Scientific Meetings

December 8, 2024

Scientists at the Jackson School of Geosciences helped organize and host a number of scientific events this 2024. Here are a few of the highlights.

Gordon Research Conference: Porous Media in the Energy and Climate Transition

Professor Marc Hesse served as chair of the 2024 Gordon Research Conference on Flow and Transport in Permeable Media. This year’s conference emphasized research with relevance to climate change and the energy transition, and included talks on geothermal energy production, hydrogen storage and ice sheet hydrology. Gordon Research Conferences are known for bringing scientists together to discuss frontier science in small, community-oriented settings. About 120 people attended the conference, which took place in Newry, Maine, on July 14–19, 2024.

First Joint International Earthquake Science Symposium

Earthquake scientists from the United States, Chile, Germany and Japan gathered at The University of Texas at Austin for the First International Earthquake Science Symposium in February 2024. Hosted by the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, the symposium helped share advances in earthquake science from around the world, as well as lay the groundwork for future projects. Speakers and participants included researchers from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and Germany’s GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, the leading national marine geophysics research centers for each country.

Bureau Hosts Scientists from Japan’s National Hazards Lab

On July 17, 2024, the Bureau of Economic Geology welcomed a delegation of scientists from Japan’s National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED), including the institute’s president, Kaoru Takara. The visit included presentations from bureau researchers and NIED scientists about respective research activities on natural hazards and discussions about opportunities for collaboration.

Rising Sea Level’s Effects Explored at Workshop

The Texas coastline is thousands of miles from the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, but it’s on the front line of rising sea levels caused by the retreating ice. Jackson School professors Ginny Catania and David Mohrig organized a workshop at the University of Houston in April 2024 to discuss how data on sea level rise can be leveraged by communities that stand to be the most affected by it. The workshop brought together polar and coastal scientists and stakeholders from the Texas coast and included a free and public talk about the threats posed by sea level rise and how coastal cities can prepare.