CUAHSI Stands with the Black Lives Matter Movement
As staff and the Board of Directors of the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement for Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI), we affirm that Black lives matter. We acknowledge that current and aspiring Black hydrologists and geoscientists face barriers of inequity and exclusion. As an organization committed to ensuring access to safe, clean, and sustainable water for all living communities, we recognize that society’s management of water and other natural resources has a legacy of structural racism.
CUAHSI, both as an organization and as individuals, is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in our organization and in our society. CUAHSI can and will do better, and is working to better include under-represented members of water-science communities. CUAHSI recently initiated actions to be more inclusive as part of our new DEI strategy, including a deep evaluation of and commitment to revise CUAHSI membership policies in 2020. These current actions are just the first few steps on a long road to DEI. As CUAHSI is fundamentally a community-serving organization, addressing this critical and urgent issue and implementing meaningful actions will be a community effort. We are actively seeking your input on the development of an implementation plan in further support of our DEI strategy. We ask you to hold each other and us accountable, and we value input at DEI@cuahsi.org.
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Data Down Low
Hydroshare releases (1.33 -1.33.2)
There have been several updates to HydroShare in recent weeks focused on:
- bug fixes
- usability improvements
- general system updates
Most Notable Changes:
- Improved the loading of resources when working with collections. Collections in Hydroshare provide a flexible mechanism for associating related HydroShare resources together (e.g., for a specific study, site, or experiment).
- Fixes and issue with User Quota calculation where the system reported incorrect storage for certain users.
- Fixed a problem where certain resources did not display the proper title.
- System upgrades to extend logging and improve system stability.
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A message from the Executive Director
It seems we now are the embodiment of the ancient curse, “May you live in interesting times.” As Austen Chamberlain (brother of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain) said in 1936, We move from one crisis to another. We suffer one disturbance and shock after another. But Robert Kennedy also noted that although “they [the interesting times] are times of danger and uncertainty; they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind,” speaking then of the mid-1960’s.
There certainly are disturbances and shocks today, but also creative and positive signs in some of the responses to the pandemic. The global response to the Black Lives Matter movement, including the response of the scientific community, e.g. #ShutDownSTEM, also is gratifying. Likewise, the broader recognition that structural racism, environmental conditions, and public health outcomes all are connected is welcome.
These twin events (COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter movement) have me thinking about science and society, and science as a cultural force. Bertrand Russell, the mathematician, historian, and social critic noted that without science, democracy is impossible. But he also warns that Our life is governed not only by facts, but by hopes; the kind of truthfulness which sees nothing but facts is a prison for the human spirit.
The great physicist Richard Feynman draws a straight line between the anti-authoritarian scientists such as Galileo who challenged established dogma and our own scientific responsibility. Feynman says we scientists … take it for granted that it is perfectly consistent to be unsure — that it is possible to live and not know … Our freedom to doubt was born of a struggle against authority in the early days of science … And I think it is important that we do not forget the importance of this struggle and thus perhaps lose what we have gained. Here lies a responsibility to society. It is easy to draw an analogy between Feynman’s statement and the ongoing struggle against racism.
Marie Curie described the essence of the scientific ethos thusly: Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less. … One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done. As a water scientist, survivor (so far) of the current global pandemic, and perhaps agent of social change, these words resonate for me and perhaps they do for you.
Stay well,
Jerad
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Bringing the Science Home: A Cybersymposium
June 23 - 24, 2020
This cybersymposium was funded by NSF as part of a Critical Zone Research Coordination Network, and is part of a larger effort to increase the diversity, inclusion and access of researchers in “critical zone” science—earth surface sciences including hydrology, geology, atmospheric science, ecology, etc.—to bring in new ideas and answers to important interdisciplinary questions. Our goals are to introduce early-career scientists (undergrads, grads, postdocs, and early career faculty) to critical zone science and provide tools to succeed in research. You can find more information on our efforts here: https://sites.google.com/view/czrcn.
We have a variety of fun speakers invited, and you are welcome to come and go as you see fit at any point during the two days.
We’ll have presentations on:
- critical zone science accessible to those new to the field
- group conversations for students, postdocs and early career faculty about next career steps\
- a panel on non-academic position
- and more!
To join us, register in advance!
If you’re new to the critical zone, consider checking out our CUAHSI webinars from this February; they are posted here: https://www.cuahsi.org/education/cyberseminars/winter-cyberseminar-series/.
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Host a Training Workshop with CUAHSI in 2021!
If you are interested in organizing a training workshop, CUAHSI can help!
CUAHSI can help by:
- Providing funds to seed workshop and training development
- assist in organizing, advertising, and executing short courses or workshops
- and more!
If you are interested in proposing a new training, please contact commgr@cuahsi.org and complete the training proposal form.
Proposal Deadline: August 1, 2020
Questions? Please contact Julia Masterman at jmasterman@cuahsi.org.
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New Version of Statistical Methods in Water Resources
A new edition of Statistical Methods in Water Resources is now available as a USGS Techniques and Methods Report, https://doi.org/10.3133/tm4a3. This classic text, commonly known as “Helsel and Hirsch” has now been updated with additional authors and utilizes R, a programming language and open-source software environment for statistical computing and graphics!
Helsel, D.R., Hirsch, R.M., Ryberg, K.R., Archfield, S.A., and Gilroy, E.J., 2020, Statistical methods in water resources: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 4, chapter A3, 458 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/tm4a3.
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We are seeking student perspectives on CUAHSI's programs, services, and data tools. Learn more about CUAHSI's programs, services, and data tools, inform the development of tools and services that enable data discovery and collaboration in the water science community, and network with CUAHSI staff and community members.
Eligibility: Open to all undergraduate and graduate students interested in earth and hydrologic sciences and scientific data accessibility and availability.
Sign up here!
Questions? Please contact Emily Clark at eclark@cuahsi.org.
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All talks take place on the last Friday of the month at 12 p.m. ET.
When: June 26, 2020 at 12 p.m. ET
Talk Title: Writing a Sticky Conference Abstract, Speakers TBA
Registration is free! Register here.
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