Alexandria, VA - The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) welcomes three new Executive Committee members: Berry H. (Nick) Tew, Jr., President-Elect; Dorian Kuper, Secretary; and Jacqueline Huntoon, Member-At-Large. The new members of the AGI Executive Committee will be installed at the Friends of AGI Reception during the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. Berry H. (Nick) Tew, Jr. is the State Geologist of Alabama and Director of the Geological Survey of Alabama. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA — The American Geosciences Institute’s (AGI) Geoscience Policy program has launched a new webpage detailing the estimated impacts of the impending sequestration on federal geoscience funding. The sequestration, set to take effect on January 2, 2013 unless Congress agrees on a path to avoid it, could severely impact geoscience research and development (R&D) across the board. The new Geoscience Policy page outlines data acquired from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) R&D Budget and Policy Program brief, “Federal R&D and Sequestration in the First Five Years. [Read More]

On October 22, 2012, in L’Aquila, Italy, six seismologists and one Italian government official were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison. The seismologists and official had been on trial for not adequately warning the public about the danger of a potential earthquake prior to the L’Aquila earthquake in April 2009 that killed 309 people. Central to the question of manslaughter was whether there was a direct link between the reassuring statements of the commission on which the defendants served and the deaths from the earthquake. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - Dennis Trombatore, long-time member and Chair of the GeoRef Advisory Committee, has been named the 2012 winner of the William B. Heroy Award for Distinguished Service to the American Geosciences Institute. Trombatore will be honored for his illustrious service at the AGI Past President’s Dinner held during the Geological Society of America (GSA) meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 4, 2012. Mr. Trombatore received his B.A. and MLS from Louisiana State University in 1975 and 1977, respectively. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA — The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce Dr. Sharon Mosher as its 2013 President. She will be inducted at the Friends of AGI Reception held during the Geological Society of America’s Annual Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 5, 2012. Mosher is currently Dean and the William Stamps Farish Chair at the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin. She received degrees in Geology from the University of Illinois at Urbana (B. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - The U.S. Geological Survey’s website states it in no uncertain terms: “There is no such thing as ’earthquake weather.” Yet, from at least the time of Aristotle, some people have professed links between atmospheric conditions and seismic shaking. For the most part, these hypotheses have not held up under scientific scrutiny and earthquake researchers have set them aside as intriguing but unfounded ideas. However, in the last decade new efforts to identify effects of weather-related, or in some cases climate-related, processes on seismicity have drawn new interest. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce Dr. Thomas H. Jordan as the 2012 winner of the Outstanding Contribution to the Public Understanding of the Geosciences Award. Professor Jordan is recognized for his contributions to science and his efforts to increase public awareness of earthquake processes, probabilities, preparedness, and risk at an international level. Jordan received his degrees in Geophysics (B.S. 1969, M.S. 1970) and Geophysics and Applied Mathematics (Ph. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA — The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is proud to announce that Dr. Gordon E. Brown, Jr. is the 2012 recipient of the Ian Campbell Medal for Superlative Service to the Geosciences. Dr. Brown, the Dorrell William Kirby Professor of Earth Sciences and Professor of Photon Science at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, is recognized for his contributions as a scientist, educator, administrator, and public servant. He will receive this prestigious award at the Geological Society of America (GSA) Awards Ceremony at the GSA Annual Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 5, 2012. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is accepting nominations for the Edward C. Roy Award for Excellence in Earth Science Teaching. Given annually, this award is presented to one full-time K-8 teacher in the U.S. or U.K. whose excellence and innovation in the classroom elevates students’ understanding of the Earth and its many processes. Applicants will be judged based on their dedication to and enthusiasm for teaching, as well as their expertise in crafting and delivering Earth science instruction to their students. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - The Arctic is getting warmer and wetter. As temperatures rise and sea ice melts, scientists suspect that system feedback cycles may further speed up the warming process. Now, a new study out of the University of Colorado at Boulder is showing how shifting patterns of humidity may bring about changes in the Arctic atmosphere: The new study compiled data from the 1950s through the present to examine the subtle changes in the Arctic atmosphere over time. [Read More]