwater availability as well as understanding how freshwater mediates chemical and mechanical weathering of rock and contributes to soil formation. Studies of glaciology, geophysics, and hydrology have helped show how melting of polar ice sheets and ice caps in a warming climate leads to geographically variable sea levels, increases geological hazards, and threatens the persistence of cold-adapted biota.

Research on the terrestrial biosphere is primarily the purview of the Biological Sciences Directorate, which covers ecosystem science, evolutionary processes, population and community ecology, organismal biology, systematics and biodiversity sciences, and cellular and molecular biology. Research in life science disciplines—including microbiology, botany, zoology, forestry, pedology, ecology, and evolutionary biology—have, for example, helped elucidate the role of organisms in regulating the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus and in building soil, and has shown how the diversity of life supports terrestrial and aquatic food webs.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Research on how individuals and institutions respond to and influence the Earth’s systems is supported by the Directorate on Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. For example, studies on environmental decision-making and risk perception have revealed ways to better engage vulnerable communities in water resource management, communicate weather forecast uncertainty, and prepare and respond to natural disasters. Research on human behavior has demonstrated how the understanding of social norms can be applied to improve conservation, and how human behavior, institutional actions, and these interactions with the environment influence climate change and climate adaptation. Economists

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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have assessed the costs and benefits of ecosystem services, and developed approaches to quantify how people value preserving them.

The Engineering Directorate touches on studies of the Earth’s systems by considering the means through which humans affect their environment, detecting those effects, developing technical solutions to reduce human impacts on the environment, and creating means to mitigate the adverse impacts of the environment on human life. Relevant research areas in the directorate include environmental engineering and sustainability, disasters and the built environment, systems engineering, and the operation and design of complex engineered and socio-technical systems.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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FIGURE 1.2 NSF organization chart, showing its seven directorates (names in bold) and their divisions (bullets).
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Research in these areas has advanced wastewater treatment, renewable energy generation and storage, climate impacts and systems resilience, food–energy–water nexus issues, life cycle assessment, sensor development, and other applications.

The Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate supports research related to the Earth’s systems, through support for integrating intelligent technologies with the natural and built environments to improve their social, economic, or environmental well-being. Computational approaches and efforts from this directorate will be essential for future Earth systems research.

Interdisciplinary and Convergence Research.

Both interdisciplinary and convergence research on the Earth’s systems entail collaboration across multiple NSF divisions or directorates. NSF handles these by establishing fixed-term cross-directorate programs, which are funded through cost-sharing among the participating directorates or through sources of new funding. A number of such programs have been developed to advance understanding of different aspects of the Earth’s systems. For example, Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems—a partnership among the directorates for Geosciences; Biological Sciences; and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences—examines human and natural system processes and the complex interactions among human and natural systems at diverse scales.1 Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems (INFEWS) sought to understand the linkages among social, engineering, physical, and natural processes that govern the food–energy–water system.2 INFEWS involved five NSF directorates and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

As part of the “Big Ideas” initiative,3 NSF explicitly recognized the criticality of “investing in bold foundational research questions that are large in scope, innovative in character, originate outside of any particular directorate, and require a long-term commitment.” One Big Ideas program that relates to Earth Systems Science is Navigating the New Arctic, which supports convergence research across the social, natural, environmental, and computing and information sciences, and engineering to understand interactions among natural and built environments and social systems.4

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1 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20579/nsf20579.htm.

2 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18545/nsf18545.htm.

3 See https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/big_ideas.

4 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20514/nsf20514.htm.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Facilities and Infrastructure

NSF supports a considerable number of observing, experimental, and computational facilities and infrastructure projects that are important for Earth Systems Science. At the request of NSF, this report is concerned with major multiuser facilities and, at the discretion of the committee, smaller infrastructure projects. Design and construction of major facilities, with costs on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars, is typically funded through the agency-wide Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction Account. For projects that fall below this cost but above what directorate-specific programs can fund internally, NSF established the mid-scale research infrastructure program as one of its Big Ideas.5 This program considers proposals for infrastructure with costs between $6 million and $100 million. Major multiuser Earth systems facilities and mid-scale infrastructure are listed in Box 1.4 and are housed within the Geosciences Directorate, Biological Sciences Directorate, Directorate of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, and Engineering Directorate. The Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences and the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences do not currently support major Earth systems facilities and infrastructure.

