Spark@AGU 2026

Welcome to Spark@AGU 2026! 🌟

Ready to spark conversation? Spark@AGU talks are a dynamic five minutes of exactly 20 auto-advancing slides! This isn't your typical research presentation. Speakers craft engaging visuals and accessible language on any topic they choose. It's quick, bold, and creative – leave the jargon behind!

About Spark@AGU

Spark@AGU is an innovative presentation format hosted by the Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) in conjunction with the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting. Each speaker has exactly 5 minutes to present their ideas using 20 slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds.

Event Details:

• 📅 When: Wednesday, December 9, 2026, 6:00–8:30 PM local time
• 📍 Where: East Brother Beer Co. Rec Room, 135 4th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
• ⏱️ Format: 5-minute presentations with 20 auto-advancing slides
• 🎯 Goal: Make science accessible, engaging, and conversation-starting

Note: The speaker lineup and detailed run-of-show times in schedule.yaml are still TBD.

What Makes Spark Special:

• Fast-paced: 20 slides × 15 seconds = exactly 5 minutes
• Accessible: No jargon - designed for broad audiences
• Creative: Visual storytelling over technical details
• Diverse Topics: Any subject that sparks curiosity and conversation

Learn more about Spark: https://www.esipfed.org/spark-agu/

Adding Yourself to the Team

If you're an organizer or speaker, add yourself to the website:

1. Copy the template file: cp team/template.yaml team/FirstName-LastName.yaml
2. Edit your new file with your information (bio, expertise, social links, etc.)
3. Commit your changes and create a pull request

Adding a Speaker

1. Copy the template file: cp speakers/template.yaml speakers/FirstName-LastName.yaml
2. Fill in the speaker's details and add a headshot to {{ cookiecutter.repo_directory }}/assets/images/
3. Commit your changes and create a pull request

Call-for-speakers vs. lineup mode

The site has two phases, controlled by event_phase in cookiecutter.yaml (cfp while soliciting speakers, lineup for the normal event page). See MAINTAINING.md for what each phase shows and the five-step flip back to lineup.

Updating Event Information

Key files to modify for event content:

• cookiecutter.yaml - Main event details (dates, location, description, banner image, event_phase)
• schedule.yaml - Event schedule and speaker lineup
• team/*.yaml - Individual organizer profiles
• speakers/*.yaml - Individual speaker profiles

The build process consolidates the individual team/ and speakers/ files into team/team.yaml and speakers/speakers.yaml automatically — don't hand-edit those aggregates.

Technical Details

This website uses:

• Cookiecutter for templating
• YAML configuration files for easy content management
• Jinja2 templating with Markdown support
• Bootstrap for responsive design
• GitHub Pages for hosting

Building Locally

conda env create -f environment.yml
conda activate splashpage
./scripts/build_resources.sh
cd _build/html && python3 -m http.server 8000

Getting Help

• General Questions: Contact the ESIP team
• Technical Issues: Open an issue in this repository
• Spark Information: Visit https://www.esipfed.org/spark-agu/

Links

• Event Website: https://esipfed.github.io/spark-2026/
• ESIP: https://www.esipfed.org/
• Spark@AGU Info: https://www.esipfed.org/spark-agu/
• AGU Fall Meeting: https://www.agu.org/fall-meeting

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This site is based on the eScience splashpage template and was adapted from ESIPFed/spark-2025.