Alexandria, VA - Big Ideas in Geoscience, a DVD created by AGI to bring the Nine Big Ideas from the Earth Science Literacy Principles to life, has just won three prestigious awards: Digital Video (DV) Winner in Education, DV Winner in Nature/Wildlife and Videographer Award of Excellence. These video awards are the latest in a series AGI has garnered over the last few years for its video productions. These include six Telly Awards, six Videographer Awards, two Marcom Awards, and now four DV Awards. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is sponsoring three national contests in celebration of Earth Science Week 2012, which honors this year’s theme “Discovering Careers in the Earth Sciences.” This year’s competitions include a photography contest, a visual arts contest, and an essay contest. The photography contest, “Earth Science is a Big Job,” is open to students, geologists, and the general public. Entries must be composed of original, unpublished material and should capture how Earth scientists work in your community. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - In the Late Quaternary, Australia was home to an array of megafauna, including the half-ton Palorchestes azael, the rhinoceros-sized Diprotodon, and even the giant koala, Phascolarctos stirtoni, which roamed Australia’s interior. However, between 50,000 and 45,000 years ago, they all vanished. Although recent studies indicate human colonization as a potential cause of their extinction, the exact mechanism has never been resolved. Now, geologist Gifford Miller from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his colleagues believe they have uncovered the answer. [Read More]

The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is now accepting advance orders for the Earth Science Week 2012 Toolkit. The Earth Science Week 2012 Toolkit contains educational materials for all ages that correspond to this year’s event theme, “Discovering Careers in the Earth Sciences.” Materials include the traditional program poster and school-year activity calendar, as well as exciting materials from distinguished program partners such as the National Park Service, NASA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Esri, and professional geoscientific societies. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - Global seismic hazard maps exist to help societies and decision-makers anticipate and prepare for earthquakes. These maps are supposed to depict the maximum level of ground shaking likely to be produced by an earthquake in a given area. In the past decade, however, ground motions and death tolls in areas struck by earthquakes have far exceeded these maps’ projections. Thus, scientists are calling into question the standard methods used to estimate seismic risk, and accepted assumptions and calculations have come under fire. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - The Geoscience Academic Provenance research series conducted by Houlton presents quantitative data in Geoscience Currents 59. Participants were asked to rate their feelings toward geoscience on a scale from 1 to 7 through a Likert-based survey. The aggregated responses illuminated the changes over time in students’ attitudes toward pursuing geoscience. A copy of Geoscience Currents 59 can be found online and downloaded here. Geoscience Currents are quick snapshots of data released by AGI on the status of the geoscience workforce, representing data collaborations with other societies, employers, and professionals. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - The American Geosciences Institute has released Geoscience Currents 60, which examines female enrollments and degrees in the geosciences over time. In 2011, the Current concludes, female participation in U.S. geoscience degree programs remained generally steady. After decades of steady growth in the rate of female participation, there has been little change since 2005. Several interesting trends are also noted, including declines in doctorates awarded following economic downturns, and that women appear to have slightly higher degree completion rates than men at the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels. [Read More]

In 2010, the world reached a milestone: The number of people living in urban areas reached 50 percent. This monumental shift from rural to urban living comes with consequences. Growing urban populations will have to learn to efficiently deal with increased demands for energy, transportation, sanitation, food and water while balancing the environmental impacts of such densely populated regions. Currently, 75 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels come from cities, which cover just 3 percent of Earth’s land surface. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) has started a free GeoWord of the Day service. In celebration of the release of the revised 5th edition Glossary of Geology for the Kindle and Nook platforms, this new initiative aims to provide a fun and convenient way to learn a new geoscience term every day. Starting May 9, 2012 (US ET), the service will highlight a new word or term featured in the Glossary of Geology, an authoritative source for geoscience terms and definitions. [Read More]

Volcanism is often implicated in periods of abrupt cooling. After the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, for instance, global temperatures dropped by half a degree Celsius due to air-borne particulate matter blocking solar radiation. However, these effects don’t normally last more than a few years. Yet, a recent study blames volcanism for a 500-year cold period referred to as the Little Ice Age. Beginning around the end of the Middle Ages and lasting into the early 19th century, unusually cold conditions blanketed much of the Northern Hemisphere. [Read More]