Geobiology 2017: The Inaugural International Conference of the Geobiology Society

就像化学家和物理学家在20世纪中叶将他们的工具和专业知识用于地球的研究以创建地球化学和地球物理学一样，今天的地球化学家和微生物学家已经将他们的工具箱合并到一个前所未有的探索地球生命和物理环境的共同进化中一个成熟的科学领域被称为地球生物学。为了支持地球生物学作为一门综合学科的发展，该项目资助美国-在地球生物学会的首届会议上，科学家们计划于2017年6月11日至14日在加拿大班夫举行，班夫本身就是世界著名的地球生物学目的地。认识到一个单一的，国际的，社区建设会议是迫切需要汇集这第一代自我识别的地球生物学家，地球生物学学会设计了这次会议，以促进思想，工具和专业知识的交流，重点是从早期的贡献职业科学家（新聘助理教授，博士后研究员和研究生）。降低美国的参与成本-在估计的350名与会者中，约70%的科学家是地球生物学会计划的关键部分，以确保参加这次首次会议，这反过来又将为其长期可持续性奠定基础。学会承诺在科学经验的各个阶段持续开展这些包容性的社区建设工作，这本身就是一种更广泛的影响。此外，每位与会学生将准备一份数字海报演示文稿，并将其捆绑成一个在线会议论文集，该论文集将在地球生物学学会网站上以电子方式提供。来自地球化学和地球物理学的领先科学家已经认识到需要将不同背景的科学家聚集在一起，以加强跨学科的交流。然而，最近由国家科学基金会主办的关于地球微生物学和微生物地球化学的研讨会（2013年10月）确定了相关信息交流的障碍（例如，在方法论上，不同的分支学科之间的分歧是推进地球生物学领域的主要障碍之一。虽然地球生物学任何特定方面的专业知识都需要专门的培训，但正是这些看似不同的领域之间的交叉融合定义了地球生物学，并强调了这次共享会议的必要性。因为这次会议的一个主要目标是促进跨越不同领域的桥梁建设，定义地球生物学，特别是从光谱的地质和生物学的两端，上午的节目将致力于一个单一的一系列的口头会议，所有参与者都将参加;不会有重叠或冲突的会议。前两天将探索有机和无机地球化学，分子生物学，微生物生态学，沉积地质学和古生物学的现代工具。第三个全天将集中在岩石记录的解释，包括现代世界的关键研究，提高我们的回顾能力。下午是专为延长学生海报会议而设计的。此外，海报会议期间还将提供非正式会谈，涵盖一系列主题，包括数据可视化，仪器仪表的新技术进步以及搜索和确保工作的提示。

Much as chemists and physicists brought their tools and expertise to bear on studies of the Earth to create geochemistry and geophysics in the middle of the 20th century, geochemists and microbiologists today have merged their toolkits toward an unprecedented exploration of the co-evolution of Earth's life and physical environments in a maturing field of science known as geobiology. To support the progress of geobiology as an integrated discipline, this project funds participation by U.S.-based scientists in the inaugural conference of the Geobiology Society, scheduled for June 11-14, 2017, in Banff, Canada, a world-famous geobiological destination in its own right. Recognizing that a single, international, community-building conference was critically needed to bring together this first generation of self-identifying geobiologists, the Geobiology Society designed this conference to promote the exchange of ideas, tools, and expertise with emphasis on contributions from early-career scientists (newly hired assistant professors, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students). Reducing participation costs for U.S.-based scientists, who will make up ~70% of the estimated 350 total participants, is a key part of the Geobiology Society's plan to ensure accessibility to this initial meeting, which will in turn seed its long-term sustainability. The society's pledge to sustaining these inclusive, community-building efforts for all stages of scientific experience is in itself a broader impact. In addition, each student attendee will prepare a digital poster presentation to be bundled into an online conference proceedings volume that will be made publically available on the Geobiology Society website.Leading scientists from both geochemistry and geophysics have recognized the need to bring together scientists with different backgrounds to enhance cross-disciplinary communication. Yet a recent NSF-sponsored workshop on Geomicrobiology and Microbial Geochemistry (October 2013) identified barriers to exchange of relevant information (e.g., on methodologies) among different sub-disciplines as one of the main obstacles to advancing the field of geobiology. Although expertise in any given aspect of geobiology requires specialized training, it is the cross-fertilization among these seemingly disparate fields that defines geobiology, and highlights the need for this shared conference. Because a major goal of this conference is to facilitate bridge building across the disparate fields that define geobiology, particularly from the geological and biological ends of the spectrum, morning programs will be devoted to a single series of oral sessions that all participants will attend; there will be no overlapping or conflicting sessions. The first two full days will explore the modern tools of organic and inorganic geochemistry, molecular biology, microbial ecology, sedimentary geology, and paleontology. The third full day will focus on interpretations of the rock record, including key studies of the modern world that enhance our ability to look back. The afternoons are designed for extended student poster sessions. Additionally, there will be informal talks offered during the poster sessions covering a range of topics, including data visualization, new technological advances in instrumentation, and tips for searching and securing a job.