Abstract The Enhanced Sealing Project (ESP) is monitoring the thermal–hydraulic–mechanical (THM) responses of a full-scale shaft seal at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) former Underground Research Laboratory (URL) site. The evolution of such a full-scale construction has direct relevance to closure design of repository shafts (and tunnels) in a range of host rock types. The shaft seal is installed across a water-bearing fracture (fracture zone (FZ2) at c . 270 m depth), marking the interface between deeper, more saline groundwater and nearer-surface freshwater environments. Intended to demonstrate an ability to install a sealing structure that can limit the movement of water between the two hydrological regimes, the main shaft seal consists of a 40% bentonite clay: 60% fine aggregate by dry mass component ( c . 6 m thickness) sandwiched between two 3 m-thick concrete segments in the approximately 5 m-diameter main shaft. The clay and concrete components provide the primary hydraulic sealing and mechanical constraint to the sealing material, respectively. This paper presents the monitoring results of the ESP from its installation in 2009 through to mid-2017. At present, the seal is still not completely water-saturated, pressures within it are still developing and flooding of the upper shaft is continuing. The ESP provides a comprehensive long-term dataset that will assist in calibrating numerical models describing the performance of placement room/shaft/tunnel seals in a Deep Geological Repository.

ABSTRACT LiveSci in the Valley of the Last Dinosaurs ( http://lastdinos.livesci.org/ ) was a website and social media presence that provided the global online community with unprecedented access to the exciting paleontological research happening in the remote badlands of North Dakota and Montana in the summer of 2016. A collaborative team of researchers, students, and citizen scientists from around the world excavated some of the last dinosaurs that ever walked the Earth, mapped the K/Pg boundary in high resolution, and uncovered fossils that show us how life recovered after the extinction of the dinosaurs. To engage the public in the ongoing process of scientific discovery, dedicated project staff and participating researchers posted videos, photos, blog entries, and social media content nearly every day during the seven-week field season. Researchers and science educators from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Denver Museum of Nature & Science, along with collaborators from Brooklyn College, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Yale Peabody Museum, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Marmarth Research Foundation, were joined by young scientists and citizen scientist volunteers of all ages. The production team consisted of high school and college interns, public science outreach professionals, and research scientists. To expand the reach of the project, a bilingual intern maintained a parallel Spanish website. Hundreds of thousands of online viewers watched, contributed, and shared these authentic experiences with their communities during the live portion of the project, and many more continue to access the archived website and social media content. This project exemplifies how social media and real-time interaction with scientists have the potential to connect the public to science as it unfolds, removing myths and stereotypes about how science happens and who scientists are. Initiatives such as this one help to create citizens who are more connected to the process of science and who can use that understanding in their lives through more informed decision making.

ABSTRACT Florissant fossil beds ranks among the best documented Cenozoic fossil deposits in the world in number of scientific publications and named species. The history of geoscience research on the Upper Eocene Florissant Formation spans nearly one and a half centuries. New excavations and transfers of historic collections have spread Florissant fossils to nearly 30 natural history museums during that period. The history of acquisition, conservation, and taxonomic study of each museum’s collection is unique, so Florissant collections provide examples of how taxonomic diversity, physical conservation, and public exhibition of collections vary with provenance. Dispersal of fossils among museums, including separation of type specimen parts and counterparts, has led to a variety of challenges for research on Florissant fossils. First, an exploratory, quantitative analysis of taxonomic diversity in four collections of fossil insects from Florissant uncovers a pattern of identification bias. Some taxonomists preferentially identify common taxa or consistently misidentify rare taxa, for instance. In light of this result, it is recommended that researchers vet any set of identifications made by multiple researchers or, ideally, identify specimens anew. Second, observations of Florissant specimens at different museums show that a large number of fossils have been lost, damaged, or destroyed due to actions such as travel on loan, display in exhibits, or application of non-archival conservation techniques. Through the digitization process, including cataloging and imaging specimens, curatorial staffs have discovered the extent of uncatalogued or missing material. Digitization has mitigated some of the challenges associated with dispersion of specimens. Collaborative projects across museums have led to rediscovery of lost specimens or discovery for the first time of parts and counterparts that correspond to the same fossil but are housed at different institutions. Online databases that serve specimen images allow researchers to assign new taxonomic determinations, controlling for bias from earlier researchers, or to examine fossils remotely from photographs, reducing the need to handle and ship fragile material for loans. Moreover, providing public access to museum specimen records through collaborative digitization projects expands the opportunities to exhibit and develop specimen-based educational curricula.

