The AGeS3 initiative expands and adapts the successful model used by the AGeS (Awards for Geochronology Student) Research program (Flowers et al., 2018). The AGeS program was created as a collaborative strategy to address needs articulated in the NRC 2012 report to improve access to geochronology data and training. AGeS has accomplished this through a competitive graduate student micro-support program supported by two NSF awards (AGeS1 and AGeS2). The ~$8.5k awards supported interdisciplinary science projects between labs, students, and home institution student supervisors. These modest awards filled a critical funding gap between small ($1-3k) student research grants and large (>$100k) NSF grants. Each year this funding opportunity has provided a concrete deadline to motivate new connections between geochronology data users and experts to discuss and tune ideas for cross-disciplinary research. Through this process, hundreds have been involved in AGeS proposals, and two dozen scientists have been engaged in AGeS review and governance activities. In 2022, AGeS2 piloted the DiG (Diversity in Geochronology) program to expand access to geochronology for those underrepresented in the Earth sciences.
The AGeS2 program was supported by NSF awards EAR-1759200, -1759353, -1759201 to R.M. Flowers (CU), J.R. Arrowsmith (ASU), and V. McConnell (GSA).
The AGeS1 program was supported by NSF EarthScope awards EAR-1358514, -1358554, -1358401, -1358443 to R.M. Flowers (CU), J.R. Arrowsmith (ASU), T. Rittenour (USU), B. Schoene (Princeton), and J. Metcalf (CU).