The year 2019 will mark the culmination of 10 years of scientific discovery by more than 800 scientists from 40 nations who form the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO). New discoveries are emerging about deep life, about the diversity of ways that oils and gases form, about mineral evolution, and about the co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere. This grant supports the creation of a Synthesis Group within the DCO, led by Dr. Marie Edmonds of the University of Cambridge, U.K., which will take responsibility for ensuring that the project delivers on its commitments and that the whole of the project promises to be more than the sum of its parts. Edmonds and her team plan to explore several different possibilities for intellectual synthesis of the Deep Carbon Observatory’s work. Possibilities include a dynamic model of deep carbon in Earth, a diamond-themed synthesis that uses the popular gemstone to tell us as much as possible about deep carbon, a place-based synthesis that uses geographic or geological location to tell as much as possible about deep carbon, a mineral evolution synthesis, and an “Earth in five reactions” synthesis that tells the story of deep carbon through major chemical processes like serpentinization. Over the next two years, grant funds will allow Edmonds and her team to explore and prioritize these different approaches to synthesis as well as develop synthesis-related projects for potential future support.

Funds from this grant continue support for the Engagement Team of the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO), which provides internal and external communications services to the international community of DCO geoscientists. Led by Sara Hickox at the University of Rhode Island, the Engagement Team provides content for the Deep Carbon Observatory website, publishes a newsletter and blog, compiles an up-to-date bibliography of DCO publications, maintains a contact database on the approximately 800 DCO researchers, oversees network-wide events, spearheads public engagement efforts, provides graphic design services for DCO researchers, and works to ensure smooth intra-DCO communication of goals, priorities, and achievements. Grant funds support the continuation of these activities for an additional two years. In addition, Hickox and the Engagement Team will provide support to the newly created Synthesis Group of the DCO, which focuses on synthesizing the diverse research accomplishments of DCO researchers in anticipation of the project’s contemplated end in 2019.