Alexandria, VA- When Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 19, 1972, it marked the end of spaceflight to the moon. The science, however, continues. Armed with analytical techniques not available in the 1970s, researchers around the country have been re-examining the more than 380 kilograms of lunar rocks collected four decades ago during the Apollo missions. Using new investigations, such as petrographic and chemical composition studies and updated solar radiation and engineering measurements, these “cold case” scientists, many of them young innovators, are extracting new knowledge about our nearest celestial neighbor. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA — Much like our voices create sound waves with a variety of low and high pitches, or frequencies, earthquakes produce seismic waves over a broad spectrum. The seismic waves’ frequencies determine, in part, how far they travel and how damaging they are to human-made structures. However, the inaccessibility of fault zones means that very little is known about why and how earthquakes produce different frequencies. With the help of a new tabletop model, scientists have now identified how a process known as fault healing can shape seismic waves and potentially alter their frequencies. [Read More]

As the Colorado River winds through the Colorado Plateau’s soft sedimentary strata, it picks up a tremendous amount of sediment. This sediment — which once left the river’s waters so muddy that Spanish explorers christened it El Rio Colorado “the reddish river” — is a vital component to the unique ecosystems of the river. However, with the construction of the Hoover and Glen Canyon dams, which trap the sediment, the once-turbid waters have become a dazzling blue-green, signaling major changes with serious implications for the health of the river’s native [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is proud to support National Groundwater Awareness Week, March 10-16, 2013. Groundwater is a crucial source of fresh water for society, both in terms of potable water, agricultural, and industrial needs. The United States alone uses 79.6 billion gallons of groundwater per day for public and private drinking water, irrigation, livestock, manufacturing, mining, thermoelectric power, and other purposes. While freshwater accounts for less than 3% of all water on Earth, groundwater makes up roughly 99% of that 3%. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA — Beginning today, the Federal Government’s discretionary spending accounts will be cut by $85 billion through the rest of the fiscal year. These across-the-board spending reductions, known as the sequester, were first proposed in 2011 as a penalty so severe they would force Congress to work together to solve the nation’s deficit woes. Unfortunately, no agreement on a package of replacement cuts or additional revenue in time to avoid the sequester has been made. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) and American Geophysical Union (AGU) have released a recording of the latest AGU/AGI Heads and Chairs webinar. This month’s session focuses on legal issues related to field trips and field courses. Although field work is acknowledged as an integral part in geoscience education and research, it exposes geoscience departments to legal and safety liabilities. The video provides preemptive tips to conduct a safe field trip or course by minimizing risk and liability through careful planning. [Read More]

On June 5, 2012, a massive dock made landfall on Oregon’s Agate Beach, just north of Newport. The dock carried with it a host of castaways, including as many as a hundred species of mollusks, anemones, sponges, oysters, crabs, barnacles, worms, sea stars, mussels and sea urchins. A placard on the side written in Japanese revealed that the dock had been unmoored from the Japanese coastal city of Misawa during the catastrophic tsunami on March 11, 2011, bringing with it an essentially intact subtidal community of Asian species to the Pacific Northwest. [Read More]

Kelly M. Deuerling, a Ph.D. candidate and NSF Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Florida, was selected as the first recipient of the new scholarship dedicated to increasing the number of women in geoscientific professions. Deuerling was selected for her outstanding contributions to her field, extracurricular activities, and strong participation in the geoscience community. Deuerling is a highly accomplished geoscientist with a wide range of field experiences, lab skills, grants, and awards to support her research, as well as a publication in review. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - The American Geosciences Institute is pleased to announce the release of its award-winning Faces of Earth series on YouTube in full High Definition. “As part of our mission to promote awareness of the geosciences, AGI is moving aggressively into the areas where the general public is, especially students,” says AGI Executive Director, Dr. P. Patrick Leahy. “We hope this will also enable wider use of these assets in both university and K-12 classrooms around the world. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA — Nathan Shotwell, a teacher at Holman Middle School in Glen Allen, Virginia, has been named the 2013 recipient of the Edward C. Roy, Jr. Award for Excellence in K-8 Earth Science Teaching. Shotwell, who earned his Master’s degree in Education from Virginia Commonwealth University, has spent his career challenging middle- and junior-high school students with what he calls “authentic problems” and inquiry-based learning in the Earth sciences. [Read More]