Once again 2023 was an incredible year for everyone at the European Geosciences Union, with over 4700 scientific articles submitted to our 19 public peer-reviewed and open access journals, and over 16000 presentations discussing cutting edge and critical aspects of the Earth, planetary and space sciences delivered at EGU23! These things were only possible because of the creativity, dedication and enthusiasm of the over 13500 volunteers who donated their time last year, to whom EGU wants to say a resounding ‘Thank you’!

EGU’s volunteers are active in many areas of the Union, from the 9509 people who generously participate in our open access publications process, either as editors, reviewers or moderators of EGU’s preprint repository EGUsphere.

Many of you will have interactions with one of the 3451 volunteers who help organise the annual General Assembly, either as conveners or co-conveners of sessions, as members of the Programme Groups who co-ordinate the scientific content of the meeting, or in a range of other roles.

Apart from this, our volunteers choose the focus and direction of the Union, often as one of the 304 people who work tirelessly with one or more of our ten Committees and Working Groups overseeing everything from the Union’s efforts to improve Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, our Finance and Executive strategies, to the Education and Outreach support we provide to science communicators and teachers.

Underpinning all the work that we do at EGU is a strong commitment to supporting both fundamental and applied geoscience research, that addresses key societal and environmental challenges. This commitment is structured by the activities of our 22 scientific Divisions, formed of 308 volunteers at every career stage, from the Early Career Representatives to the Division Presidents and members of Council.

EGU’s Executive Secretary Philippe Courtial summed up the thanks of the Union, “As a bottom-up, member led, non-profit organisation, EGU is incredibly grateful to the thousands of volunteers who share their time, ideas and passion with their community. Without our volunteers directing the activities of the Committees, representing the voices and interests of the various Divisions, supporting our open access, public peer-review publishing and co-ordinating the focus and structure of the annual General Assembly, EGU wouldn’t be able to provide the level of support for our researcher community that we currently enjoy.”

Thank you so much to all the volunteers from 2023!

The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is Europe’s premier geosciences union, dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences for the benefit of humanity, worldwide. It is a non-profit interdisciplinary learned association of scientists founded in 2002 with headquarters in Munich, Germany. The EGU publishes a number of diverse scientific journals that use an innovative open access format and organises topical meetings plus education and outreach activities. Its annual General Assembly is the largest and most prominent European geosciences event, attracting more than 16,000 scientists from all over the world. The meeting’s sessions cover a wide range of topics, including volcanology, planetary exploration, the Earth’s internal structure and atmosphere, climate, energy, and resources.