Press

Press conferences and briefings take place in the Press Conference Room (N228) and stream live on Zoom Webinar. Press roundtables are hosted in the Roundtable Room (N231) and stream live through Zoom. Registered press may contact AGU Media Relations for the streaming passcodes.

* All events are listed in Central Time.

Monday, 12 December
  • 2:00 p.m. Briefing: Space Helicopters! Aircraft for Other Worlds

    NASA Jet Propulsion Lab

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    NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter began the era of powered-controlled flight on Mars back on April 19, 2021. Originally envisioned as a technology demonstrator that could fly up to five flights at the Red Planet, the diminutive rotorcraft is gearing up for Flight 36 as it not only continues its flight test mission, but supports the explorations of the Perseverance Mars rover. What is the status of Ingenuity, and its direct descendent, the Sample Retrieval Helicopters that are part of the agency’s Mars Sample Return Campaign? The briefing will also cover the latest with NASA’s Dragonfly quadcopter, which is destined to fly at the Saturnian moon Titan. 

     

    Speakers (all in-person):

     

    Contact: DC Agle, JPL Media Relations Specialist, [email protected]

     

Tuesday, 13 December
  • 10:00 a.m. Press Conference: NOAA 2022 Arctic Report Card
    NOAA

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    Now in its 17th year, the 2022 NOAA Arctic Report Card catalogs the disruptive impacts of climate change on a vital region that is warming more than twice as quickly as other regions. In addition to reporting on this year's air temperature, sea ice extent, ocean temperature, plankton blooms, snow cover, tundra/ forest greenness, and Greenland ice sheet, the report card will include new chapters on emerging issues such as precipitation, Arctic shipping trends, bird populations and the safety, health and economic impacts of climate change for Indigenous and other Arctic communities. With more than 120 authors from 11 countries, the NOAA Arctic Report Card, is an internationally recognized primary source of information for media, students, scientists, Arctic communities and other decision-makers. 

     

    Speakers (all in person)

    • Rick Spinrad, NOAA Administrator.
    • Matthew Druckenmiller, National Snow & Ice Data Center, lead editor of the Arctic Report Card
    • Karen Frey, Clark University, author of report on primary productivity or Arctic plankton blooms
    • John Walsh, International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, lead author of new chapter on precipitation
    • Jackie Qataliña Schaeffer, Director of Climate Initiatives for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, co-author of the 2022 Arctic Report Card essay on how rapid environmental Arctic change is affecting people.

     

    Contact: Monica Allen, Director of Public Affairs for NOAA Research, [email protected]

  • 1:00 p.m. Briefing: Mauna Loa Eruption Update
    AGU/ U.S. Geological Survey

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    Experts available for questions about Mauna Loa’s ongoing eruption on the Big Island, Hawaii.

     

    Speakers:

    • Drew Downs, Volcanologist, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
    • Jon Major, USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory
    • Tina Neal, Director, USGS Volcano Science Center


    Contact: Steven Sobieszczyk (Moderator), Media Lead – USGS Natural Hazards, [email protected]

  • 2:00 p.m. Roundtable: World's Biggest Solar Telescope to Examine Upcoming Eclipses, Help Improve Space Weather Prediction and More
    National Science Foundation

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    Understanding the fundamental physics behind solar storms and other solar phenomena is a key focus area for the National Science Foundation's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, the world's largest solar telescope which completed construction in 2021. The telescope is the latest and most powerful research facility to join an arsenal of ground, aircraft-based and space-based instruments that study our sun. Those instruments will be coordinated to observe the sun, including during the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses when scientists will be able to examine previously unseen details about magnetic structures that connect the sun's surface and corona. Join experts from NSF, NOAA and NASA to learn about what researchers may discover about our sun.

     

    Speakers:

    • Carrie Black (in person), Program Director National Solar Observatory and the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, NSF
    • Elsayed Talaat (in person), Director, Office of Projects, Planning, and Analysis, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, NOAA
    • Nicholeen Viall (virtual), Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA

     

    Contact: Jason Stoughton, Staff Associate for Strategic Communications, NSF, [email protected]

     

Wednesday, 14 December
  • 10:00 a.m. Press Conference: Of the Jovian Moons and Comet Tails - the Latest Science Results from NASA’s Juno Mission to Jupiter
    NASA JPL

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    Recent flybys of NASA’s Juno mission have provided the most detailed in-depth exploration of the Jovian moons Ganymede (6/7/21) and Europa (9/29/22) in a generation. And, by the time of this media briefing, the solar-powered spacecraft will have recently completed its 46th close-up science pass of Jupiter. This briefing will include new science results from its Ganymede flyby and preliminary results from the recent Europa flyby – including depth and subsurface structure. The gas giant itself will also be put under the microscope and the latest in captivating Jupiter imagery will also be shared.

