The GEOVision Working Group is a Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee for Geosciences (AC/GEO). At meetings over the past couple of years, the AC/GEO considered the need for updating the NSF Geosciences Plan. The current plan, NSF Geosciences Beyond 2000, was prepared under the auspices of the AC/GEO in 1999.

In 2003, the AC/GEO formed a Subcommittee of its members to review the current plan. The results of that review (MS-Word) acknowledged that the current plan had served the Directorate well, but that in the intervening years, new opportunities in the science and emerging technological developments suggested that the plan should be revisited and a new plan developed and published.

The AC/GEO decided that the optimal approach for developing the subsequent plan would be to formulate a working group with representation from the broad geosciences community as was done in the development of the current plan. At its October 2005 meeting, the AC/GEO specifically proposed that a working group be constituted of representative members of the geosciences community. Nominations were invited from AC/GEO members and the NSF Geosciences Senior Staff. After a series of informal telephone conferences with potential members, a final membership list was assembled. Drs. Guy Brasseur and Gail Ashley are co-chairs of the working group, now called the GEOVision Working Group.

The GEOVison Working Group is charged with developing a plan for the Geosciences Directorate. The plan is intended to provide a comprehensive view of the geosciences that will serve the Directorate as it interacts with NSF management, other government agencies, and the research and education communities. The Working Group has been advised to actively solicit and incorporate the views of the wider geoscience community through mechanisms such as Town Hall meetings, website posting, and other avenues as appropriate. The plan is intended to be completed by early 2008 and will be published by the Foundation as a document of the AC/GEO.

The Working Group held its first meeting at NSF December 19 – 20, 2006. An agenda of the meeting is attached [December meeting agenda]. The second meeting is scheduled for March 19 – 20, 2007 in Boulder, CO. [March meeting agenda].

Once available, draft oulines and draft versions will be posted for community comment and input. The process is intended to be transparent to and participatory for all.

Comments may be submitted at any time to: Vision@rci.rutgers.edu