Early Career Scientist Participation Grant for the 2016 Gordon Conference Workshop on Natural Gas Hydrates Entitled: From the Interface to Observatories

该奖项旨在促进早期职业科学家和学生参加2016年2月28日至3月4日在德克萨斯州加尔维斯顿举行的为期一周的第四届戈登天然气水合物系统研究会议。这次会议的独特之处在于，它为学术界和工业界的科学家、工程师以及通常不互动的领域和部门的学生提供了一个共同的论坛，从而促进和催生了基础天然气水合物研究的新方向。会议的重点是将我们在最基本层面上对天然气水合物科学的理解的最新进展与当前具有科学、经济和社会意义的研究问题联系起来。讲习班的目的是为研究人员和私营部门的有关方面提供宝贵的见解，他们正在研究一系列天然气水合物问题，包括：天然气在管道中的运输、沉积物和水柱中的存在、对地球力学和沉积物-水合物相互作用的影响、传感器开发和监测战略、电缆观测站的应用和挑战、油藏的数值模拟，以及研究北极、墨西哥湾、北大西洋、东太平洋和西太平洋以及印度洋天然气水合物形成、积累和不稳定的实地方案。这项工作的更广泛影响包括一个天然气水合物专家小组对早期职业科学家的鼓励和指导，他们不仅将在会议上加强早期职业参与者的经验，还将在私营部门和学术环境的广泛场所提供关于科学职业的指导和建议。研讨会召集人将努力在主持人和讨论负责人中挑选性别、年龄和国籍的混合人选。讨论的重点将是与美国国家科学基金会资助的新的海洋观测倡议(OOI)及其在俄勒冈州近海水合物岭的节点有关的运作和潜在的科学问题，以建立对这一新的重大科学研究设施的知识和利用。

This award is to facilitate the participation of early career scientists and students in the week-long 4th Gordon Research Conference on Natural Gas Hydrate Systems being held in Galveston, Texas February 28-March 4, 2016. The meeting is unique in that it fosters and spawns new directions in fundamental gas hydrates research, by providing a common forum for scientists from academe and industry, engineers, and students in fields and sectors that commonly do not interact. The meeting focuses on linking the latest advances on our understanding of gas hydrate science, at the most fundamental level, with current research problems of scientific, economic and societal relevance. The workshop is designed to provide valuable insights to researchers and interested parties in the private sector who are working on a gamut of gas hydrate issues encompassing: gas transport in pipelines, occurrence in sediments and the water column, impacts on geo-mechanics and sediment-hydrate interaction, sensor development and monitoring strategies, applications and challenges in cabled observatories, numerical simulations of reservoirs, and field programs looking at gas hydrate formation, accumulation and destabilization in the Arctic; Gulf of Mexico; North Atlantic; eastern and western Pacific; and Indian Oceans. Broader impacts of the work include encouragement and mentoring of early career scientists by a panel of gas hydrate experts who will not only enhance the early career participants' experience in the meeting, but will also provide mentoring and advice on scientific careers in a wide range of venues in the private sector and in academic settings. Workshop conveners will strive to select a mixture of gender, ages and nationalities among the presenters and discussion leaders. An emphasis in the discussions will be the operation and potential scientific issues related to the new NSF-funded Ocean Observing Initiative (OOI) and its node on Hydrate Ridge, offshore Oregon, to build knowledge and utilization of that new major scientific research facility.