Conference: 2025 Geochronology Gordon Research Conference and Seminar: Timing, Tempo and Drivers of Earth's Climate

This award supports conference participants in the 2025 Gordon Research Conference on Geochronology and associated Gordon Research Seminar on Geochronology. Geochronology involves the dating of geologic materials such as rocks, sediments and fossils. The field of geochronology strives to quantify geological time, to provide age models for geological records, and to constrain the rates and durations of fundamental geological processes and phenomena. The purpose of this year’s conference is to identify opportunities and challenges for future research by bringing together geochronologists (researchers who measure the ages of geologic materials) with a broad range of other scientists whose research relies on applications of geochronology to improve understanding of the timing, tempo, and drivers of Earth’s climate. The application of geochronology to the timing, tempo, and drivers of climate has wide-ranging implications for the resilience of life on our planet and geochemical processes governing solid earth-biosphere interactions. By engaging new researchers within the geochronology community, this conference will contribute to workforce development in geochronology and allied fields, as well as promote broad participation in research directions supported by the NSF Directorate for Geosciences. This award provides support for early-career researchers and participants from institutions with insufficient funds to attend the 2025 Gordon Research Conference on Geochronology from August 17-22, 2025, and the companion Gordon Research Seminar on Geochronology from August 16-17, 2025, in Sunday River, Maine. The conference sessions range from longer timescales– e.g., Planetary Habitability, Climate Extremes in Earth History– to short timescales, e.g., Climate and Hominin Evolution, Human-induced Climate Change, Glacier and Landscape Records of Past Climate. The overarching goal is to inform geochronologists of specific areas in which further research and development will be most fruitful, and to inform non-geochronologists of the capabilities and limitations of the diverse geochronometers applicable to their research problems. This award is co-funded by Programs in the Divisions of Earth Sciences (EAR), Ocean Sciences(OCE), and Atmospheric and Geospace (AGS) Sciences, as well as the Office of Polar Programs (OPP). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.