Onward for “On Tap!”

After a summer hiatus, NEREID is set to resume hosting “Convergence On Tap!” with a stellar topic and lineup of speakers. The next event will be held on Thursday, September 23rd at 7:30 pm eastern-time via Zoom with the enigmatic theme “Secret Oceans: Below and Beyond”.

As the NEREID: Convergence On Tap! Planning Committee looks forward to another stimulating evening of new ideas and cross-disciplinary networking, we’re also warmly reflecting on the previous session, held on May 26th, 2021. Titled “Sea the Stars”, panelists for this event included:

• Dr. Travis Horton, Associate Professor of Environmental Geochemistry at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand;

• Feather Metsch, Immersive and interactive A/V storyteller and member of The Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians; and

• Dr. Michel André, Biotechnology Engineer at the National Institute of Applied Science in Toulouse, France.

This unique combination of speakers showcased convergent perspectives on ocean research, migration of marine mammals and indigenous knowledge.

Dr. Travis Horton’s presentation addressed the topic of whale navigation, introducing the question: “How do animals navigate? It’s a 3000-year-old mystery, and we still don’t have an answer, we don’t have a mechanistic understanding”.

Arguing that whales navigate using a combination of gravity and magnetism, Horton noted that this “grand challenge” scientific research problem can be best addressed through a convergent approach. Horton explained, “One of the amazing opportunities before us as a community is the convergence between the biology, the geology, the physics, the data science, the numerical modeling of a data based solution to classic problems.”

Horton’s concluding remarks described how indigenous peoples historically held deep knowledge of migratory patterns, which seamlessly led into Feather Metsch’s presentation highlighting indigenous worldviews.

“In the way we build everything”, said Metsch, “we’re mapping out how we see everything around us and how we imagine the universe.”

Metsch provided examples from various tribes such as design of dwellings that reflect cardinal directions, hand tattoos used for seafaring navigation, and celestial patterns woven into blankets that embody cultural beliefs and religious practices.

Where much traditional knowledge faced cultural extinction decades ago, Metsch’s presentation demonstrated that concerted efforts are being made by indigenous groups to reclaim and preserve language, historical knowledge and harmony between humans and nature.

Dr. Michel André rounded out the panel with a description of his research on the importance of sound in the natural world, particularly focusing on human-generated noise in marine environments, with implications for offshore industries that impact these environments.

“Without sound, the life in the ocean would not exist”, said André. “We know that light doesn’t penetrate more than a few meters below the surface, and sound is really the support for communication for all the inhabitants of the ocean, and if we pollute these channels of communication, we are challenging the survival of the ocean and the survival of the whole planet”.

André’s work has found that different species can share information through sound, and that codes of communication can be identified through components of sounds. This discovery points to a need for human awareness and action to preserve Earth’s delicate ecosystems.

“Human beings should be part of nature”, concluded André.

Following these fascinating presentations, attendees were then placed into breakout groups for a brainstorming session. Playing on the well-known “walks into a bar” joke genre, the breakout activity centered around a scenario in which a pre-selected combination of three individuals (for example, a space executive, policymaker, and ship captain) discuss breaking news about a hypothetical discovery that humpback whales navigate using the stars.

Primed by the panel presentations, On Tap! participants enjoyed light-hearted conversation over drinks about the implications of such a discovery for humanity, society, and earth-space convergence.

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So … what mysteries about the universe will be revealed at our next On Tap! event on September 23rd? Be there to find out!

NEREID launches new “On Tap!” series to explore earth-space convergence

What is the essence of convergence science, and how is it conceptually distinct from what we think of as interdisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity or transdisciplinarity? These are questions that NEREID has been pondering since its inaugural 2019 workshop at Green Bank Observatory.

And what better way to open up discussion and get to the bottom of complex issues than happy hour with a large group of friends and colleagues in a “virtual pub”?

The first in a new series of “NEREID: Convergence On Tap!” events was held on May 31 to probe the opportunities, challenges and issues surrounding the practice of convergence. The series launch focused on the topic “Interdisciplinarity and Convergence Science: What do we mean?”, with a panel discussion, followed by breakout sessions and open conversation.

Expert panelists included: Inna Kouper, Research Scientist at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering at Indiana University; Ryan McGranaghan, Principal Data Scientist and Aerospace Engineering Scientist at ASTRA Associates; and Attila Varga, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research at Indiana University. Catherine Cramer, Director of Woods Hole Institute, served as moderator.

The three panelists presented diverse but complementary views. “Convergence has always been present in the sciences”, said Varga, referring to historical “mixing between disciplines”, exemplified by convergent disciplines such as “molecular biology, ecology, [and] biophysics”.

Taking a systematic point of view, Kouper highlighted her own research findings about practices commonly found in interdisciplinary contexts including “theory borrowing” from other disciplines; “shared use” of emerging technologies; “stakeholder collaborations” that blur the division between researcher and layperson through participatory frameworks; and the “expanding range of expertise” needed to work with data.

Noting a key issue for convergence, Kouper cautioned, “We still try to work on interdisciplinarity as fitting multiple pieces together, but our systems are designed to keep them separate, and they don’t fit”.

McGranaghan followed up by introducing the notion of “antidisciplinarity” as a form of “radical convergence”. Antidisciplinarity “doesn’t mean against disciplines, but it really means the space between disciplines”, said McGranaghan. “I think that’s where the most interesting, fruitful and exciting conversations happen”.

When asked to expand, McGranaghan explained that radical convergence is “this need to somehow become comfortable with uncertainty, and start to have conversations that you don’t immediately understand and start to talk with people whose language you don’t immediately understand”.

However, all three panelists agreed that systems and scholarly incentives for scientists are not currently designed to support radical convergence, resulting in knowledge that is not easily shared.

Building on this conundrum and the perspectives expressed by the panelists, breakout groups were asked to imagine a scenario – the impending approach of a “planet-killer” comet - and consider solutions that would be enabled through convergence of data, disciplines, tools, methods and ways of thinking. Groups were given slightly different scenarios – 9 years, 9 months or 9 days until impact – before spending the next 30 minutes brainstorming about how to save Earth. Unsurprisingly, the thought exercise prompted lively conversation when the whole group reconvened to share ideas, leading swiftly to discussion of other pertinent global issues such as COVID-19 and public trust in scientific information.

In the end, the evening concluded just as it would have in a real pub: with folks trickling out the door as the hour drew late, others lingering behind to keep a stimulating conversation going, and more questions left hanging in the air than there were at the beginning.

Be sure to join NEREID for future On Tap! sessions as we continue exploring the essence of convergence together!

GeoCode Webinar : Using GPS Data to Visualize Plate Movement and Assess Earthquake Risk

How can students use coding to explore plate deformation, earthquakes, and their impacts on humans? The online curriculum module "Assessing Seismic Hazards and Risk with Code" engages high school students in Earth science and computational thinking while investigating seismic hazards and risks in a programming environment called GeoCoder. Students build simple block-based programs to create simulations and map visualizations of ground motion, deformation, and strain based on high-precision GPS data. This module is being developed as part of the GeoCode project, funded through an NSF STEM-C grant.

Participants will get hands-on experience with the GeoCoder and the curriculum module pages that students use. GeoCoder is freely available to all internet users. Funded by the National Science Foundation.

For more information and registration, click here.