The centenary of IAVCEI 1919-2019 and beyond: origins and evolution of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior.

Abstract

IAVCEI originated in 1919 as one of the six inaugural “sections” of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG). IUGG was formed by the International Research Council, which has now evolved to become the International Science Council (ISC). In 1933 the Section for Volcanology was renamed the International Association of Volcanology (IAV), and in 1967, it became the International Association of Volcanology and Geochemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI). IAVCEI has been managed by 22 Presidents, 10 Secretaries-General, and their executive committees/bureaus. IAVCEI has always had a focus on facilitating the communication of volcanological research through organising a variety of international conferences, including IAVCEI General Assemblies, Scientific Assemblies, occasional Volcanological Congresses, and Cities on Volcanoes conferences. In addition, IAVCEI established research working groups initially which then became the association’s research commissions. The research commissions have also organised their own research workshops. Recently IAVCEI has also developed new groupings of researchers through their Network program, including the Early Career Researcher Network, which focus mostly on facilitating communication. Bulletin of Volcanology has been the official IAVCEI journal since 1924 and has undergone several facelifts in its cover and format. It has been very well served by its 11 volunteer editors, editorial board, and reviewers in almost 100 years of publication. In addition, IAVCEI was instrumental in instigating an inventory of known volcanoes through its Catalogue of the Volcanoes of the World series, a role now undertaken by the Smithsonian Institution. To acknowledge outstanding achievements in volcanological research, IAVCEI has established 6 awards since 1974. Developing a better understanding of how volcanoes erupt and the impacts of eruptions on society has been an integral responsibility of IAVCEI as the learned international association in volcanology. In the 1990s, IAVCEI initiated the Decade Volcanoes program to encourage research on 16 volcanoes that were deemed to pose significant risks to the communities around them. Some have erupted since then, but eruptions from other volcanoes have also provided significant insights into eruption processes and phenomena. Although IAVCEI’s future looks healthy, there are ways of being more proactive in improving services to members, including improving diversity and inclusiveness, greater gender balance for all positions on the IAVCEI Executive Committee, widening the representation of nationalities that serve on the Executive Committee, increasing membership numbers to generate greater income to support scientists in need of support to participate in IAVCEI activities, and significantly lowering the fee for open access publication of research papers in IAVCEI’s masthead journal, Bulletin of Volcanology.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00445-021-01509-5.