The Second National Conference: Justice in Geoscience engaged intergenerational and convergent coalitions to broaden participation of Black, Native/Indigenous, and Latinx students and scholars in geosciences and related disciplines. The first conference on diversity in the geosciences occurred in 1972 and it has been well past time to hold another. The August 2022 Second National Conference (SNC) featured events and programming that spanned three themes of Archival, Urgent, and Imaginary.

Prior to the meeting, an “unconference” activity allowed all participants to take part in assembling the conference program. Applications to participate in the conference were reviewed in late April. Approved participants were invited to register for the conference in August and to join the “unconference” pre-conference in early June. The Unconference sessions were held virtually, for 90 minutes on five days, with each day dedicated to a session type (Reading Seminars, Action Labs, Workshops, Arts and Creative Sessions, and Question-driven Sessions). Participants were encouraged to take part in one or more of these pre-conference sessions to collaborate with conveners and each other, to build the conference program itself, and to voice what was important to them as an attendee of the Second National Conference.

The five innovative session formats were designed to fulfill the unique needs of the emergent topics. Each conference day ended with writing in small groups to reflect and create a living archive of conference activities. SNC will culminate in the publication of the 2072 Report, a roadmap that scholars and community members can use to advance DEI in geoscience over the next fifty years.