Background: Critical minerals and materials are key components of the innovation economy. Minerals are a part of almost every product we use on a daily basis, either as the raw materials for manufacturing processes or as the end products themselves. Advanced technologies for communications, clean energy, medical devices, and national security rely on raw materials from mines throughout the world. In 2010, China curtailed exports of rare earth metals and sparked major concern about the security of global supply chains for a range of vital minerals and materials.

Speakers highlight:

• Research on locating and processing the minerals and materials that fuel cutting-edge technology and manufacturing across the United States
• The role of information on the global supply of, demand for, and flow of minerals and materials in identifying critical minerals and supporting economic and strategic decision making.

Our speakers are:

• Lawrence D. Meinert, Mineral Resources Program, U.S. Geological Survey | Slides  Video
• Steven M. Fortier, National Minerals Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey | Slides  Video
• Rod Eggert, Colorado School of Mines; Critical Materials Institute, Ames Laboratory | Slides  Video

Webinar Co-Sponsors:

American Chemical Society, American Exploration & Mining Association, American Physical Society, Critical Materials Institute, Geological Society of America, Industrial Minerals Association -North America, Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Society of Economic Geologists, U.S. Geological Survey

Resources to learn more:

•  View this webinar's Question & Answer session
• American Geosciences Institute, Critical Minerals information portal
• U.S. Geological Survey, National Minerals Information Center (NMIC)
• U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Resources Program
• U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Resources Program and NMIC Publications webpage
• Critical Materials Institute
• National Research Council's 2008 report, Minerals, Critical Minerals, and the U.S. Economy
• U.S. Department of Energy's Critical Materials Strategy
• U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5220: The Principal Rare Earth Elements Deposits of the United States - A Summary of Domestic Deposits and a Global Perspective
• U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2011-2094: Rare Earth Elements - End Use and Recyclability
• Watch the Webinar Question & Answer session on YouTube

Search the Geological Surveys Database for reports and factsheets about critical minerals.

Background: As the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased over recent history, so has the acidity of oceans worldwide. The changing acidity of the ocean has many ecological and economic impacts, one of the most serious being its effects on marine life and fisheries. The impact of ocean acidification is intensified in colder bodies of water such as those off the coast of New England, a region with a large fisheries sector. These impacts have already been recognized on both coasts, with the Washington, Maine, and Maryland state legislatures commissioning reports on ocean acidification and marine life/fisheries. In 2015, the Massachusetts Legislature also introduced a bill to establish a taskforce to investigate the impact of increasingly acidic waters off the coast of Massachusetts on commercially harvested or grown marine species.

Our speakers include:

• Bärbel Hönisch, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory/Columbia University | Slides  Video
• Jon Hare, NOAA Fisheries Narragansett | Slides  Video
• Hauke Kite-Powell, Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution | Slides  Video

Webinar Co-Sponsors:

Consortium for Ocean Leadership, NOAA Ocean Acidification Program, Northeast Coastal Acidification Network

CEU Credits

To earn CEU credits, please complete the associated on-demand GOLI course that was developed from this webinar with a grade of 70% or higher and then submit your application for CEUs. CEUs are awarded from the American Institute of Professional Geologists. To view the full list of on-demand GOLI courses, please browse the GOLI course catalog.

Resources to learn more:

•  View this webinar's Question & Answer session
• Ecosystem Status Report for the Northeast Large Marine Ecosystem, NOAA Fisheries Science Center
• NOAA’s Climate Change Web Portal
• NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OSF-3: Methodology for Assessing the Vulnerability of Marine Fish and Shellfish Species to a Changing Climate
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Fisheries Global Seafood Production Data Set
• List of additional peer-reviewed journal publications mentioned in the webinar presentations (download pdf)
• National Research Council, 2010, Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean

Search the Geological Surveys Database for reports and factsheets about ocean acidification.