AGI Director of Scholarly Information Sharon Tahirkheli Retires

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) announces the retirement of longtime AGI Director of Scholarly Information Sharon Tahirkheli.

Tahirkheli retires, effective March 31, 2023, following a career of more than 30 years of leadership within AGI and the field of geoscience information. She has served as AGI Interim Executive Director as well as the director overseeing GeoRef, AGI’s premier bibliographic database for the geosciences, as well as other information products and services such as the Glossary of Geology, additional online databases, and open geoscience information collections. She was instrumental in establishing GeoScience World, an aggregate of linked and interoperable earth science journals, and participated in the development of the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) and the Multilingual Thesaurus of Geosciences.

Tahirkheli authored numerous publications and served as speaker at professional conferences, meetings, and workshops. She is a past president of the Geoscience Information Society (GSIS) and was honored with the GSIS Mary B. Ansari Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes significant contributions to the geoscience information profession.

“Sharon’s many contributions to AGI’s effectiveness and success over the decades are appreciated deeply, and she will be missed by her coworkers and friends here,” said AGI Executive Director Jonathan Arthur. “True to form, Sharon is leaving AGI’s Department of Scholarly Information in the capable hands of staff well-prepared to manage ongoing operations.”

Following Tahirkheli’s departure, Tia Colvin, a 25-year member of the AGI staff, will serve as Interim Director of Scholarly Information. Serving previously as Associate Editor, Colvin has been substantively engaged in many functions of AGI’s Department of Scholarly Information.

For questions, please contact AGI Communications’ Geoff Camphire at gac@americangeosciences.org.