| 2012 News Releases |
Geoscience Currents 59 Quantifies Attitudes toward Pursuing Geoscience
In continuation of the Geoscience Academic Provenance research series conducted by Houlton (Geoscience Currents 45-48, and 57-58), Geoscience Currents 59 presents quantitative data collected from participants through a Likert-based survey. Participants were asked to rate their feelings toward geoscience on a scale from 1 to 7. The aggregated responses illuminated the changes over time in the students’ attitudes toward pursuing geoscience.
Posted 05/16/2012 |
AGI Launches GeoWord of the Day
In celebration of the release of the revised 5th edition Glossary of Geology for the Kindle and Nook platforms, the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) has started a free GeoWord of the Day service.
Posted 05/09/2012 |
EARTH: Volcanoes Sparked - And Prolonged - The Little Ice Age
Volcanism is often implicated in periods of abrupt cooling. After the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, for instance, global temperatures dropped by half a degree Celsius due to airborne particulate matter blocking solar radiation. However, these effects don’t normally last more than a few years. Yet, a recent study blames volcanism for a 500-year cold period referred to as the Little Ice Age.
Posted 05/09/2012 |
Geoscience Currents 57 Examines Engagement Factors of U.S. Geoscience Majors
AGI conducted a follow-up study to research conducted by Houlton (Geoscience Currents 45-48) in a Geoscience Currents series that examines the various pathways taken by undergraduate geoscience majors when deciding to concentrate in the Earth sciences.
Posted 05/08/2012 |
Glossary of Geology now available as an e-book for Kindle and Nook
The revised 5th edition of the Glossary of Geology, published by the American Geosciences Institute, is now available as an e-book for the Kindle and the Nook. The e-book version provides users with the full layout and text of the Glossary for half the price and none of the pounds of the print edition.
Posted 05/07/2012 |
EARTH: North Star Loses Mass but Still Shines Bright
The North Star, the Pole Star, the Guiding Star, Polaris: Its many names reflect the many centuries humans have gazed northward to it for guidance. However, recent studies have shown that the North Star is losing mass at a significant rate. Will Polaris, steadfast beacon for early sailors and adventurers alike, vanish from the night sky?
Posted 05/03/2012 |
AGI Examines U.S. Geoscience Enrollments and Degrees in 2010-2011
Enrollments and degrees in the geosciences in the United States dipped during the 2010-2011 academic year as detailed in the latest Geoscience Currents published by the American Geosciences Institute. After peaking the year before, enrollments slipped back to 2008-2009 levels with undergraduate geoscience enrollments dropping about 8 percent and graduate enrollments falling approximately 3 percent. Degrees similarly declined, with Bachelor’s degrees dropping 9 percent, Master’s dropping 6 percent, and Doctorates dropping 4 percent.
Posted 05/02/2012 |
EARTH: Mobile Mapping with Lidar hits the Road
A new generation of lidar, or Light Detection and Ranging technology, is bringing the laser-based survey method down to Earth. The new technology involves mounting instruments atop cars, boats and even backpacks. These new mobile mapping systems will give geoscientists a whole new way to map and study the world.
Posted 04/26/2012 |
EARTH: Managing the Seismic Risk Posed by Wastewater Disposal
The debate over hydraulic fracturing has recently focused on the rise in seismicity throughout the primarily stable interior of the United States. These intraplate regions, though not unfamiliar with earthquakes, have been experiencing an increased amount of seismic activity in the last decade. This unusual increase is likely to be caused in part by wastewater disposal practices related to natural gas production. With such a sensitive issue it is important to keep the facts in perspective.
Posted 04/18/2012 |
EARTH: U.S. Navy Navigates a Sea Change in the Arctic
The idea that the Arctic is changing is not breaking news. Sea-ice extent has been declining by 12 percent per decade since 1979, and the ice is thinning too. Because of this, new shipping routes are becoming accessible during the summer months, and the Arctic is beginning to attract parties interested in resource exploration, scientific research and tourism. Therefore, a more accessible Arctic not only means environmental changes, but also changes in our economy and our national security.
Posted 04/17/2012 |
Dr.Sven Treitel to Receive the AGI Marcus Milling Legendary Geoscientist Medal
Dr. Sven Treitel has been named the 2012 recipient of the Marcus Milling Legendary Geoscientist Medal. David Monk, President Elect for the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), will accept this prestigious award on behalf of Treitel as part of the awards ceremony at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Meeting in Long Beach, California on April 22.