     

    Speakers

    • Lori Glaze (in person), Director, NASA Science Mission Directorate, Planetary Science Division
    • Scott Bolton (in person), Southwest Research Institute
    • Thomas Greathouse (in person), Southwest Research Institute
    • Candice Hansen (in person), Planetary Science Institute

     

    Contact: DC Agle, JPL Media Relations Specialist, [email protected]

     

    Related talks and posters:

  • 1:00 p.m. Roundtable: Wetland Losses and Record Methane Increases

    NASA Goddard

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    The growth rates of the concentration of atmospheric methane were the largest in 2020 and 2021 since measurements began 40 years ago. While most emissions are from anthropogenic sources, new research is examining how climate change increases methane emissions from wetlands, even as the habitat is lost. In this roundtable, scientists will discuss how satellite data and ongoing field work in Florida and worldwide is changing how we think about the global methane budget.

     

    Speakers

     

    Contact: Jacob Richmond, Senior Communications Manager, NASA, [email protected]

  • 2:00 p.m. Roundtable: Reviving Wild Rice through Indigenous-Centered Collaborative Research
    AGU

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    Northern wild rice, called Manoomin in Ojibwe or Psiη in Dakota, is a sacred cultural and dietary staple for Native peoples throughout the Upper Great Lakes region. Due to multiple environmental stressors, including climate and land use change, wild rice populations have been in decline since the onset of Euro-American settlement and colonization into recent decades. Today, members of a collaboration between several Upper Great Lakes tribes and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities are working to understand and protect Manoomin by prioritizing Indigenous knowledge and concerns. This roundtable discussion will provide background on the cultural importance of Manoomin, the need for respectful collaboration, and advances in biophysical and social science around revitalizing wild rice.

    Speakers:

    • Nisogaabo Ikwe Melonee Montano (in person), Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe; Traditional Ecological Knowledge Outreach Specialist with Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission and University of Minnesota
    • Maddy Nyblade (in person), University of Minnesota
    • Crystal Ng (in person), University of Minnesota
    • Bazile Panek
    • William "Joe" Graveen

    Unable to attend: Mike Dockry (in person), University of Minnesota

    Contact: Rebecca Dzombak, AGU [email protected]

     
Thursday, 15 December
  • 10:00 a.m. Roundtable: Which Future Climate Scenario Deserves Center Stage?
    University of Colorado Boulder/Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)

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    *New room and zoom link! Join us in Press Roundtable room N231 for a lively discussion about Earth's future.

    A healthy debate has developed between scientists regarding which future climate scenarios researchers and stakeholders should focus their time and resources on. Some argue efforts should go towards studying the most high-end climate scenarios, while others argue for a focus on middle- or intermediate-range. As part of an ongoing discussion across many sectors of climate and sustainability science, we ask: Which potential climate future deserves the bulk of research, funding and efforts? Here, scientists from different research realms come together—to explore the positives and negatives of various climate scenarios taking center stage.

     

    Speakers:

     

    Contact: Katie Weeman, Science Writer and Social Media Manager, CIRES, [email protected]

  • 1:00 p.m. Pioneering Planetary Defense: What Comes Next After DART’s Asteroid Impact

    Applied Physics Lab (APL), Johns Hopkins University

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    Since NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) intentionally slammed into the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos on Sept. 26 – altering its orbit by a whopping 32 minutes – the mission team has been asking itself one fundamental question: what are the implications for using this technique in the future, if such a need should arise?

     

    Join DART scientists for a detailed interpretation of post-impact science and analysis from the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration. In the weeks after impact, scientists turned their focus toward measuring the momentum transfer from DART’s roughly 14,000 mile per hour (22,530 kilometer per hour) collision with Dimorphos. This included further analysis of the “ejecta” — the many tons of asteroidal rock displaced and launched into space by the impact – the recoil from which substantially enhanced DART’s push against its target asteroid.

     

    After observing the ejecta evolution and modeling the dynamics and impact, the science team has a greater understanding of what the spacecraft achieved at the impact site and can more confidently characterize the asteroid’s physical properties, further advancing our understanding of how to address potentially hazardous asteroids in the future. 

     

    We know the experiment worked — now learn how humanity can apply this knowledge.

     

    Speakers:

    • Tom Statler, DART Program Scientist - NASA Headquarters
    • Andy Rivkin, DART Investigation Team Lead - Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
    • Christina Thomas, DART Observations Working Group Lead - Northern Arizona University
    • Alessandro Rossi, LICIACube Science Team Member - Instituto di Fisica Applicata Nella Carrara
    • Andy Cheng, DART Investigation Team Lead - Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

     

    Contact: Justyna Surowiec, Public Affairs Officer, Johns Hopkins APL, [email protected]

Friday, 16 December

Media Contacts

Samson Reiny
Assistant Director, Media and Public Relations
202.998.8654
[email protected]

Liza Lester
Senior Specialist, Media Relations
202.777.7494
[email protected]

Hope Garland
Strategic Communication Senior Specialist
202.777.7452
[email protected]

Rebecca Dzombak
Specialist, Media Relations
202.777. 7492
[email protected]