Track I - Center Catalyst: The CONVERSE Center: CONverging on Volcanic ERuption Science with Equity

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The CONVERSE Center: CONverging on Volcanic ERuption Science with Equity Track I project will set up the foundations for a new national center that will significantly advance the scientific understanding of volcanoes. This will be accomplished by observing, in real-time, the dynamic processes that occur during volcanic eruptions. The observations and scientific data that will be collected during such eruptions will be used to develop an unprecedented understanding of the processes that lead to volcanic eruptions, the eruption’s intensity, size, style and duration. The ambition of the center is to optimize the scientific data gathering process from volcanic eruptions to improve the fundamental understanding of volcanic systems and with that information aid in producing accurate forecasts of future hazardous eruptions. Achieving this goal requires a well-coordinated, inclusive, diverse and innovation-rich community that is able to response to volcanic unrest. Education and outreach are integral parts of this geohazards center. Training and education activities will be of great importance to the center’s success and include training of future volcano scientists in the entire workflow of responding to eruptions and the training of the broader science community through specific volcano eruption scenario exercises. Another key aspect of the center is to build and strengthen long-lasting relationships between the academic community primarily working at universities and the scientists working at government agencies that are responsible for volcano monitoring and eruption response. The centers activities will be aimed at increasing the diversity of researchers able to respond, gather and analyze critically important data to improve understanding of volcanic eruption. The overarching ambition of the CONVERSE geohazards center is to optimize the scientific advaces from responses of the scientific community to volcanic unrest in order to improve fundamental understanding of volcanic systems and aid in producing accurate forecasts of the dimensions (intensity, magnitude, duration, location) of future hazardous eruptions. Achieving this goal requires a well-coordinated, inclusive, diverse and innovation-rich community response to unrest. CONVERSE evolved as an NSF-funded Research Coordination Network, to answer the third of three Grand Challenges in the 2017 National Academies consensus report on volcanism (ERUPT): 1. Forecast the onset, size, and hazard of eruptions by integrating observations with quantitative models; 2. Quantify the life cycle of volcanoes; 3. Develop a coordinated volcano science community to maximize scientific returns from any volcanic event. The CONVERSE Research Collaborative Network (RCN) was highlighted in the National Academies 2020-2030 vision document (“Earth in Time”) (NAS 2020). This proposal is the next step in the evolution of CONVERSE towards achieving these goals. This Center Catalyst project will therefore design a US-based center to defining an organizational structure that supports collecting multiple types of complementary data during the critical phases of volcanic eruptions. These data will then enable the development of multi-scale quantitative models that capture critical processes, feedbacks, and thresholds to advance understanding of volcanic processes and the consequences of eruptions on Earth systems. Training and education activities will be integral to the Center’s success in this Catalyst phase and will focus on: (i) training of future volcano scientists in the best practices of the entire volcano science workflow and (ii) community training and outreach through workshops and eruption scenarios. In-reach and community engagement will be analyzed and assessed continuously and inform the Center's design and activities with regards to equity and inclusion of a diverse community. A central role during the Center’s catalyst phase will be as the bridge between the academic community and government agencies responsible for volcano monitoring and eruption response, mainly the USGS in the USA. The center will streamline the partnership with the USGS Volcanic Hazards Program and with observatories and academic and volcano observatory partners around the world.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.