AGI Announces Earth Science Week 2007 Theme: The Pulse of Earth Science

This year marks the tenth annual Earth Science Week. Ann E. Benbow, Ph.D., AGI Director of Education and Outreach, says: “After a decade of promoting awareness of the geosciences, now is the perfect time to ’take the pulse’ of earth science. We’ll take stock of recent advances and declines in earth science education nationwide and provide the tools for the professional geoscience community to participate in state-by-state data collection. We will also be highlighting several international research and outreach efforts in the geosciences.”

This year also marks the start of the International Polar Year (IPY) and the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE), of which AGI is a Founding Partner. These two major initiatives will generate geoscience research and awareness integral to earth science’s impact on society, making it central to this year’s Earth Science Week. In addition to IPY and IYPE, Earth Science Week will coincide with the International Heliophysical Year (IHY) and the International Electronic Geophysical Year (eGY).

AGI hosts Earth Science Week annually in cooperation with its sponsors as a service to the public and the geoscience community. Each year, local groups, educators, and interested individuals organize celebratory events. Earth Science Week offers the public opportunities to discover the earth sciences and engage in responsible stewardship of the Earth. Earth Science Week is supported by the U.S. Geological Survey, the AAPG Foundation, and other geoscience organizations.

To learn more about this week, ways to become involved, and to link to related international science years, please go to the Earth Science Week website at http://www.earthsciweek.org.