EGU 2014 Media Advisory 2: Meeting programme online, provisional press conference topics

This year's conference features debates on mining and geoengineering, as well as Union sessions on 'The Face of the Earth' (the theme of this year's meeting) and lessons learned from the IPCC’s findings.

Press conferences will include presentations on 'The 10 years of Cassini at Saturn' and 'The Anthropocene: are we living in the age of humans?', among other topics. The event is taking place on 27 April – 2 May 2014 at the Austria Center Vienna.

CONTENTS
*Meeting programme online
*Provisional press conference topics
*Union-wide sessions of interest
*Media registration

MEETING PROGRAMME ONLINE
All sessions (over 700) and abstracts (over 15,000) are now available online and fully searchable. You can access the programme on the EGU 2014 website: http://www.egu2014.eu/programme/how_to_access_the_programme.html.

Media participants can use the meeting programme to search for abstracts or sessions they find particularly interesting. The programme is searchable by name of a scientist, keywords (e.g.: volcano, Antarctica), session topic (e.g.: Natural Hazards, Climate: Past, Present, Future), and other parameters. Further, you can select single contributions or complete sessions from the meeting programme to generate your personal programme. 

Reporters may also find the list of papers of special interest (http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2014/special_interests), selected by session conveners, or the highlighted sessions/papers selected by the media officer (http://media.egu.eu/highlights/, available closer to the time of the conference) useful.

PROVISIONAL PRESS CONFERENCE TOPICS
We are planning some 12 press conferences at the EGU General Assembly, which will take place at the press centre located on the Yellow Level (Ground Floor) of the Austria Center Vienna. Provisional topics to be presented to journalists include:

*IPCC media briefing
*The 10 years of Cassini at Saturn
*Hydrological challenges facing the planet
*The unusual suspects – applying geoscience to crops, coffee, forensics and wine
*Shedding light on lightning – in the lab and extrasolar objects
*Sights and sounds: volcanoes on Earth and Mars
*Looking in to the past to predict future climate: new results from IODP and Past4Future programmes
*The Anthropocene: are we living in the age of humans?
*The new face of the Moon: science and exploration
*The changing Arctic
*Sinking coastal cities
*Fingerprints of life: from the early Earth to outer space

Please note that the list above is subject to change. A subsequent media advisory, to be release at the end of this month, will include a full schedule of press conferences with a list of speakers and short summary of the topics covered in each media briefing.

UNION-WIDE SESSIONS OF INTEREST
This year, the EGU 2014 General Assembly programme features a variety of Union-wide sessions that may be of interested to media participants. These include two Great Debates on 'Metals in our backyard: to mine or not to mine' (http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2014/session/16357) and on 'Geoengineering the climate: the way forward?' (http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2014/session/16358), and two Union sessions on 'IPCC Climate Change 2013/2014: Findings and Lessons Learned' (http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2014/session/16327) and on 'The Face of the Earth' (http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2014/session/16283), which is dedicated to the theme of this year's Assembly. Also of highlight is the session on 'The Role of Geoscientists in Public Policy' (http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2014/session/16060), which will count with the participation of Members of the European Parliament and directors of European science organisations, among others.

MEDIA REGISTRATION
Members of the media and public information officers invited to register for the meeting online, free of charge at http://media.egu.eu/registration/. Media registration gives access to the Press Centre and other meeting rooms, and includes a public transportation ticket, the programme book and a USB flash drive with the abstracts presented at the General Assembly. Media participants also have access to high-speed Internet (LAN and WLAN) and complimentary breakfast, lunch, coffee and refreshments at the press centre. The online list of journalist and public information officers who have registered already is available online at http://media.egu.eu/registration/who-is-coming/.

Online pre-registration will be available until 31 March. The advance registration assures that your badge will be waiting for you on your arrival to the Austria Center Vienna, giving you access to the press centre and other meeting rooms. You may also register on-site during the meeting.

For information on accommodation and travel, please refer to the 'Accommodation' and 'Venue' sections of the EGU 2014 General Assembly website: http://www.egu2014.eu/.

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The European Geosciences Union (www.egu.eu) is Europe’s premier geosciences union, dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences for the benefit of humanity, worldwide. It is a non-profit interdisciplinary learned association of scientists founded in 2002. The EGU has a current portfolio of 16 diverse scientific journals, which use an innovative open access format, and organises a number of topical meetings, and education and outreach activities. Its annual General Assembly is the largest and most prominent European geosciences event, attracting over 11,000 scientists from all over the world. The meeting’s sessions cover a wide range of topics, including volcanology, planetary exploration, the Earth’s internal structure and atmosphere, climate, energy, and resources. The 2014 EGU General Assembly is taking place in Vienna, Austria from 27 April to 2 May 2014. For information regarding the press centre at the meeting and media registration, please check http://media.egu.eu.

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