Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation (2022) / Chapter Skim
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Filling these knowledge gaps is urgent for our nation and the world because decisions made today will shape the future functioning of the planet's life support systems, affecting food and water security, mitigation and adaptation to climate change and other human-induced stressors, resilience to natural hazards and disasters, and other societal concerns. The National Science Foundation (NSF)
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Programs across NSF address many aspects of research on the Earth's systems, including research on atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, geologic, polar, ecosystem, social, and engineeringrelated processes. The time is ripe for an integrated approach that will use the knowledge gained from this research to help address many of this century's most urgent challenges, such as ensuring food, water, and habitat security in a changing climate.
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Next generation Earth Systems Science is aligned with NSF's dual mission to "promote the progress of science" by advancing fundamental understanding of the Earth's systems, and "advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare" by building the knowledge foundation vital to tackling Earth systems−related societal problems. The key characteristics of next generation Earth Systems Science at NSF are illustrated in Figure S.1 and summarized below.
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Convergent research provides a means to develop that integrated science by framing research questions from a societal problem perspective; fusing knowledge and approaches from natural, social, computational, and engineering sciences at the outset; and incorporating perspectives of those within and outside of the scientific community.
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The current and future workforce in Earth Systems Science must maintain strong disciplinary knowledge and skills, while developing interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary science skills and practices that will help tackle problems at the intersection of natural and human systems. Necessary skills and practices include systems thinking, integration and application
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The objective is to harness existing capabilities and create new approaches by placing increased emphasis on use-inspired and convergence research while maintaining strengths in curiosity-driven Earth Systems Science; enhancing the participation of social, engineering, computational, and data scientists; and strengthening efforts to include diverse perspectives in the research and engage with stakeholders. OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS TO ESTABLISHING NEXT GENERATION EARTH SYSTEMS SCIENCE AT NSF The committee's second task was to discuss emerging opportunities and barriers to progress for achieving the committee's vision for an integrated approach for studying the Earth's systems, including consideration of the interdependencies and synergies among all components.
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NSF should remove barriers to convergence research, including facilitating engagement with stakeholders and building transdisciplinary teams. Convergence research for next generation Earth Systems Science requires new modes of interaction across directorates, between scientists, within research teams, and with stakeholder partners.
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The latter are supported by the National Ecological Observatory Network, Long-Term Ecological Research program, Field Stations and Marine Laboratories program, and the Critical-Zone Collaborative Network, among others. Connecting these facilities, along with cyberinfrastructure, could augment regional and continental-scale ecology studies, create new user communities, and help users find relevant data for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary projects that have an ecological component.
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It will be important for many research teams to include research software engineers who build community codes that are easy enough to use to attract, and be accessible to, a broad user base, flexible enough to allow a range of different applications, and adaptable to continuously evolving hardware architectures. NSF could also commit to providing the necessary computing resources to support next generation Earth Systems Science.
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Proactive planning to harness this revolution requires engaging computational and data scientists and research software engineers as critical members of the Earth systems scientific community and ensuring the provision of sufficient computing resources. WORKFORCE AND TRAINING The committee's fifth task was to discuss workforce development to support the personnel vital to advance Earth systems research.
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Exposure to convergence research, transdisciplinary teams, and a diversity of perspectives in undergraduate and graduate training would foster the development of the current and future workforce. Research software engineers and system engineers should also be considered a part of the Earth Systems Science workforce (see "Observing and Computational Infrastructure" above)
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