7 December 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Discover the latest Earth and space science news at the 48th annual AGU Fall Meeting this December, when about 24,000 attendees from around the globe are expected to assemble for the largest worldwide conference in the Earth and space sciences. This year, the meeting runs from Monday through Friday, Dec. 14-18, at the Moscone Center, 747 Howard St., San Francisco, California.
Included in this advisory:
- Online press registration still open
- Press conferences schedule
- Webstreaming: Access 2015 Fall Meeting press conferences live online
- Fall Meeting events and general sessions
- Press/News Media badge pickup
- Press Room and Quiet Rooms information
- Virtual Press Room information
- Shipping materials to the Fall Meeting
- Fall Meeting App
- AGU On-Demand
- Northern California Science Writers Association Holiday Dinner – Dec. 16
- Journalism Awards ceremony and reception – Dec. 17
- Who’s coming
Please visit the 2015 AGU Fall Meeting Media Center for previous media advisories that include important information about visas for international reporters and searching the scientific program.
Online press registration for the Fall Meeting will remain open throughout the meeting in order to expedite the badge pick-up process (see #5 below for details). We encourage all press registrants to register online.
Press registrants receive, at no charge, a badge that provides access to all scientific sessions, the press room, press conference room, and quiet rooms. No one will be admitted to the meeting without a valid badge. For eligibility requirements, please visit the Press Registration Eligibility Requirements page.
Note: Some events and activities, including but not limited to invitation-only events and communications workshops, are not open to press badge holders.
The AGU Public Information Office has planned more than 20 press events, including press conferences, to help reporters cover new developments in the Earth and space sciences. There will be three formats for press events at the Fall Meeting:
- Press Conferences – A small panel of speakers will share newsworthy findings being presented at the meeting.
- Workshops – Experts will provide comprehensive information and answer reporters’ questions about an upcoming project or mission, or an ongoing area of research, rather than present breaking news.
- Media Availabilities – A prominent person(s) in the Earth and space sciences will be available to reporters.
A list of the 2015 Fall Meeting press events is below. Events listed are press conferences unless otherwise specified. Please click on the title of an event for more information, including short descriptions, participants and associated scientific sessions. Please click on the “Press Conferences” tab in the online Media Center for the full schedule of press events.
The following schedule of events is subject to change before or during Fall Meeting. Press events may be added or dropped, their titles and emphases may change and participants may change. Updates, changes and additions to the press events schedule will be posted in the Press Conference tab in the Media Center.
All press events will take place in the Press Conference Room (Room 3000, Moscone West, Level 3), diagonally across the hall from the Press Room. Times are listed in Pacific Standard Time. All press events will be streamed live over the web. Click on the “Webstreaming” tab in the Media Center for further information and see #3 below for details.
Monday, 14 December
9:00 a.m. – EPIC first results from the DSCOVR satellite: An unprecedented view of sunlit Earth
10:30 a.m. – Global air quality: The impacts of people and cities
11:30 a.m. – Methane from hydraulic fracturing: Where does it come from?
1:45 p.m. – XPRIZE announcement
3:00 p.m. – Preliminary results from Cassini’s Enceladus plume dive
4:00 p.m. – Plunging below the ionosphere
5:00 p.m. – The impacts of heat stress on densely-populated regions in the 21st century
Tuesday, 15 December
8:00 a.m. – Global impacts of the 2015-16 El Niño
9:00 a.m. – Arctic Report Card 2015
11:30 a.m. – Accidental geoengineering?
