A one-day forum is being held in San Francisco, California on December 12, 2004, to discuss changing the research and education culture of the solid earth sciences through communication and integration. The forum consists of a series of updates and presentations that serve as a platform for discussion of research facilities and equipment, and identification of emerging needs in continental lithosphere rheology to support research and education in the solid earth sciences. The forum is another step down the road of synthesis and integration among the solid earth sciences disciplines. Additionally, future integrated solid earth sciences activities such as annual forums, summer schools (to educate the next generation of solid earth scientists within the new integrated science culture), summer retreats (for junior assistant professors and senior post-doctoral fellows) are being discussed. Broader impacts of forum will be to point the way to new developments in scientific infrastructure, develop new educational models for early career scientists, and formulate research priorities in solid earth sciences.
