Friday Focus: 'Tis the season for AGU
The UAF booth is filled with visitors during the opening rush as attendees explore the AGU24 Exhibit Hall on the afternoon of Dec. 9, 2024.
Dec. 5, 2025
— By Laura Conner, vice chancellor for research
December. A month for decorating, celebrating with family and friends, and… AGU! The December-based American Geophysical Union fall meeting is something that I look forward to every year. Attended by over 25,000 scientists, educators and journalists from over 100 countries, this meeting is one of the world’s largest scientific conferences.
Attending and presenting at conferences such as AGU is a critical part of our research work at UAF. Such meetings are one of the primary places where scientific ideas are exchanged, vetted, and refined, as leaders in the field gather to present, discuss, and debate hot-off-the-press results. New collaborations and lines of inquiry are often launched, leading to additional discoveries and technologies down the road. At large conferences such as AGU, attendees can also learn about communication and teaching innovations in STEM, which can be brought back home and implemented for the benefit of UAF students. Because conferences function as such key cogs in scientific and pedagogical advancement, participation is not only beneficial, but often required — for instance, as part of federal grant deliverables.
This year, UAF faculty, staff, and students will descend en masse on New Orleans, the 2025 venue for the meeting. In all, we will present 137 posters or talks, showcasing our latest research results to thousands. Our prominent booths in the exhibit hall offer a further opportunity to connect with potential students, further enhance our reputation as leaders in Arctic-focused research, and attract research talent to our university. Not surprisingly for an Earth and planetary science-focused conference, many presenters are from the Geophysical Institute and/or the College of Natural Science and Mathematics; however, UAF is broadly represented at this meeting, with folks from the International Arctic Research Center, the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, the Institute of Northern Engineering, the Institute of Arctic Biology, the College of Engineering and Mines, the AVÀÇÂÛ̳ Center for Energy and Power, and the Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Extension, as well.
I can’t wait to hear about everyone’s latest discoveries!
Friday Focus is a column written by a different member of UAF's leadership team every week.