1:45 p.m. – France Córdova (Media Availability)
2:30 p.m. – Alaska’s thawing permafrost: Latest results and future projections
Wednesday, 16 December
8:00 a.m. – Tracking ice: The latest efforts to measure the polar ice sheets (Media Availability)
9:00 a.m. – Future Himalayan seismic hazards: Insights from earthquakes in Nepal
10:30 a.m. – New science of fog
11:30 a.m. – Field to faucet: Agriculture and algal blooms
1:30 p.m. – Changing lake temperatures on six continents
2:30 p.m. – Discoveries from real-time tracking of an underwater eruption and the future of deep sea research
4:00 p.m. – The Carbon Mineral Challenge: A worldwide hunt for new carbon minerals (Workshop)
5:00 p.m. – AWARE: The most comprehensive meteorological study of Antarctica ever undertaken (Workshop)
Thursday, 17 December
8:00 a.m. – Fluctuations within the lunar dust cloud: Results from NASA’s LADEE mission
9:00 a.m. – Ecosystem impacts of record ocean warming in the North Pacific
10:30 a.m. – Latest findings from NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover mission: One year at Mount Sharp
11:30 a.m. – Why all rainbows don’t look alike
4:00 p.m. – NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission: Understanding our space environment (Workshop)
Please also see our Media Tip Sheet, a list of potentially newsworthy research presentations at the 2015 Fall Meeting selected by AGU’s public information team.
Reporters can remotely participate in Fall Meeting press conferences via webstreaming. For information on how to sign up and access this feature, click on the “Webstreaming” tab in the online Media Center.
If, for some reason, the webstreaming does not work for a particular press conference, we will immediately put up a message on the Fall Meeting Media Center home page and switch to making the briefing available via teleconference. To call into the teleconference, dial 877-709-0939 within the United States and Canada, or +1 678-735-6305 internationally. The participant passcode is 1924247921.
Note: The teleconference will only be available if the webstreaming goes down.
In addition to the scientific program, AGU is also offering other events and activities of interest to the press, including beginner and advanced Blogging and Social Media Forums and more. Search all Fall Meeting events in the Events Calendar.
Note: The How to Communicate Opinion Forum has been canceled.
Late-breaking town hall session
The Earth from a million miles: Advancing Earth observations from L1
In 1972, the now-iconic “Blue Marble” image of Earth inspired a generation of scientists. Today, the success of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite provides similar inspiration to scientists around the world on the possibilities for Earth observation.
During this important, late-breaking town hall meeting, attendees will hear from Former Vice President Al Gore, chairman of The Climate Reality Project; Tamara Dickinson, Ph.D., Principal Assistant Director for Environment and Energy, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and several other leading scientists about the contributions of the DSCOVR mission and the wealth of opportunities for using non-traditional vantage points like Lagrangian Point 1 (L1) to advance Earth science and observations. Attendees will be asked to share their thoughts on the possibilities for how this data can be used and what the next steps should be. The session will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 16 from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. in Moscone West, 2022-2024, and will be streamed live through AGU On-Demand (see #10 below).
General Sessions
Fall Meeting general sessions cover different and exciting topics applicable across all fields of Earth and space science. This year’s general sessions will include several high-profile speakers:
- During a special session on Monday, Dec. 14 from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m., Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of XPRIZE, as well as several XPRIZE leaders and sponsors, will announce a new XPRIZE competition. A press conference about the announcement will be held following the session.
- Elon Musk, CEO and Lead Designer at SpaceX and CEO and Product Architect at Tesla Motors, Inc., will participate in a ‘fire-side chat’-style interview as part of the Presidential Forum on Tuesday, Dec. 15 from 10:10 – 11:00 a.m.
- France A. Córdova, Director of the National Science Foundation, will address Fall Meeting attendees as the 2015 Union Agency Lecturer on Tuesday, Dec. 15 from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. A media availability will be held immediately following the lecture.
- Gordon McBean, President of the International Council for Science, will give the annual Union Frontiers of Geophysics Lecture on Thursday, Dec. 17, from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
All general sessions will take place in Moscone North, Hall E. Any associated press events will take place in the Press Conference Room: Moscone West, Room 3000.
To expedite the registration process and avoid long lines on Monday morning, Dec. 14, we encourage all members of the news media to go through the final steps of registering and picking up your badge on Sunday, Dec. 13. You may register online throughout the duration of the Fall Meeting and we encourage all press registrants to register online. As always, press/news media registration is complimentary.
