Among the 30,000 participants to this year’s American Geophysical Union annual meeting (AGU24) could be spotted more than 20 scientists from the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS) who presented their latest geohazards and climate change research. Others presented online. And the EOS booth, always quite popular, saw more than 700 engaged visitors, curious to learn about the different programmes and opportunities the Observatory has to offer.
EOS scientists and staff present at the AGU24 (Source: Earth Observatory of Singapore)
Held in Washington D.C., the conference was the largest scientific gathering about all Earth Sciences of the year. EOS scientists highlighted some of their recent findings in tectonics, volcano, and climate research during various poster and oral sessions.
This year’s AGU was held in Washington D.C. (Source: Earth Observatory of Singapore)
On the first day of the conference, Assistant Professor Janice Lee from the EOS Risk and Society group gave a talk about her research on assessing the socio-ecological vulnerability of peatlands and villages to fires, which could be used to identify where channel aid and mitigation efforts are most needed.
Throughout the conference, an online poster from EOS Research Fellow Jennifer Sawyer showcased her analysis of tide-gauge data, LiDAR scans, photogrammetry and core samples to characterise the timing and magnitude of coral mortality events of several Singapore microatolls. Her research will help better reconstruct past sea-level changes and the understanding of past earthquakes in the region.
The third day of the event featured a variety of EOS presentations, including from Associate Professor Benoit Taisne from the EOS Volcano group presented his research with EOS Research Fellow Tania Espinoza Ortega, showing that the most effective monitoring networks have stations placed at varying distances from each other, with a certain minimum distance. This can help better forecast volcanic activity and assess how magma moves to the surface.
Associate Professor Steve Yim and his team members including Research Fellows Dr Huang Tao and Dr Fang Tingting had several presentations highlighting their air pollution and climate change research in Singapore and Southeast Asia, and the implications for human health. This included findings from a recent study that estimated that 135 million premature deaths could be linked to fine particulate matter pollution between 1980 and 2020.
Khairun Nisha presenting her research at the AGU24 (Source: Earth Observatory of Singapore)
At the EOS booth, enquiries about joining the Climate Transformation Programme were numerous, and we hope these are only the start of new collaborations. The booth was also a meeting point and an opportunity to reconnect with former colleagues. Thanks to former Principal Investigator Nathalie Goodkin who always stops by to say hello. And congratulation to former Research Fellow Liqing Jiao, on becoming Assistant Professor and having your own research group in China.
The EOS team welcomed more than 700 visitors that the EOS booth in the exhibition hall (Source: Earth Observatory of Singapore)
An addition to the EOS booth this year was the demonstration of a Virtual Reality game about mangrove restoration currently being developed by Mr Muhammad Hadi Ikhsan, a Research Engineer at EOS.
EOS Research Engineer Muhammad Hadi Ikhsan guiding a visitor in using his VR game (Source: Earth Observatory of Singapore)
We thank all the scientists for sharing their research which is crucial to advance science and promote safe and sustainable societies, and the visitors who engaged with us at the EOS booth. We are looking forward to next year’s AGU in New Orleans!