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Earth System Science Advisory Committee (ESSAC)

Terms of reference

In this section

Introduction

The Earth System Science Advisory Committee (ESSAC) is one of several science advisory committees responsible for providing independent advice to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) on its scientific disciplines, their associated programs and applications. The committee concerns itself with the scientific discipline known as Earth system science, a multidisciplinary approach to studying Earth as a system. This approach involves studying the processes and interactions among the hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, geosphere and the interactions of these spheres with the atmosphere that connects them. The impact of human activities is implicitly included in all spheres.

The Co-Chairs of the ESSAC coordinate with the Co-Chairs of the other science advisory committees as required by the Joint Space Science Advisory Committee (JSSAC), in the interest of ensuring adequate communications about topics of mutual interest.

Mandate

The ESSAC provides advice on discipline priorities linked to Government of Canada policies and strategies, solicitations to the scientific community, and opportunities arising from national and international programs and infrastructure.Footnote 1

The ESSAC guides the development of the Canadian Earth System Science Community Roadmap, and supports its planning, validation, and updating. It also provides feedback to the CSA on the impact and efficacy of the CSA's programs and initiatives related to Earth system science, as deemed necessary by the CSA Director of Sun-Earth System Sciences.Footnote 2

The advisory committee acts as a liaison between the Canadian Earth system science community and the CSA.

Governance

The ESSAC supports the CSA Director of Sun-Earth System Sciences.

The voting members include all External members and all Early Career members. The CSA members are non-voting, as well as Ex Officio contributors. See ESSAC composition section for details.

Decision making at the committee level is generally conducted using consensus. Otherwise, formal voting is used when necessary, whereby proposals are adopted by a simple majority.

The quorum for any meeting of the Committee is two-thirds of its voting members, including either the External Co-Chair or the External Vice-Chair.

Membership

ESSAC composition

The committee is constituted in such a way as to achieve equitable representation of the five spheres and of the Canadian Earth system science community.

The committee includes the following positions:

Table 1: ESSAC members
Class Position Executive Voting
External Co-Chair Yes Yes
Vice-Chair Yes Yes
Member (Sphere 1 – Hydrosphere) - Yes
Member (Sphere 2 – Cryosphere) - Yes
Member (Sphere 3 – Biosphere) - Yes
Member (Sphere 4 – Geosphere) - Yes
Member (Sphere 5 – Influence on the Atmosphere) - Yes
External, Early Career Member (Sphere 1 – Hydrosphere) - Yes
Member (Sphere 2 – Cryosphere) - Yes
Member (Sphere 3 – Biosphere) - Yes
Member (Sphere 4 – Geosphere) - Yes
Member (Sphere 5 – Influence on the Atmosphere) - Yes
CSA Co-Chair Yes -
Executive Secretary Yes -
Science Analyst - -
Observers - -
Ex Officio Ex Officio contributors - -

The membership consists of the following three classes of members:

  • External members: There are five (5) External members, representing the five spheres of Earth system science, among whom two (2) serve as Co-Chair and Vice-Chair. All External members are voting members. The External members are nominated by a nominating committee (see Nomination section) and appointed by the CSA on the basis of their expertise and experience, as well as on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) principles.Footnote 3
  • External Early CareerFootnote 4 members: There are up to five (5) External members representing the five spheres of Earth system science. All Early Career members are voting members. The Early Career members are nominated by a nominating committee and appointed by the CSA based on their expertise and experience, as well as on EDI principles.
  • CSA members: The CSA members include a Co-Chair, an Executive Secretary, a Science Analyst, and any number of observers. The CSA members are non-voting members. All CSA members are appointed by the CSA. The members' selection is guided by expertise, operational considerations, as well as EDI principles.
    • CSA Science Analyst: Appointed by the CSA Director of Sun-Earth System Science from the CSA members. The CSA Science Analyst
      • provides authoritative, substantive, and timely analysis and information to members of the ESSAC to support their mandate and tasks, especially their provision of the Canadian Earth System Science Community Roadmap;
      • assists in engaging with external stakeholders to collect information from subject matter experts;
      • performs review, analysis, need assessment or knowledge synthesis to support ESSAC objectives.

Executive committee

The executive committee is crucial to ensure the effective functioning and success of the committee's activities. It consists of the External Co-Chair, the CSA Co-Chair, the External Vice-Chair, and the CSA Executive Secretary.

