The centenary of IAVCEI 1919–2019 and beyond: origins and evolution of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior

Abstract

IAVCEI originated in 1919 as one of the six inaugural “sections” of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG). IUGG was formed by the International Research Council, which has now evolved to become the International Science Council (ISC). In 1933 the Section for Volcanology was renamed the International Association of Volcanology (IAV), and in 1967, it became the International Association of Volcanology and Geochemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI). IAVCEI has been managed by 22 Presidents, 10 Secretaries-General, and their executive committees/bureaus. IAVCEI has always had a focus on facilitating the communication of volcanological research through organising a variety of international conferences, including IAVCEI General Assemblies, Scientific Assemblies, occasional Volcanological Congresses, and Cities on Volcanoes conferences. In addition, IAVCEI established research working groups initially which then became the association’s research commissions. The research commissions have also organised their own research workshops. Recently IAVCEI has also developed new groupings of researchers through their Network program, including the Early Career Researcher Network, which focus mostly on facilitating communication. Bulletin of Volcanology has been the official IAVCEI journal since 1924 and has undergone several facelifts in its cover and format. It has been very well served by its 11 volunteer editors, editorial board, and reviewers in almost 100 years of publication. In addition, IAVCEI was instrumental in instigating an inventory of known volcanoes through its Catalogue of the Volcanoes of the World series, a role now undertaken by the Smithsonian Institution. To acknowledge outstanding achievements in volcanological research, IAVCEI has established 6 awards since 1974. Developing a better understanding of how volcanoes erupt and the impacts of eruptions on society has been an integral responsibility of IAVCEI as the learned international association in volcanology. In the 1990s, IAVCEI initiated the Decade Volcanoes program to encourage research on 16 volcanoes that were deemed to pose significant risks to the communities around them. Some have erupted since then, but eruptions from other volcanoes have also provided significant insights into eruption processes and phenomena. Although IAVCEI’s future looks healthy, there are ways of being more proactive in improving services to members, including improving diversity and inclusiveness, greater gender balance for all positions on the IAVCEI Executive Committee, widening the representation of nationalities that serve on the Executive Committee, increasing membership numbers to generate greater income to support scientists in need of support to participate in IAVCEI activities, and significantly lowering the fee for open access publication of research papers in IAVCEI’s masthead journal, Bulletin of Volcanology . Supplementary Information The online version contains s...

Volcanologists—who are we and where are we going?

“…We are limited by the categories these organisations use to collect data on gender, and by the lack of data on other demographics and protected characteristics. 1 The International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) is part of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) (Cas 2022). Its organisational structures, volcanology focus and international affiliation make for an interesting comparison to volcanology groups that are regional (Engwell et al 2020) or only include some aspects of volcanology, such as the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Volcanology, Geochemistry & Petrology (VGP) Section or the European Geosciences Union (EGU) Geochemistry-Mineralogy-Petrology-Volcanology (GMPV) Division.…”

“…Decisions about grant funding, postdoctoral appointments, and ultimately the ability to pursue an academic career are in part decided on an individual's publication record. To understand who is allowed to create and disseminate knowledge, we analysed data from two of the most important volcanology journals (Cas 2022; Stevenson 2014)-the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (JVGR, Elsevier) and the Bulletin of Volcanology (Bull Volc, Springer). The other volcanology-themed journals we approached either did not respond or were unable to provide data.…”

“…The gender and racial identity of individuals holding many key IAVCEI leadership roles since its inception in 1919 supports this assertion. A recent review article on the history of IAVCEI (Cas 2022) shows how women have been almost invisible in volcanology (photographs collated by Cas (2022) shows the individuals who have taken key IAVCEI roles-4 key personnel in the formation of IAVCEI, 22 Presidents, 10 secretaries, 11 Editors of Bull Volc-are all men. Women are under-represented in the IAVCEI Committee relative to their proportion in the IAVCEI, AGU VGP and EGU GMPV membership.…”

Global tephra studies: role and importance of the international tephra research group “Commission on Tephrochronology” in its first 60 years

“…as described by Sheridan, 1979;Wilson, 1985;Branney and Kokelaar, 2002;Lube et al, 2019). Finally, most agree that the term must also include co-ignimbrite ash-fall deposits (Machida and Arai, 1976;Sparks and Walker, 1977;Crandell and Mullineaux, 1978;Cas and Wright, 1987) that arise from fallout of ashrich convective plumes formed by the buoyant detachment of a gas-ash mixture ("ash cloud"), or by elutriation, from the top of a pyroclastic flow (density current) (Bitschene and Schmincke, 1990;Brown and Andrews, 2015;. We note that the term "air fall" is now rarely used, with tephra fall/fallout or ash fall/fallout, if appropriate, typically employed instead (Cole et al, 1972;Schmid, 1981;Lowe and Hunt, 2001;Lowe, 2008).…”

Disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on early career researchers and disabled researchers in volcanology

“…According to statistics provided by international and regional volcanology organisations such as the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI), American Geophysical Union (AGU) Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology Section, and European Geosciences Union (EGU) Geochemistry-Mineralogy-Petrology-Volcanology Division, female researchers make up 31%-39% of the total membership while male researchers constitute 61%-67% (Kavanagh et al, 2022). Biases are particularly evident in the scarcity of women and researchers from the Global South in leadership positions within IAVCEI (Cas, 2022), as well as the under-representation of women, early career researchers, and non-native English speakers in the editorial boards of volcanology journals (Kavanagh et al, 2022). Women and underrepresented minorities are given fewer opportunities to deliver talks and keynote lectures at conferences (Ford et al, 2019;Kavanagh et al, 2022), further limiting their visibility and impact in the field.…”