Celebrate National Fossil Day on October, 15 2014

PDF versionPDF version

Celebrate National Fossil Day on October, 15 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Geoff Camphire (gac@americangeosciences.org)

10/9/2014

You are invited to join in celebration of the 5th Annual National Fossil Day on Wednesday, October 15, 2014.  National Fossil Day is organized by the National Park Service as part of AGI’s Earth Science Week to promote public awareness and stewardship of fossils, with the goal of inspiring the next generation of paleontologists and fossil enthusiasts. On National Fossil Day, scientists and park rangers will share fossil discoveries at special events nationwide and explain the importance of preserving fossils for future generations.

AGI will participate in events to be held at The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The program, free and open to the public, will begin with opening remarks from museum and National Park Service officials followed by a gathering of grade-school children who will recite the “Junior Paleontologist Pledge” on the mall steps of the museum. Events at the museum will include a “Wheel of Fossilization” game hosted by AGI -- find your organism’s fossilization fate!

In addition to the Smithsonian Institution and AGI, partner supporting this National Fossil Day event include the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey, National Science Foundation, National Geographic, Maryland Dinosaur Park, U.S. Forest Service, Calvert Marine Museum, Dinosaur Valley State Park, Chesapeake Children's Museum, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Several of these partners will have additional fossil-related activities on-site at the museum. To learn more about National Fossil Day, please see http://nature.nps.gov/geology/nationalfossilday/.

###

Reaching over 50 million people annually, Earth Science Week has been led by AGI in cooperation with its sponsors and the geoscience community since 1998. Earth Science Week 2014 will be celebrated October 12-18. To learn more, please visit http://www.earthsciweek.org/. To order your Toolkits, please visithttp://www.earthsciweek.org/materials/index.html. You may also call AGI Publications to place your order at 703-379-2480.

The American Geosciences Institute is the global leader in geoscience information. AGI is a nonprofit federation of 49 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 250,000 geologists, geophysicists and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society’s use of resources, resiliency to natural hazards, and interaction with the environment.

Press Release PDF: