ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- The countdown to the first Earth Science Week has begun. Mark your calendars now for the Oct. 11–17 celebration. AGI invites its member societies and academic and corporate affiliates to join state and federal agencies, science teachers, and geoscientists in celebrating the first annual Earth Science Week and the institute's 50 years of federation in the geoscience community. To date, the governors of Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Ohio have already issued Earth Science Week proclamations. The establishment of an annual celebration of the earth sciences is based on other national science- recognition weeks like National Chemistry Week in November (started by the American Chemical Society) and National Engineers Week in February (started by the National Society of Professional Engineers).

"The goal for Earth Science Week," says AGI president Susan Landon, "is to have every geoscientist in the country do something in their community to promote the earth sciences." AGI will sponsor the annual Earth Science Week, serve as a clearinghouse of ideas for activities, and provide support materials that make it easy for geoscientists to participate. Earth Science Week has enormous potential for increasing public awareness and understanding of the importance of the earth sciences in our lives, says coordinator Julie Jackson.

The focus of Earth Science Week is on activities that will occur within individual communities. A common theme uniting each state's proclamation of Earth Science Week is the recognition that an understanding of geology and the earth sciences can help citizens make wise decisions for land management and use, is crucial to addressing environmental and ecological issues, and provides the basis for preparing for and recovering from natural disasters. The annual October celebration will give geoscientists and earth-science organizations repeated opportunities to:

Give students new opportunities to discover earth sciences,

Highlight the contributions that earth sciences make to society,

Publicize the message that earth science is all around us,

Encourage stewardship of Earth, and

Develop a mechanism for geoscientists to share their knowledge and enthusiasm about Earth and how it works.

Many Earth Science Week activities will focus on education. AGI has recently published a colorful 18" x 24" poster on Geoscience Careers, and will produce a second poster in time for Earth Science Week. The first module of EarthWorks!, a set of middle-school student and teacher activities on soils, will be available in time for Earth Science Week, as will a general interest booklet on soils that is part of AGI's Environmental Awareness series.

For ideas on how to participate in Earth Science Week, visit the Earth Science Week web site at http://www.earthsciweek.org or contact Julie Jackson through AGI. Phone: (703) 379- 2480. E-mail: jaj@agiweb.org. Some suggestions from Landon are: leading a field trip, visiting a classroom, talking to a community group, writing an article, hosting an open house, and working with a scout or other youth group.