'One Shared Place' Contest Invites Educator-Student Videos

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Geoff Camphire (gac@americangeosciences.org)

4/18/2016

Leading up to Earth Science Week 2016, the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is pleased to invite teams of educators and students to enter its new "One Shared Place" contest. Each team will submit a 30- to 90-second original video informing viewers about an outdoor place that is special in terms of geoheritage (natural features, settings, and resources formed over vast periods) and geoscience (the study of Earth systems).

Places selected for videos may range widely, including school yards, nature center grounds, parks, recreation areas, cultural landmarks, past industrial sites, and other locations. The "one shared place" chosen by each team should be a location that members have explored and experienced in some way.

"We hope that this contest will encourage people to spend more time outdoors, and to think about places in their community in new ways," says Edward C. Robeck, AGI's Director of Education and Outreach. By displaying entries for public viewing online, AGI aims to enhance public understanding of geoheritage and geoscience.

The contest, presented by AGI in partnership with the U.S. National Park Service, is open to teams of interested persons anywhere in the world. Each entry must be submitted by a "team captain" who is an educator at least 21 years old working with a team of 4-10 students of any age. 

Videos must be previously unpublished, original content and must be the sole property of the entrants, not previously submitted to any other contest. Videos may include footage shot on site, animations, computer images, drawings, data, and more. All entries must be completed in English. Technology tools for creating video entries are recommended on the contest website.

Entries are currently being accepted. The deadline for entries is August 16, 2016. Entries will be evaluated in three phases through public judging, expert judging, and final judging by AGI. Winners will be announced in October, during Earth Science Week, AGI's international public awareness campaign to promote the geosciences, which reaches over 50 million people a year. Prizes will include hundreds of dollars worth of field-based teaching supplies. AGI is grateful for the generous sponsorship of TGS.

All eligible entries must be submitted through the official entry website (https://onesharedplace.skild.com). A contest overview is provided in a brief One Shared Place Introduction video available via social media and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6po8mZtQvp8). For contest guidelines, see the One Shared Place page on the Earth Science Week website (http://www.earthsciweek.org/one-shared-place). For more information, contact Celia Thomas, AGI's Center for Geoscience & Society, Program Associate, at cthomas@agiweb.org

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The mission of the Center for Geoscience and Society at the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is to enhance geoscience awareness across all sectors of society. The Center accomplishes this by generating new approaches to building geoscience knowledge, engaging the widest possible range of stakeholders, and creatively promoting existing and new resources and programs.

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The American Geosciences Institute is a nonprofit federation of 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.