from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to launch the AGU Ethics and Equity Initiative, a collaboration among the AGU and the National Center for Professional and Research Ethics at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. The initiative will tackle issues around sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination by developing new educational resources and tracking tools to measure impact. In December 2022, AGU punished climate scientists Rose Abramoff and Peter Kalmus for misconduct, who interrupted a plenary session of the annual Fall Meeting with a call for scientists to engage in protest against climate change. AGU removed their research presentations from the meeting, banned them from participation, launched a misconduct inquiry, and complained to Abramoff's employer, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Kalmus and Abramoff further claimed that AGU threatened to have them arrested if they returned to the meeting. Abramoff was fired by Oak Ridge in January 2023. Corporate sponsorship In 2014, the AGU accepted 5469 gifts, grants and pledges from individuals and corporations. Of these, the 1919 Society (gifts of over $100,000) included ExxonMobil, Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Management International, and Nature's Own. AGU also was found to have many annual events sponsored by corporations, including an annual Student Breakfast (supported by ExxonMobil) and Amazon Web Services supported research grants and that offer access to its cloud computing resources. In 2015, the AGU Board approved a new Organizational Support Policy. The policy covers subjects such as advertorials and member surveys. It requires that partnerships contribute to AGU's mission, vision and goals and that the AGU "apply vetting to ascertain that partners are not engaged in false misinterpretations of science." The sponsorship of AGU by ExxonMobil became a source of concern for many members after evidence surfaced that ExxonMobil had known about climate change for decades but had actively worked to undermine climate science. On February 22, 2016, a letter signed by 100 scientists was delivered to the AGU, requesting that they cut all ties with ExxonMobil and other companies that foster climate misinformation. The AGU Board of Directors met on 22 April 2016 and voted to continue accepting sponsorship from ExxonMobil, arguing that there was not unequivocal evidence that ExxonMobil continues to participate in climate misinformation. Instead of making a short-term political statement, the Board wished to engage with the energy industry over the long term. In response, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Ted Lieu sent a critical letter saying that ExxonMobil