If you did not preregister online: The main Fall Meeting registration area is on the first level of Moscone West. Press registration is located in the main registration hall. To register on-site, you must go to the Press Registration Counter in Moscone West, fill out an onsite registration form, and present your media credentials. For eligibility requirements and required credentials, please visit the Press Registration Eligibility Requirements page.
On-site registration times:
Moscone West, Level 1:
Sunday, Dec. 13: 12:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 14 and Tuesday, Dec. 15: 7:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 16 through Friday, Dec. 18: 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
If you preregistered and were mailed your badge: If you have your badge in hand, you can complete the registration process (picking up a badge holder, program book and other materials) at the following locations and times. At these locations, you can hand in the voucher that came with your badge and you will be handed the badge holder and other materials. Then, at your convenience, please come by the Press Room (Room 3001A, Moscone West) to pick up your green Press/News Media ribbon that attaches to your badge. You will need a ribbon to have access to the AGU press rooms, but not to attend sessions or other venues at Fall Meeting.
Badge holder pick-up locations and times:
Moscone West, Level 1; Moscone South, upper lobby; and Moscone North, upper lobby:
Sunday, Dec. 13: 12:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 14: 6:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 15: 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 16 through Friday, Dec. 18: 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
San Francisco Marriott Marquis hotel, Yerba Buena Ballroom level (located at 780 Mission St., diagonally across from Moscone West), and the Westin St. Francis hotel, mezzanine level (located at 335 Powell St., 0.5 miles from Moscone West):
Sunday, Dec. 13: 12:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 14: 6:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
If you preregistered online but didn’t receive your badge in the mail or forgot to bring your mailed badge to the meeting: You may use the self-registration lines in the main registration area on the first level of Moscone West (you do not need to use the press registration line) or the upper lobby of Moscone North. At the self-registration counters you can either type in your name and zip code or scan the barcode that you received in the email confirming your registration.
The entrances to the Moscone West building are on Fourth Street between Howard Street and Minna Street.
The Press Room is room 3001A in Moscone West, Level 3. (This room has an unusual number – the added A – because it is a custom-made room that’s only here during the AGU Fall Meeting, located between Room 3001 and the Level 3 Lobby).
Press events (press conferences, workshops and media availabilities) take place in the Press Conference Room, Room 3000, which is also on Moscone West, Level 3. It is diagonally across from the Press Room.
The Press Room provides working space for reporters, including three phone lines (with no charge for business calls), two computer terminals and two printers, Wi-Fi and space for socializing. The main phone number in the Press Room for incoming calls is +1 (415) 348-4404.
The Press Room opens daily at 7:30 a.m. Monday, Dec. 14 through Friday, Dec. 18. The room closes daily at 6:30 p.m. except for Friday, Dec. 18, when it closes at 2:00 p.m.
Some meals and other refreshments will be provided in the Press Room for news media registrants. Breakfast (from 7:30 a.m.) will be available Monday – Wednesday. Lunch (from 12:30 p.m.) will be available Monday – Thursday. Coffee and tea will be available at 10:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday – Thursday, and at 7:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Friday. Light snacks will be available at 3:30 p.m. Monday – Wednesday.
Fall Meeting press registrants can reserve one of two available Quiet Rooms during the meeting to conduct interviews. The Quiet Rooms are located in the Moscone West Overlook, 3024. Please sign up to reserve these rooms at the front desk of the press room (Moscone West 3001A) or by calling the press room at +1 (415) 348-4404 during the meeting. Reservations are given in 30-minute increments for up to one hour at a time, and are on a first-come, first-served basis.
During the Fall Meeting, journalists can find press releases and many resources online in the Virtual Press Room in the Media Center on the Fall Meeting website. Public information officers (PIOs) can now post releases and other materials on the site.
For public information officers: Sign up now for a login for the PIO Uploader. PIOs with a login can add press releases, tip sheets and press conference materials to the Virtual Press Room at any time before or during the meeting, including uploading items in advance and scheduling them to post during the meeting. To register for a login, go to the Media Center on the Fall Meeting website and click on the “For PIOs” tab. Only registered PIOs will be allowed to upload content.
