Press Release By Date

For years, scientists have used mineral, sediment and ice layers, deposited intermittently throughout geologic time, to track the global climate record. These can come from caves, lakes, the oceans and ice sheets. But over the course of the last decade a new method has been developed that presents an opportunity for geoscientists to assess global climate history in almost any arid landscape.
Thursday, May 5, 2016 - 11:27
For more than 40 years, AGI's Data Sheets have been a critical tool for the geoscientist in the field, the lab, and the classroom. For decades its bright orange cover and three-ring binding were distinctive in the geoscience community. The book evolved into its current, full-color and spiral bound format with the 2005 debut of the fourth edition.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016 - 15:47
In celebration of Earth Science Week 2016, the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is sponsoring four contests honoring this year's theme, "Our Shared Geoheritage." This year's competitions will feature the traditional photography contest, visual arts contest, and essay contest -- as well as a new video contest.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016 - 13:03
EARTH Magazine plunges into the depths of the ocean with scientists seeking whether Earth's climate and sea-level history are intrinsically linked with tectonics at mid-ocean ridges.
Monday, May 2, 2016 - 09:23
Between Utah and Colorado, there is a geographical diamond in which lies a rich collection of fossils and dinosaur footprints recording the history of when dinosaurs inhabited this region. All major ages of dinosaur life are recorded here, and for more than a hundred years, paleontologists have busily been debating which dinosaurs existed based on bones and abundant dinosaur tracks, the latter of which provide clues that allow geoscientists to interpret dinosaur daily life.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016 - 11:37
The Deep Carbon Observatory Diversity Grants program is made possible through support from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and is designed to bolster participation of traditionally underrepresented geoscientists in the United States within the Deep Carbon Observatory community. The Deep Carbon Observatory is a global research program to transform our understanding of carbon in Earth. DCO is a community of scientists, from biologists to physicists, geoscientists to chemists, and others whose work crosses these disciplinary lines, forging a new, integrative field of deep carbon science.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016 - 15:24
Leading up to Earth Science Week 2016, the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is pleased to invite teams of educators and students to enter its new "One Shared Place" contest. Each team will submit a 30- to 90-second original video informing viewers about an outdoor place that is special in terms of geoheritage (natural features, settings, and resources formed over vast periods) and geoscience (the study of Earth systems).
Monday, April 18, 2016 - 11:50
This issue, EARTH Magazine explores the world's top weather-related killer: exposure to extreme heat. Humans' response to extreme heat leads to heat stress, an illness related to the body's inability to cool itself. Humidity plays a crucial role, because as humidity increases, the ability of sweat to evaporate and cool the body decreases.
Friday, April 15, 2016 - 11:57
Although Earth Science Week 2016 will be celebrated on October 9-15, this international public awareness program offers education materials, information, and tools throughout the year. Since the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) founded the program in 1998, Earth Science Week has supported teaching and learning about Earth system science, the study of how the planet's geosphere (land), hydrosphere (water), atmosphere (air), and biosphere (life) interact.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - 13:43
Iceland is located in the North Atlantic straddling a mid-ocean ridge and possibly riding over a Hawaiian-style hot spot. This makes it is a prime geological environment for volcanoes: Iceland has more than 100 volcanoes, 33 of which are active. Iceland is also home to examples of every type of volcano on Earth, each with its own eruptive pattern. Thus, the island nation presents a special challenge to volcanologists as well as serving as an ideal natural laboratory for studying how volcanic processes evolve.
Thursday, March 31, 2016 - 13:40
In 2013, researchers uncovered the graves of two infants laid to rest about 11,500 years ago outside of what is now Fairbanks, Alaska. Researchers understood that these graves represented some of the earliest human migrants to North America, but were they more closely related to their Asian ancestors, or the modern-day residents of North and South America? Using mitochondrial DNA analysis of the infants, what could we learn about our own human history?
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 - 11:57
We're most accustomed to flooding causing levees to fail, like they did in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. So although the El Nino-induced floods are making the most news in California right now, it's not actually the floods that are threatening some California levees the most. Instead it's the severe drought over the last four years that has taken its toll on thousands of kilometers of century-old earthen levees.
Friday, March 18, 2016 - 15:15
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce the 51st edition of The Directory of Geoscience Departments.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - 12:21
A magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck Chile on Jan. 2, 2011, or so scientists thought. Now, with increasing sensor sensitivity and advances in the quantitative analysis of earthquakes, scientists have revealed that this quake was actually a doublet. This meant that instead of just one massive quake, two similarly large earthquakes struck very near to one another within seconds. The closely spaced doublet was missed by global monitoring networks during the initial aftermath of the quake, and, as EARTH Magazine explores, it presents a major challenge to earthquake and tsunami warning systems. Experts agree this is a challenge that must be brought to the forefront of seismic research.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016 - 11:13
Each day during Earth Science Week 2016 (October 9-15), science teachers, students, and the public are invited to focus on a different area of Earth science.
Monday, March 7, 2016 - 11:07
More than half of the total human population on Earth lives in urban areas, where, like rural areas, geology affects us every day. Yet when we think about "geology," most of us think of the hinterlands. That needs to change, argue the authors of a new feature in EARTH Magazine discussing what the role of urban geology is, what it can be and the potential role geoscience organizations can play in curating the geologic data revealed during construction, excavations and surveys.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016 - 13:47

Dianna McDowell, a teacher at Kemps Landing Old Donation School in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has been named the 2016 recipient of the Edward C. Roy Jr. Award for Excellence in K-8 Earth Science Teaching.

Monday, February 29, 2016 - 10:46
The American Geosciences Institute would like to congratulate Master's candidate Elaine Young and Ph.D. candidate Andrea Stevens, as the 2016 recipients of the Harriet Evelyn Wallace Scholarship.
Friday, February 26, 2016 - 14:23
As skiers hit the slopes this winter, EARTH Magazine explores the science of how to keep them and other winter explorers safe. Every year, hundreds of people are killed by avalanches. Understanding the science of the frozen environment is only part of this story; communicating the risk is a field as dynamic as the weather systems and terrains that foster avalanches.
Monday, February 22, 2016 - 11:08
Tsunami hazard maps exist for California coastlines, but recent geological studies indicated some faults may be capable of unleashing more powerful quakes than previously thought. Given this new information, researchers at the University of California Riverside wondered if the current tsunami hazard maps adequately predict inundation zones, or if they need to be updated.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - 14:41

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