ETGUI at AGU 2021
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference was held from December 13 to 17, 2021 in New Orleans, LA. As always, it brought different geoscience researchers from the world highlighting the state of the geosciences. As the birthplace and inspiration of ETGUI, We (ETGUI members) often use the annual AGU gathering as an occasion to network, learn, and promote our work. This year was no different. However, the continued challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have limited our numbers.
Although our numbers were limited compared to pre-pandemic AGU, ETGUI members were at the AGU 21 in winning awards, leading sessions as conveners, and having multiple presentations. This year, Prof. Atalay Ayle, one of our members from Addis Ababa University, won the international AGU award for his contribution to African geohazards and continental rifting and his leadership. ETGUI would like to extend its congratulations and thank Prof. Atalay for his lifelong contributions to his field and service. Please read more about Prof. Atalay’s AGU award here.
Two ETGUI members convene two sessions that bring together multiple research works. Prof. Yonas Demissie, from Washington State University, led a session on Advances in Modeling Hydrometeorological Extremes and Adaptation for a Resilient Society. In this session, works that advance the traditional flood modeling through exploring the use of data-driven approaches, accounting for nonstationarity, and looking into technology transfers for flood modeling, and the impact of climate change-induced floods are presented. In the second session led by Dr. Gabriel Senay, from the USGS, works that deal with advances in evapotranspiration (ET) measurements of both in situ and remote sensing are discussed. Some studies have shown increasing global ET trends in recent years and others demonstrated cloud computing techniques for large area ET modeling for improving irrigation water management while others presented promising upcoming new generation sensors that would provide field-scale ET on a daily time step in the next few years using a constellation of 16 satellites.
Similarly, our members had different posters and oral presentations. This includes our early scientists showing the importance of not judging soils by their cover in runoff generation and erosion risks by Liya Weldegbriel, and the development of new software tools that can be used to benchmark and diagnose hydrological models in a comprehensive and reproducible manner by Edom Moges, and developing efficient meshing techniques that enable fast hydrodynamic computation that may cover extensive geography and complex geometry by Henok Kefelegn.
Following our age-old tradition at the AGU, we also had a brief networking session where we reflected on ETGUI’s contribution, its future direction, and success in science for the upcoming early researchers. We have also reiterated the need for membership renewal, registration, and becoming an active member of ETGUI. In this all, we had gratefully shared New Orleans' diverse cultural soul-enriching food and music scenery.
The numerous geosciences contributions of our ETGUI members at the AGU 2021, their leadership, and their award-winning scientific contribution showed the potential of our community. As our last blog following the revitalization meeting in September 2021 indicated, there is a tremendous potential in ETGUI that needs organization and active participation.
ETGUI members at AGU 2021 in New Orleans, LA