Major facilities and infrastructure projects hosted by the Geosciences Directorate include the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which provides the atmospheric research community with computing resources and data services, and supports a community-developed global Earth systems model. The directorate also supports facilities for airborne, ocean, and Earth surface observations; seismic and geodetic instrumentation; and facilities and operational support in Arctic and Antarctic regions. The data collected using observing facilities in nearby and remote areas (e.g., Antarctica or the deep ocean) have led to a wide range of scientific discoveries. A classic example is the discovery and investigation of hydrothermal vent systems using the academic research fleet, underwater vehicles, scientific ocean drilling platforms, and, more recently, cabled arrays (see Box 1.5).

Facilities and infrastructure operated by the Biological Sciences Directorate focus on continental-scale experiments on ecological systems and on field stations that collect observations of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. The Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate provides computing infrastructure and a high-performance computing facility that is used for an array of science applications, including climate modeling. The Engineering Directorate provides

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5 See https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505550.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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research infrastructure to the natural hazards engineering community and operates engineering research centers.

Computation and Data Science

General purpose computing—including high-performance computers, software infrastructure, and data science capabilities—is made available primarily through the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure. Rather than funding computing centers with long lifespans, NSF funds general purpose computing through a variety of programs, which change over time. For example, Frontera, which is hosted at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, is the fastest high-performance computer at a U.S. university. Access to Frontera is provided by the Petascale Computing Resource Allocations program. Other high-performance computing is currently funded under the Innovative High-Performance Computing program. Access to these computing systems is supported by the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment project.6 Access to public commercial cloud computing resources is provided through projects such as Cloudbank, which serves as an integrated service provider to the research community through a comprehensive set of user-facing and business operations functions.7

Programs that support the software and algorithm requirements of science communities include the National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes8 and the Cyberinfrastructure for the Sustained Scientific Innovation program.9 In addition, a number of programs support the data science integral to the hardware and software efforts mentioned above. An example for science communities seeking to advance their use of data science is Harnessing the Data Revolution: Institutes for Data-Intensive Research in Science and Engineering.10

A few computer and data science programs are also offered by or in partnership with other directorates. Examples include EarthCube,11 a partnership with the Geosciences Directorate that created a data-sharing environment to improve understanding and prediction of the Earth’s systems. The Geoinformatics program12 supports the development, implementation, or operation of cyberinfrastructure for Earth surface

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6 See https://www.xsede.org.

7 See https://www.cloudbank.org/index.php.

8 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20604/nsf20604.htm.

9 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20592/nsf20592.pdf.

10 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2021/nsf21519/nsf21519.htm.

11 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2021/nsf21515/nsf21515.htm.

12 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2019/nsf19561/nsf19561.htm.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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and interior science. CyVerse: Cyberinfrastructure for the Life Sciences13 provides cyberinfrastructure and training for its use in the life sciences.

Education and Workforce Development

Education and workforce development at NSF encompasses discipline-based education research; faculty and teacher professional development programs; diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; teaching, learning, curriculum development, and evaluation at K–12, undergraduate, and graduate levels; informal learning (e.g., free choice learning and community education); and programmatic and institutional change initiatives. These programs are offered by the Division of Education and Human

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13 See https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503368.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Resources, the science directorates and divisions, and cross-directorate programs.

Education and Training.

Discipline-based education research is supported via programs such as the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) Core Research-Building Capacity for STEM Education Research,14 which focuses on developing early career expertise and skills in qualitative and quantitative research methods and design to conduct research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program15 is a foundation-wide investment in developing and adapting transformative approaches

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14 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20521/nsf20521.htm.

15 See https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505082.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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to STEM teaching and learning at the undergraduate level. This program builds on several predecessor programs (Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement; Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science) and has supported work in curriculum, instruction, assessment via scholarship on teaching and learning and hypothesis development, and testing via discipline-based education research.

The Research Experiences for Undergraduates program16 is an example of NSF’s long-standing foundation-wide investment in workforce development at the undergraduate level. Recent emphasis in the program has been placed on increasing participation of students from historically underrepresented groups (e.g., women, people of color, persons with disabilities) and 2-year college students in research, which is one path to growing a more diverse and inclusive Earth Systems Science workforce.

An example of an NSF program that lies at the intersection of workforce development, STEM, and education is the Graduate STEM Fellows

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16 See https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5517.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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in K–12 Education program.17 This program provides funding for graduate students in STEM disciplines to bring their research practice and findings into K–12 learning settings. Through collaborations with other graduate fellows and faculty in STEM disciplines, teachers and students in K–12 environments, community partners, and graduate students can gain a deeper understanding of their own research and place it within a societal and global context.

