Alexandria, VA - Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are predicting at least seven Atlantic hurricanes this year, with as many as five matching Ivan’s destructive force. An unprecedented four hurricanes struck Florida in rapid succession during the fall of 2004. Since 1900, tropical storms making landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast have caused more than $100 billion in damages (adjusted to 2004 dollars). Over the past 30 years coastal population growth has quadrupled; more than 69 million people now reside along the hurricane prone coastlines in the United States. [Read More]

This winter has brought unusually deep snow packs to the Sierra Nevada, and torrential rains to California. Even though 2004 was a wet year for much of the Southwest, the effects of the multi-year drought are not over. It will take years of high-precipitation to counter the many years of drought that the west has experienced. In an already stressed environment, with growing population and long-term drought, water resources are in short supply and will need sound management to meet present and future needs. [Read More]

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The American Geological Institute’s (AGI) Executive Director, Marcus Milling, has been awarded the prestigious Association of American State Geologist’s (AASG) Pick and Gavel Award. Commissioned by the members of AASG, the Pick and Gavel Award is presented to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to advancing the role of geoscience in public policy and who have supported AASG’s mission in government affairs. Dr. Marcus Milling was chosen as this year’s recipient for his tireless efforts to unite the geoscience community on issues of information, education and public policy. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - The American Geological Institute (AGI) has released a report on the state of introductory geoscience enrollment in the United States during the 2003-2004 academic year. Typically, introductory courses are viewed as one of the major recruitment tools for the field of geosciences. This survey was intended to establish a baseline metric of enrollments in general geoscience courses and how they translate into recruitment of majors.* Conducted between October 2004 and February 2005, the survey was sent to 676 geoscience departments to determine the numbers of students enrolled in various categories of introductory geoscience courses during the 2003-2004 academic year. [Read More]

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The latest edition of the Directory of Geoscience Departments (DGD)—the definitive source for information about college and university geoscience departments in the United States and in 51 countries—has just been published by the American Geological Institute (AGI). The Directory of Geoscience Departments, 43rd Edition, provides a state-sorted listing of 1,169 geoscience departments, including museums, research departments and institutes and their faculty and staff. Of the 903 U.S. geoscience departments listed, 879 grant degrees. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA — The American Geological Institute (AGI) announces the appointment of Dr. Linda R. Rowan as the new Director of the Government Affairs Program. Previously a senior editor with Science magazine, Dr. Rowan will continue to build AGI’s dedication and leadership in representing the geoscience community in Washington, and to serve as an information source for federal policymakers. Dr. Rowan, who earned her graduate degrees from the California Institute of Technology in geology, has also been a Resident Research Associate with the NASA-Johnson Space Center where her work focused on the origin of meteorites. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA — The American Geological Institute (AGI) has released the tenth edition of the GeoRef Thesaurus. The reference includes 21,700 index terms, of which approximately 1,250 are new. Scientists and researchers can consistently rely on the GeoRef Thesaurus to obtain the most useful and accurate literature searches of the GeoRef database. It is a guide to the index terms used by GeoRef, which contains over 2.6 million bibliographic citations and abstracts covering all of the geoscience disciplines and allied environmental sciences. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - Through a cooperative agreement between the American Geological Institute (AGI) and Geoscience Australia, AusGeoRef, an online database of geoscience references is now available. The bibliographic database is drawn from the existing GeoRef database, established in 1966, which provides access to over 2.6 million references to journal articles, books, maps, conference papers, reports and theses. AusGeoRef differs in that it only includes references to Australian geology or work done by Australian scientists. [Read More]

Alexandria, VA - In light of the recent tsunami disaster in Indonesia and other parts of Asia, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the American Geological Institute (AGI), is providing copies of the Global GIS DVD-ROM to U.S. Department of State-led teams traveling to Humanitarian Information Centers in affected areas. The Global GIS, a large digital map database, provides datasets of historical seismicity, topography, geology, population density, roads, political boundaries, airfields and utility lines among others. [Read More]