We seek funds to partially support the 2009 Gordon Conference on the Interior of the Earth, which will be held June 14-19 at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. This meeting is the seventh in a series of highly successful Gordon Research Conferences that focus on the structure, dynamics and evolution of the Earth?s interior. NSF funds will be used to attract participants from a diverse range of institutions, backgrounds and scientific disciplines. Past meetings have alternated between a ?deep? and ?shallow? emphasis, loosely defined by the depth of the transition zone. The forthcoming conference will focus on the deep Earth. A wide range of topics will be addressed from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Invited speakers from the fields of geochemistry, geodynamics, mineral physics and seismology will define the forefront of knowledge and set the stage for a freewheeling discussion and debate of the most pressing scientific questions. Specific session topics include the interpretation of seismic tomography, geochemical heterogeneity, plate tectonics and the radial structure of convection, the core-mantle boundary region, the structure and dynamics of the core, the early Earth, planetary interiors and magnetic fields, as well as future trends in scientific computing and numerical simulations. The conference will also provide the opportunity for junior scientists and graduate students to present their work in poster format and exchange ideas with leading researchers. The study of the Earth?s Interior is not defined by one particular discipline, but requires input from many branches of the Earth Sciences. The format of the Gordon Research Conference is particularly important in our field of study for encouraging open exchange of ideas and fruitful discussion across disciplinary boundaries. The funds requested here will help to keep our meeting vibrant and to facilitate the participation of young scientists who add so much to the meeting and who have, in this unique format, unparalleled opportunities for learning about the frontiers of our field and for interaction with the established leaders.
