About the Union

Founded in 1928, the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) brings together scientists concerned with the history of the Earth’s natural environment during the Quaternary Period—the roughly 2 million year interval during and since the Pleistocene ice age.  Quaternary research is interdisciplinary, involving the fields of geology, ecology and evolutionary biology, climatology, archeology, oceanography, and global change research.  INQUA strives to improve understanding of the processes by which the environment has changed and enhance forecasting of future environmental changes.  INQUA is a member union of the International Council for Science (ICSU) that serves to build global interaction among Quaternary research communities.
   

About the USNC

The U.S. National Committee for the International Union for Quaternary Research (USNC/INQUA) represents the interests of the U.S. Quaternary community in INQUA, advances Quaternary research both in the United States and abroad, and formally represents the United States in INQUA through the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the U.S. adhering body to INQUA.

The USNC/INQUA plans and arranges for U.S. participation in INQUA congresses and programs. The INQUA congresses are held every four years and provide the only forum in which the multidisciplinary, international Quaternary research community can collaborate and exchange ideas. The committee   normally holds two meetings each year, of which one is commonly in association with the meetings of the American Quaternary Association, the Geological Society of America or the American Geophysical Union.

The USNC/INQUA also:

• Conducts an outreach program to the U.S. scientific community that includes providing information about union and committee activities;
• Sponsors symposia at scientific association meetings on topics of international interest in the geosciences;
• Sponsors teaching workshops for college-level educators on topics of interest to the community, and
• Advocates participation in international interdisciplinary projects on such issues as biodiversity and sustainability.
   

Activities & Events

 Teaching Climate Change with Ice Core Data
The workshop "Teaching Climate Change with Ice Core Data" took place on June 2-3, 2008 and was co-sponsored by the U.S. National Committee for Quaternary Research and “On the Cutting Edge,” an NSF-funded program in State College, PA.  The workshop, within the framework of the International Polar Year, resulted in references, lesson plans, and resource material on climate change for use by college instructors and other interested scientists.  All the lesson plans (freely available to the Earth Sciences community), together with pictures from the workshop and the June 4 field trip can be found at the “On the Cutting Edge” site http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/climatechange08/index.html. 

Read more about the outcomes of this teaching workshop on the Activities Page.

 Joint Earth Sciences U.S. National Committees Activities
The USNC/INQUA and the U.S. National Committees for soil science (IUSS), geodesy and geophysics (IUGG), and geological sciences (GS) actively collaborate throughout the year on various activities, including:

 “Global Sea Level Rise: Observation, Causes, and Prediction,” a symposium held on February 16, 2009 at the 2009 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

The three-hour session focused on the scientific understanding of sea level rise as a result of anthropogenic climate change. Leading scientists conveyed the latest findings, highlighted and increased public awareness of the consequences of sea level rise, and its potential social and economic impacts. The speakers included Richard Alley (Penn State), Anny Cazenave (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, France), Georg Kaser (Universität Innsbruck, Austria), Sydney Levitus (NOAA), Stefan Rahmstorf (Universität Potsdam, Germany), and C.K. Shum (The Ohio State University).  Discussants included John Church (CSIRO, Australia) and Robert Muir-Wood (Risk Management Solutions, Inc., United Kingdom). The session was moderated by William C. Boicourt (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science).  This jointly co-sponsored event was co-organized by USNC/GG members C.K. Shum, William C. Boicourt, and Robin Muench.  View speaker presentations.

Read the Meeting Recap of the 2008 BISO Symposium (106KB PDF).

 “Global Connections among Earth Sciences, Health, and Policy,” BISO's September 2008 symposium representing the geosciences, biological sciences, chemistry, and the multidisciplinary areas of biodiversity and global change.  The three-person advisory committee that helped plan the symposium included a past member of the USNC/Soil Science and the co-chair for medical science of the International Medical Geology Association, an IUGS-affiliate society.  View the symposium program and list of speakers (72KB PDF).  The event was supported by the National Science Foundation, the American Geological Institute, and the Geological Society of America.

 "Planet Earth: Lessons Ignored, Lessons Learned,” an International Year of Planet Earth-themed symposium at the February 2008 AAAS meeting held in Boston, Massachusetts. The 90-minute symposium included the following presentations:
• I-Earth: Introduction to Planet Earth— Rosemary Knight, Stanford University;
• Soil: Sustaining Food, Energy, and Human Health—Charles W. Rice, Kansas State University and 
   Ian Pepper, Arizona State University (USNC/Soils current and past members, respectively);
• When the Sahara Was Green—Farouk El-Baz, Boston University (USNC/GS chair).
View symposium announcement (17KB PDF).

 Participation in INQUA Congresses
At the last INQUA Congress, held July 28 - August 3, 2007 in Cairns, Australia, Allan Ashworth (national committee chair) was elected to a four-year term as Vice President of INQUA.  In April 2008, Dr. Ashworth attended the executive committee meeting in Japan where he monitored the activities of one of the five INQUA commissions.  Through a generous grant from NSF, the USNC/INQUA was able to award 15 travel fellowships to early career scientists and facilitate their attendance at the INQUA Congress. The travel grant program allowed these scientists to present their findings and enrich their networks by interacting with fellow awardees and other scientists from the U.S. and abroad.  

 Support of the International Year of Planet Earth
The International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) is a multidisciplinary, international project initiated by the IUGS in cooperation with UNESCO and partnership of the other international geoscience unions, as well as about 100 signatory countries, 74 active IYPE national committees, and many other related organizations throughout the world.  IYPE’s principal goal is to demonstrate the enormous potential of the Earth sciences as foundations for a safer, healthier and wealthier society.  Learn more about IYPE activities in the United States

The U.S. National Committee for IYPE received grant support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for an IYPE partnership with the National Public Radio (NPR) program EarthSky to produce ten 90-second IYPE-themed radio podcasts.  EarthSky is a digital media company advocating science as a vital voice in 21st century decision-making.  Discover EarthSky science podcasts for the Web community. 

America's Climate Choices
In response to a request from Congress, the National Academies have launched America's Climate Choices, a suite of studies designed to inform and guide responses to climate change across the nation. Experts representing various levels of government, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, and research and academic institutions have been selected to serve on four panels and an overarching committee. The following four panels of experts will release consensus reports in early 2010:
    * Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change
    * Panel on Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change
    * Panel on Advancing the Science of Climate Change
    * Panel on Informing Effective Decisions and Actions Related to Climate Change

UPCOMING MEETINGS: 

American Quaternary Association (AMQUA) 2009, Laramie, Wyoming, August 13-15, 2010 XVIII INQUA Congress, Bern, Switzerland, July 20-27, 2011 The 2008 AMQUA Biennial Meeting was held at Penn State University, June 5-7, 2008.

Current Membership

RESOURCE LINKS

Sponsor

The USNC/INQUA is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. GEO-0701397.

Banner Photo Credits: David J. Meltzer

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