Posted 04/16/2012 |
EARTH: Foretelling Next Month's Tornadoes
Tornadoes are notoriously difficult to forecast, with often deadly results: In 2011, tornadoes in the U.S. killed more than 550 people, a higher death toll than in the past 10 years combined. Now a new study on short-term climate trends offers a fresh approach to tornado forecasting that may give people in tornado-prone regions more warning that twisters may soon be descending.
Posted 04/03/2012 |
EARTH Magazine Now Provides Digital Access for Institutional Subscribers
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce that, effective immediately, institutional subscribers to EARTH Magazine can now register for IP-based access for their users to view the full content of EARTH Magazine digitally. This option allows for seamless IP-based access for library users to PDF copies of all issues of EARTH. Print copies of the magazine will continue to be provided to all institutional subscribers unless they specify that they no longer wish to receive print copies. Perpetual access all subscribed issues of EARTH is provided with this feature.
Posted 03/28/2012 |
EARTH: La Niña Could Set the Stage for Flu Pandemics
What do changes in weather and stressed-out birds have to do with your health? In a study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Jeffry Shaman of Columbia University and Marc Lipsitch of Harvard University are beginning to see a new link between La Niña conditions and outbreaks of the flu that could help governments and public health officials determine when the next pandemic will strike.
Posted 03/26/2012 |
AGI Announces the Release of the Directory of Geoscience Departments, 47th Edition in Print and as an e-Book
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce that the new edition of its cornerstone reference, The Directory of Geoscience Departments, has just been published. The new 47th edition is currently available as an e-book for the Kindle, iBookstore, and Nook, and will be available in print directly from our website (http://www.agiweb.org/pubs/pubdetail.html?item=800801) or through amazon.com starting April 2, 2012.
Posted 03/23/2012 |
EARTH: Danger in Paradise - the hidden hazards of volcano geotourism
Beautiful views and exotic thrills draw millions of tourists to volcanic sites each year. Previously frequented by smaller numbers of experienced hikers and trained tour guides, today’s volcanic sites are plagued by throngs of novice hikers, who are often ill-prepared and uneducated about the risks of volcano geotourism. These groups of vacation-goers often display a lackadaisical attitude about safety that can put their lives at risk.
Posted 03/20/2012 |
AGI Supports National Groundwater Awareness Week
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is proud to support National Groundwater Awareness Week, March 11-17, 2012. National Groundwater Awareness Week—sponsored by AGI member society the National Ground Water Association (NGWA)—promotes the responsible stewardship of groundwater through education and outreach initiatives that help make society aware of this life-sustaining resource.
Posted 03/08/2012 |
2012 Recipient of the Edward C. Roy, Jr. Award for Excellence in K-8 Earth Science Teaching Announced
Meg Town, a teacher at Redmond Junior High School in Redmond, Washington, has been named the 2012 recipient of the Edward C. Roy, Jr. Award for Excellence in K-8 Earth Science Teaching. Town, who earned her master's degree in education from the University of Washington, has spent her career challenging middle and junior high school students with inquiry-based, hands-on learning in the Earth sciences. Earth science is, she says, "the most touchable science."
Posted 03/06/2012 |
EARTH: Undressing Vesta
Since last July, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has been orbiting the asteroid Vesta, and capturing images and other data that are providing surprising results to the delight and amazement of researchers. Dawn’s mission is to help reveal the processes and conditions that marked the first few million years — the dawn — of the solar system; and the information the spacecraft has collected about Vesta is changing the way scientists think about the formation of our early universe.
Posted 03/06/2012 |
EARTH: Listening for Gas Bubbles
What if we could cheaply and efficiently detect a potent new energy source, while also monitoring for environmental safety? Olivier Carrière, a physicist in the Marine Physical Laboratory at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and other researchers are using the symphony of sound produced in the ocean to do just that.
Posted 02/29/2012 |
EARTH: Gold, Lead and Death in Nigeria
Throughout the Zamfara region in northwestern Nigeria, children are dying at an alarming rate. What exactly could be causing such an epidemic? The answer lies in the unique geology.
