2021 Gordon Research Conference and Seminar on Geochronology: Evolution of the Lithosphere

The second Geochronology Gordon Research Conference (GRC) and Seminar (GRS) will pull in a diverse group of scientists who are at different career stages to report on cross disciplinary research and develop new collaborations. This recurring meeting focuses on new approaches to measuring geologic time and their application to a variety of problems related to the evolution of the Earth and Solar System.

This award will support the participation of 29 early career scientists to attend both the 2021 GRC and GRS, where they will come together with a diverse set of scientists to share cutting-edge research and build bridges between geochronologists and specialists on other disciplines of Earth and Planetary science. The GRS is a two-day workshop organized by and focused on graduate students and postdocs, which builds on the informal and collaborative atmosphere to share science and build professional and mentoring networks.

The 2021 Geochronology GRC and GRS will be held in Mount Snow, Vermont, and will have a focus on “the evolution of the lithosphere.” Specific topics include the birth of the continents, plate tectonics through time, landscape evolution, volcanic and plutonic magmatism, building mantle lithosphere, and developing models for mountain belts and subduction zones. Speakers and other participants will have the opportunity to discuss developments in geochronology as applied to these and other topics, and identify opportunities for future research in an informal and immersive setting.

Support for early career participants from this NSF award will be selected to receive registration and travel support so that they can attend the GRC and GRS. Announcement of the application procedure for this support will be broadcast as widely as possible through established mailing lists and websites. The program organizers have planned mentoring events, including a GRC sponsored women in science "power hour".

This atmosphere is an ideal opportunity for participants at all career stages to build a network of collaborators and mentors from across various fields for future research. This is supported by both the Petrology & Geochemistry and Tectonics programs.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.