The 2012 Carbon Cycle Science Steering Group (CCSSG) meeting will be held at the National Science Foundation in Balston, Virginia on May 24-25, 2012. The CCSSG, established by the Carbon Cycle Science Interagency Working Group (CCIWG), is a group of scientific experts involved in carbon cycle research and applications, from diverse organizations (e.g., federal, state, university and non-government), to provide individual scientific, societal, and stakeholder input to the CCIWG as it coordinates carbon cycle science and applications within the U.S. federal government and also to assist current and future activities of the USGCRP’s Global Carbon Cycle Program.