For journalists: Press releases, press conference materials (including PowerPoint presentations, images, videos, scientific papers and more) and video recordings of press conferences are added to the Virtual Press Room during the meeting for easy online access.
Public information officers can disseminate paper press releases and related documentation at Fall Meeting. We recommend bringing around 50 copies of printed materials and three to five copies of broadcast-quality video.
The easiest way to get these materials to the Press Room is to take them yourself, if you are
going to Fall Meeting, or to give them to one of your scientists, with instructions to deliver them to the AGU Press Room (Room 3001A) Moscone West, from Monday, Dec. 14.
If you prefer, you may send these materials (but not to arrive before Friday, Dec. 11) by FedEx, UPS, or DHL to the following address:
c/o Nanci Bompey
(Guest arriving Dec. 11)
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
5 Embarcadero Center
San Francisco, California, USA, 94111
+1 (415) 788-1234
Shipments to the above address should be timed to arrive on Friday, Dec. 11, or after. They will be displayed from Monday, Dec. 14 or as soon as received (if later than Monday).
Remaining materials may be collected from Room 3001A by Friday, Dec. 18 at 1:00 p.m., after which they will be thrown away.
The 2015 AGU Fall Meeting Mobile App is now available for download for iOS and Android. The app allows you to browse the scientific program, plan and sync your schedule between devices, receive event alerts, and stay connected on social media.
Click here for instructions on downloading the mobile app.
AGU On-Demand (formerly ‘Virtual Options’) will provide online access to live streaming and recorded content from the meeting, including lectures and oral presentations. Click here for a list of AGU On-Demand sessions. E-posters (electronic versions of Fall Meeting posters) will also be available online.
Registration for AGU On-Demand sessions is required, but free. Click here to register for access. AGU On-Demand sessions will begin on Sunday, Dec. 13 at noon PST, when Richard Alley delivers the AGU Public Lecture, “Ice Cores to Smart Phones: The Good News on Energy, the Environment, and Our Future.” For more information, email [email protected].
[The following notice is provided on behalf of the Northern California Science Writers Association about their holiday dinner.]
NCSWA Holiday Dinner Dec. 16: Pluto’s Moons and the New Horizons mission
The Northern California Science Writers Association invites AGU press to its annual holiday dinner on Wednesday evening, Dec. 16, in downtown San Francisco. This year’s speaker is Mark Showalter of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, co-investigator on NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto and an expert on the outer solar system’s moons and rings. Showalter will share his insider’s view of New Horizons and its discoveries of a surprisingly youthful surface on Pluto. He will focus particularly on Pluto’s four small “spinning top” moons, whose dynamics are strongly affected by Pluto’s large companion moon Charon. The most distant moon, Hydra, whips around on its axis 89 times during each lap around Pluto. “We expected chaos, but this is pandemonium,” Showalter said.
The evening also will feature a trivia contest for door prizes and mingling with Bay Area science writers at NCSWA’s largest annual event.
Details:
Wednesday, December 16, 6:00 – 10:00 p.m.
L’Olivier, 465 Davis Ct. (within walking distance of Moscone Center)
Cost for non-NCSWA members: $45
NCSWA encourages AGU press to register online in advance.
We invite you to join your Press Room colleagues to honor and celebrate AGU’s most recent journalism award winners during an informal ceremony and reception.
We will recognize the outstanding reporting and writing of 2015 Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism winner Andrew Revkin; 2015 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features winner Douglas Fox; and the 2015 David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–News winner Sandi Doughton.
The ceremony will take place in the Press Conference Room, Moscone West, Room 3000, Level 3, from 5:00 – 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 17. A reception will follow across the hall in the Press Room (Moscone West, Room 3001A).
Check the online Who’s Coming list of journalists and press officers who have registered for the meeting. This list is updated regularly.
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