Keynotes & Plenaries

These featured sessions cover a diverse range of Earth and space science and overarching societal topics. World-leading scientists and leaders will weave the theme "Science is Society" into their remarks to convey how critical science is in everything, from public science efforts to highlighting how to expand diversity, equity and inclusion from the future of universities to new areas of convergent science. All keynotes and plenaries will be live streamed and available for on-demand viewing during and after the meeting. 

Named Lectures

These award lectures are curated by AGU sections to recognize distinguished scientists with proven leadership and discoveries in their fields of science. Many consider these lectures to be a highlight of the Fall Meeting as they showcase the breadth and depth of discovery and solution science that AGU members are spearheading. All award lectures will be live streamed and available for on-demand viewing during and after the meeting. Presenters and attendees can participate and ask questions in-person or online.

Union Sessions

These live 90-minute sessions cover topics of broad interest across all sections which resonate with the entire Earth and space science community.

These sessions will include a mix of panels, presentations, and moderated Q&A discussion with presenters and the audience. All Union Sessions will be live streamed and available for on-demand viewing during and after the meeting. Presenters and attendees can participate and ask questions in-person or online.

Innovations

These sessions (also known as special sessions, meeting-within-a-meeting or innovative sessions) focus on interdisciplinary topics and convergent science themes of interest to a broad membership. Innovations will include a mix of in-person and online presentations, have a creative format, and may range in length from half to a full day. All innovations will be live streamed and available for on-demand viewing during and after the meeting. Presenters and attendees can participate and ask questions in-person or online.

Oral Discussion sessions

These live 75-minute sessions include short overview talks and extended, moderated Q&A discussions with presenters and the audience. Presenters and attendees can participate and ask questions in-person or online.

Presenters will be required to submit a longer pre-recorded presentation (15 minutes max) which will be available for attendees to view on-demand during and after the meeting. 

eLightning Discussion sessions

These live in-person 75-minute sessions begin with three-minute lightning talks from each presenter where they'll give an overview of their dynamic, digital, and interactive poster. For in-person sessions, each presenter will be available after their lightning talks to discuss their digital poster at their touchscreen monitor.

For online sessions, the eLightning presentations will be followed by a moderated group discussion. Both in-person and online presenters also have the option to schedule additional online chat times throughout the meeting with attendees, in addition to their scheduled session time.

The aMuze! iPoster Sessions platform has been used by AGU for the last four years and is a flexible HTML based poster format that allows authors to create interactive presentations that can include high-resolution images, videos and animations, voice-over narrations and scrolling content. New for 2021, simple PDF uploads will also be supported. 

Poster Discussion sessions

The daily hybrid sessions will include traditional poster presentations at their assigned poster boards and online presenters. Both in-person and online presenters are able to create dynamic, digital, and interactive online iPosters and/or simple PDF presentations (new for 2021). All hybrid poster sessions will also include online "poster summary sessions", scheduled outside of the dedicated daily poster hall hours, where both in-person or online poster presenters and attendees can participate.

For online only poster sessions, brief presentations will be followed by a moderated group discussion. Both in-person and online presenters also have the option to schedule additional online chat times throughout the meeting with attendees, in addition to their scheduled session time.

The aMuze! iPoster Sessions platform has been used by AGU for the last four years and is a flexible HTML based poster format that allows authors to create interactive presentations that can include high-resolution images, videos and animations, voice-over narrations and scrolling content.

Town Halls

These 60-minute events are open to all meeting attendees and are best for collecting feedback or raising awareness for individuals from government agencies, academic programs, special projects and other focused interest groups via presentation, roundtable or a panel discussion. Presenters and attendees can participate and ask questions in-person or online.

In-person town halls will be held daily, during the lunch break and in the evening. Select online town halls will be held the week prior to the Fall Meeting. 

Scientific Workshops

Free from the format constraints of traditional scientific sessions, these transdisciplinary focused workshops provide conveners a way to share knowledge and skills while promoting discussion and interaction among the attendees. Scientific workshops will be held on Saturday and Sunday prior to Fall Meeting. Select online workshops will be held the week prior to the Fall Meeting. 

In-person or onine registration is required for all scientific workshops and will be open in mid-October.