In a recent
blog post, I wrote:

Perhaps two years ago, it was a challenge to find appropriate sessions
at the American Geophysical Union [AGU] Fall Meeting for submissions that
addressed the intersection between geophysics and knowledge
representation.

A year ago, there were quite a few to choose from.

This year, I was almost overwhelmed by choice.

There’s a very good reason for this sea change.

A critical mass of like-minded researchers is working hard to raise
awareness through tangible outcomes. Some recent outcomes include:

• Awareness-generating, facilitative sessions – The recent
  AGU town hall meeting serves as an excellent example. Follow up on
  this session will be made
  available online.
• Providing venues for community interaction – As alluded to above, there
  were a number sessions at this year’s Fall Meeting of the AGU. And
  although this is very important in moving geoinformatics forward, there
  is also a pressing need for venues for written communication. Therefore,
  greeted with significant enthusiasm, is the emerging emphasis on this
  aspect of communication:
  • Researchers presenting in the Earth
    and Space Science Cyberinfrastructure: Application and Theory of
    Knowledge Representation session were invited to contribute
    papers to a special issue of Computers &
    Geosciences.
  • Researchers will soon be able to submit papers to the Journal of
    Earth Science Informatics (JESI).

  All of this is drawn together by a new portal for community
  interaction.

In short, it’s rapidly becoming an exciting time to be involved in the
emergence of this fledgling discipline.