Finally, several NSF programs seek to develop a STEM workforce that will create and capitalize on science and technology innovations. For example, Accelerating Discovery: Educating the Future STEM Workforce18 seeks to develop professionals with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to collaborate across disciplines to advance the 10 Big Ideas for Future NSF investments. The Faculty Early Career Development Program19 is aimed

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17 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08556/nsf08556.htm.

18 See https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505552.

19 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20525/nsf20525.htm.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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at developing leaders and integrated research and education activities. An objective is to foster opportunities where scientific discovery can both stimulate and enhance learning and also disseminate and communicate knowledge to a broader audience. Training-based Workforce Development for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure20 is intended to nurture the research workforce essential for creating, using, and supporting advanced cyberinfrastructure. The Science of Broadening Participation program21 uses social, behavioral, economic, and learning sciences to better understand enhancements and barriers to expanding participation in education and the workforce.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

A number of NSF programs are aimed at increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in science via different pathways. For example, the Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) Opportunities for Leadership in Diversity program22 seeks to achieve more systemic diversity by creating a network of diversity and inclusion “champions” who can implement evidence-based best practices and resources into their work. This program provides leaders with professional development opportunities to acquire skills and competencies for effective diversity leadership. The ADVANCE (The Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions) program23 supports evidence-based practices to increase faculty gender equity, with more recent attention on intersectionality.

NSF also invests in cultural change and broadening participation of underrepresented and underserved groups through collaboration. An example is Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science,24 which is aimed at working toward cultural, systemic change and developing a STEM workforce that reflects the demographics of the nation. The program is built around a collaborative infrastructure that enables the community to develop a shared vision, partnerships, goals and metrics, leadership, and communication, and creates a plan for sustainability and scalability.

Finally, Sustainable Regional Systems Research Networks25 seek to incorporate diversity and education into science and to foster convergent research in regional systems science, engineering, and education

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20 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2019/nsf19524/nsf19524.htm.

21 See https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505235.

22 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2016/nsf16516/nsf16516.htm.

23 See https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5383.

24 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20569/nsf20569.htm.

25 See https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20611/nsf20611.htm.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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to enhance the sustainability of these systems.26 The research networks must also include a vision for nurturing a culture of inclusion that results in stronger partnerships, collaborations, and educational pathways for diverse students with a range of STEM backgrounds.

1.3 ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT

This report lays out a vision for a robust, integrated approach for the next generation of Earth Systems Science at NSF, and identifies NSF facilities, infrastructure, coordinating mechanisms, computing, and workforce development to support that vision. Chapter 2 describes systems thinking approaches to studying the Earth’s systems and presents a vision for next generation Earth Systems Science. Chapter 3 summarizes key characteristics of a robust approach for realizing that vision. Chapter 4 focuses on implementation, including opportunities and barriers in research, computing and observing facilities, and workforce development, as well as recommendations for achieving the vision for next generation Earth Systems Science. The report concludes with a summary of the types of community input to the study (Appendix A), biographical sketches of the committee members (Appendix B), and a list of acronyms and abbreviations (Appendix C).

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26 As noted in the program solicitation, “The United States is made up of regional systems comprising interdependent urban and rural systems and every community category between urban and rural. Urban systems are dependent on rural systems for the provisioning of food, energy, water, and other materials and natural resources, while rural systems are dependent on urban systems for markets, manufactured goods, and medical resources. These systems are also connected by ecological processes that both influence and are influenced by human behavior. The vital interconnection of urban-rural systems underscores the critical need for the advancement of sustainable regional systems (SRS).”

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26042.
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Next: 2 NSF's Role in Next Generation Earth Systems Science »
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The National Science Foundation (NSF) has played a key role over the past several decades in advancing understanding of Earth's systems by funding research on atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, geologic, polar, ecosystem, social, and engineering-related processes. Today, however, those systems are being driven like never before by human technologies and activities. Our understanding has struggled to keep pace with the rapidity and magnitude of human-driven changes, their impacts on human and ecosystem sustainability and resilience, and the effectiveness of different pathways to address those challenges.

Given the urgency of understanding human-driven changes, NSF will need to sustain and expand its efforts to achieve greater impact. The time is ripe to create a next-generation Earth systems science initiative that emphasizes research on complex interconnections and feedbacks between natural and social processes. This will require NSF to place an increased emphasis on research inspired by real-world problems while maintaining their strong legacy of curiosity driven research across many disciplines – as well as enhance the participation of social, engineering, and data scientists, and strengthen efforts to include diverse perspectives in research.

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