ABSTRACT Museum collections provide a tremendous wealth of data bearing on biogeography, the field that focuses on the study of the distribution of organisms in space and time. Biogeography is a discipline that played a fundamental role in the development of ideas on evolution in the nineteenth century, and it still is a vibrant research area today. One way that biogeography has remained vibrant is through the burgeoning area of biodiversity science. There are many aspects of biodiversity science relevant to paleontology, running the gamut from conservation paleobiology to ecosystem observations, etc. Our especial focus here is on biodiversity science approaches involving the analysis of museum specimen records using mapping and analytical approaches, such as the geographic information system (GIS) and ecological niche modeling (ENM), to quantify how climate change has caused (and will continue to cause) species to move across the face of the globe through time. Initial efforts considered extant taxa, but now analyses of extinct taxa are becoming more commonplace. These analyses of fossil taxa offer extensive opportunities to gain increased insight into biogeography and also macroevolution. This contribution focuses specifically on approaches using fossil taxa and their associated museum specimen data. Such approaches have shown how invasive species have contributed to ancient biodiversity crises, how species niches largely remain stable over geological time scales, how it is predominately abiotic factors, as opposed to competition, that influence species distributions and determine species survival in the long term, and finally how extant species that have been present in marine ecosystems for millions of years are now in grave peril due to impending climate changes projected to occur in the near term. Each of these discoveries will be highlighted in order to help show the value that museum collections of fossils continue to have in the twenty-first century.

ABSTRACT Today, women make up about one-third of all scientists who go to Antarctica for research. However, it was just under fifty years ago that the first woman principal investigator was funded by the then United States Antarctic Research Program, which today is known as the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). Colin Bull, Director of the Institute for Polar Studies (today called Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center or BPCRC), had advocated for women to be allowed in Antarctica since 1959. At the time, female graduate students worked on Antarctic research, but were not able to conduct their own fieldwork; thus they relied on men to collect samples and gather the data they needed up until the ban was lifted. One such woman was Lois Jones, whose Ph.D. adviser was The Ohio State University geochemist Dr. Gunter Faure. Once she completed her dissertation on the geochemistry of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, she submitted a proposal for fieldwork in Antarctica to be funded by the USAP. Her proposal was approved and she and her field party of three other women went to Antarctica during the austral summer of 1969–1970. In addition to fieldwork in the Dry Valleys, they gained the honor of being four of the first six women to make it to the South Pole. While the women faced many challenges and chauvinism, their field season was successful. This has led to a legacy of women in Antarctica. Faculty, alumna, and staff from The Ohio State University figure prominently in this story, due to the affiliation of the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center with Ohio State.

ABSTRACT The Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG), founded in 1977, is a non-profit organization that encourages women to pursue a career in the geosciences; enhances their professional development and career opportunities; and exchanges educational, technical, and professional information among women scientists. This chapter chronicles the 40-year history of this organization, including its formation, successes, and struggles. In addition, it highlights (1) the evolution of the role of AWG to combat the barriers that women have faced since its formation, and (2) how this role must evolve in the future in hopes of finally achieving gender equality in the geosciences.

ABSTRACT Informal networks play a critical role in advancing careers by providing peer support. This is particularly important in fields where women are grossly underrepresented, because peer networks can reduce feelings of isolation and provide access to information and opportunities for professional development. The power of networks lies in their ability to mobilize people and information for educational and institutional change. Here we highlight the example of the Earth Science Women’s Network (ESWN), which grew from a group of six female graduate students and postdocs to a non-profit organization with more than 3,000 members worldwide in 15 years. ESWN’s activities support women at all career stages and include a program for undergraduate students. Today, ESWN is partnering with larger professional societies to improve work climate conditions and shape a more inclusive society, particularly in light of incidences of sexual harassment. We describe the evolution of ESWN in response to membership needs and as a model for online and in-person community building. The ESWN community supports peer mentoring that builds upon personal connections to catalyze cultural and institutional change for the advancement and promotion of women in the geosciences.