Future directions for understanding the coevolution of life and oxygen

Our understanding of the coevolution of Earth’s surface environment and the biosphere is built on 50+ years of data collection and interpretation. Given the addition of data, and reinterpretations of mechanisms that drive observed long-term trends of planetary oxygenation, it is necessary to continually assess and critically review the status quo of our field in order to make meaningful progress as a global scientific community. Here we provide results of a survey, from globally distributed experts (n = 133; defined by a first author peer-reviewed publication between June 2017–2022, or co-authorship on several related peer-reviewed manuscripts) which was widely distributed during June-November 2022. This survey asked where our understanding of Earth’s oxygen history needs to be better developed and where our community should focus our efforts. Here we discuss avenues for future research, including key target intervals of Earth history, useful proxies that may require further development and/or a more nuanced section/sample-specific approach to data interpretation. Our hope is that this publication will stimulate future international collaboration and interdisciplinary research, whilst also providing support for funding grants that aim to investigate aspects of Earth history that lack clarity or are widely regarded as being poorly constrained.