Posted 02/21/2012 |
EARTH: Unearthing Antarctica's Mysterious Mountains
Buried more than a kilometer beneath the East Antarctica Ice sheet, the Gamburstev Subglacial Mountains have proven to be a geological puzzle for more than 5 decades. How did these mountains form? When did they form? And what makes this ancient mountain range one of the least-understood tectonic features on Earth?
Posted 02/07/2012 |
EARTH: Dangerous Dust
What would you do if you found out that the roads you drive on could cause cancer? This is the reality that residents face in Dunn County, North Dakota. For roughly 30 years, gravel containing the potentially carcinogenic mineral erionite was spread on nearly 500 kilometers of roads, playgrounds, parking lots, and even flower beds throughout Dunn County.
Posted 02/02/2012 |
EARTH: Tracking Plastic in the Oceans
Humans produce over 260 million tons of plastic each year. Almost a third of that plastic goes into disposable, one-time-use items, and only about 1% of it is recycled globally. Where does the rest of the plastic go? How does it interact with our environment? And how will it impact us in the future? In this month’s issue of EARTH Magazine, follow the fate of many plastics as they make their way from our homes to our planet’s oceans.
Posted 01/30/2012 |
Geoscience Online Learning Initiative (GOLI) Webinar on Critical and Strategic Minerals
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) in coordination with the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) presents the second webinar as a part of the Geoscience Online Learning Initiative (GOLI). The webinar, entitled Critical and Strategic Minerals: Concepts and Status will air on February 1, 2012 at 2:00 pm EST.
Posted 01/25/2012 |
Earth Science Week 2012 Theme Announced: "Discovering Careers in the Earth Sciences"
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce that the theme of Earth Science Week 2012 will be "Discovering Careers in the Earth Sciences." This year's event will boost awareness about the geosciences and the many exciting career and job opportunities in the field.
Posted 01/24/2012 |
EARTH: Setting off a Supervolcano
Supervolcanoes are one of nature’s most destructive forces. In a matter of hours, an eruption from a supervolcano can force thousands of cubic meters of molten rock above ground, and scar landscapes with massive calderas and craters. These catastrophic eruptions have a global impact, and yet scientists still do not fully understand them. Today, a team of scientists studying Bolivia’s Uturuncu volcano are trying to shed some light on how supervolcanoes can become so powerful.
Posted 01/19/2012 |
AGI and AIPG Team Up to Launch the Geoscience Online Learning Initiative (GOLI)
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) and the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) have teamed up to launch the Geoscience Online Learning Initiative (GOLI). This joint effort seeks to build a portfolio of online learning opportunities to help support the professional development of prospective and early-career geoscientists as well as addressing topics of interest to the broader geoscience profession.
Posted 01/13/2012 |
EARTH: Source Code - The Methane Race
What is the lifespan of a natural gas deposit? How quickly is our planet’s permafrost melting? And does life exist on other planets? Although seemingly unrelated issues, the answers to these questions are linked. And in this month’s issue of EARTH Magazine, scientists show that we may be closer to answering them than we think.
Posted 01/11/2012 |
AGI to Host a Professional Development Workshop for Underrepresented, Early-Career Minorities Pursuing Faculty-Track Positions
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI), in collaboration with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), is hosting a professional development workshop for underrepresented, early-career minorities interested in careers in research and academia. The workshop, entitled Developing a Diverse Professoriate: A Professional Development Workshop for Underrepresented-Minority, Early-Career Faculty in the Geosciences, will be held in the Washington D.C. area from Wednesday, April 4 through Friday, April 6, 2012.
Posted 01/11/2012 |
Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences (CFES) to Become AGI's Third International Associate
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) welcomes the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences (CFES) as the third member of the International Associates Program. Established in 2010, AGI’s International Associates (IA) Program provides professional geoscience organizations based outside of the United States with a way to develop a formal collaborative and informational relationship with the Institute.
Posted 01/09/2012 |
EARTH: Afghanistan's Mineral Resources Laid Bare
Geologists carrying rock hammers and accompanied by Marines traverse the rugged expanse of the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, searching for untold mineral wealth. Although the nature of Afghanistan’s mineral deposits is not unique in the world, the country’s deposits are largely untouched. Will Afghanistan be able to utilize these minerals to rebuild the war-torn nation? Join EARTH Magazine in our January issue as we examine Afghanistan’s mineral wealth and the implications it holds for the country’s future.
Posted 01/05/2012 |
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