  • External Co-Chair: Appointed by the ESSAC from the External members, selected by consensus of the External members. Normally serves a two (2) year term. The External Co-Chair
    • guides the committee's activities; sets direction, objectives, and work priorities; and ensures its efficiency;
    • leads consensus-building and recommendation-making, and helps solve problems within the committee;
    • develops meeting agendas jointly with the CSA Co-Chair and is responsible, with the External Vice-Chair, for the logistical arrangement of meetings held at non-CSA locations;
    • in coordination with the External Vice-Chair, facilitates community consultation activities;
    • represents the committee on advisory committees that address the broader space science community, such as JSSAC.
  • CSA Co-Chair: Appointed by the CSA Director of Sun-Earth System Science from the CSA members. The CSA Co-Chair
    • liaises between the committee and the CSA (in particular, with the Sun-Earth System Science Directorate) and ensures that the committee's work aligns with the CSA's objectives;
    • develops meeting agendas jointly with the External Co-Chair and is responsible for the logistical arrangement of meetings held at CSA headquarters, as well as virtual meetings;
    • helps coordinate the committee members' efforts with subcommittees or task forces on specific issues and acts as facilitator to involve stakeholders.
  • External Vice-Chair: Appointed by the ESSAC from the External members, selected by consensus of the External members. Normally serves a two (2) year term. The Vice-Chair
    • assists the Co-Chair in all their duties;
    • coordinates the efforts of committee members with subcommittees or task forces on specific themes;
    • assists the CSA Co-Chair with logistical arrangement of meetings held at non-CSA locations;
    • in coordination with the External Co-Chair, facilitates community consultation activities;
    • serves as an alternate representative on the advisory committees when the External Co-Chair is not available.
  • CSA Executive Secretary: Appointed by the CSA Director of Sun-Earth System Science from the CSA members. The CSA Executive Secretary
    • ensures the committee operates efficiently and that the decisions, recommendations, and actions are well documented, stored, and accessible to stakeholders;
    • records the meeting attendance, prepares the meeting minutes, and maintains permanent records of the committee's activities as well as a list of subcommittees and stakeholders;
    • tracks and follows up on action items assigned during meetings to ensure they are completed. Keeps the committee informed of important deadlines and responsibilities;
    • disseminates information within the committee and stakeholders and works with the CSA's communication team to publish documentation on the Government of Canada website, if deemed appropriate;
    • provides administrative and logistical support to arrange meeting locations, and plans workshops, symposia, and conferences.

Ex Officio contributors

Ex Officio contributors will provide representation of stakeholders' programs, thematic committees, working groups or subject matter experts, for their respective fields of expertise, and thus contribute to the efficiency and significance of the committee's work.

  • Ex Officio contributor: Nominated by the ESSAC and appointed by the CSA to provide specific expertise and experience not otherwise available to the committee. Contributors are not eligible to vote.

Nomination

Nominating committee: Appointed by the CSA Director of Sun-Earth System Science from the CSA members, former ESSAC members and interested external experts. The nominating committee is composed of four to eight (4 to 8) members tasked with nominating the most qualified, impartial, and diverse candidates in the realm of Earth system science, from a pool of external candidates created following an open call. The committee can be activated whenever new external members need to be appointed to the ESSAC. However, in the event that a member leaves before the end of their term, the CSA can replace them with a candidate from the pool of candidates created from the most recent call. The nominating committee will suggest up to three (3) qualified candidates per sphere, including one optional Early Career member, to the Sun-Earth System Science Director.

The potential members will be nominated according to the nominating committee-developed criteria and CSA guidelines for nominating committees. These criteria should reflect the diversity of the community (e.g., academia/industry/government, teaching/research/management, Canadian geographic representation, linguistic diversity, career stage, women/Indigenous peoples/disabled persons/visible minorities), and to represent as many of the sub-disciplines within the Earth system science sphere as is feasible.

Appointment

External candidates will be appointed by the CSA Director of Sun-Earth System Science based on the nominating committee recommendations.

All members are required to pass a security check and obtain Reliability clearance before being appointed. The security check is required by the CSA to share protected government information (up to Protected B) with members and to enable them to attend meetings held at CSA headquarters. Members may also be asked to sign non-disclosure agreements related to specific agenda items and working documents, as well as statements of conflicts of interest.

Tenure

External members and Early Career members serve for a three (3) year term. Membership may be extended for one (1) year. An appropriate number of members are appointed, renewed, or rotated annually to maintain a representative composition of the committee while minimizing loss of experience and continuity.

Ex Officio contributors may serve for as long as the committee requires their specific expertise and experience.

Meetings

Meetings normally take place two to four (2 to 4) times per year with additional short updates and consultations on an ad hoc basis as required. The dates are selected to align with the CSA's annual planning cycle. Meetings may either be in person, hybrid or virtual. If the need arises, additional meetings may be organized.

Communications are carried out by email or MS Teams or equivalent. Hybrid meetings with teleconference/videoconference support may be scheduled if required. The Co-Chairs are responsible for logistical arrangements.

The meeting agendas are developed jointly by the External and CSA Co-Chairs. The draft agenda is made available no later than twenty (20) business days prior to the meeting. Members of the Earth system science community are invited to suggest items to be added to the agenda.

The minutes of the meetings, with record of decisions and action items, are prepared by the Executive Secretary. The minutes are made available to committee members no later than ten (10) business days after the meeting. The Executive Secretary follows up.

Compensation

No compensation is provided for the committee's work. External members, Early Career members and Ex Officio contributors may request travel support for face-to-face meetings. CSA employees are eligible for travel support to attend meetings outside of their assigned work location, but other government employees may not be eligible for CSA travel support to attend meetings.

Reporting and communications

Results of the meetings will include:

  1. the final agenda, attendance list, and minutes of the meeting;
  2. a record of opinions or recommendations submitted to the CSA Director of Sun-Earth System Science, if requested;
  3. a review of CSA planning documents and solicitations related to Earth system science such as the Canadian Earth System Science Community Roadmap, if requested; and
  4. input to CSA-led workshop planning, program, and participation, if requested.

No one, other than the Co-Chairs, may represent or speak on behalf of the committee unless requested to do so by the Co-Chairs.

Reports from the committee should not be publicly shared without mutual consent of the CSA and the committee.

Records

In addition to the minutes of meetings, the Executive Secretary generates and maintains permanent records documenting the activities of the committee, including copies of presentations, reports produced for or by the committee and records of the membership.

Approval

The terms of reference are approved by the undersigned:

The original version was signed by Guennadi Kroupnik, Director General, Space Utilization, Canadian Space Agency, on

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