2020 Environmental Science: Water GRC Abstract The goal is to support the Gordon Research Conference on Environmental Sciences: Water to be held June 28 – July 3, 2020 in Holderness, NH. The 2020 conference theme is Innovative Science for the Grand Challenges in Aquatic Environmental Sciences and will feature a program of thought-provoking research by leading researchers in the field of water quality science and technology. The conference will bring together 190 participants from multiple countries in an immersive and informal setting. The program will feature a series of plenary talks by established and emerging researchers as well as daily poster sessions by conference attendees. The overarching theme of the 2020 conference recognizes that many of the challenges we face in the aquatic sciences rely on our ability to work at the intersections of traditional disciplines, especially as we strive to develop solutions and technologies to meet these challenges. This meeting will delve deeply in a variety of topics, including the stresses to water quality caused by resource extraction and global change, the health hazards caused by persistence organic pollutants, and new technologies including innovations in data management to help guide scientific understanding. Specific aims of the conference are: 1) To feature a scientific program that links water quality issues, the protection of human health, and sustainability of environmental resources through a plenary program of leading researchers from difference fields and perspectives; 2) To advance discovery while promoting teaching, training, and learning by offering a platform for graduate student and postdoctoral researchers to present their research at the full conference as well as provide a venue for informal interactions between senior scientists and students and broad participation of scientists from groups underrepresented in science and engineering; 3) To provide a conference that fosters discussion and debate of research results, through close interaction of participants from academia, industry, and government laboratories; and 4) To promote broad participation of researchers from a diverse background, both through the speaker selection and through special GRC funding mechanisms that encourage the participation of underrepresented groups. Funds will be used to support the attendance of invited plenary speakers as well as graduate student and postdoctoral trainees. Outcomes related to the quality of the scientific program, discussion, management, and atmosphere will be evaluated through surveys of conference attendees. 1