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.

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.

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.

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.

As part of the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) collaboration with American Geophysical Union on its Earth and Space Sciences Heads and Chairs Program, AGI is pleased to announce the availability of a recorded webcast of the September 20, 2012 webinar focused on Student Recruitment strategies for geosciences programs.

The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) and the National Park Service (NPS) invite you to participate in the third annual National Fossil Day on October 17, 2012 during Earth Science Week (October 14-20). National Fossil Day brings together paleontologists, educators, and students from across the country to participate in fossil-related events and activities in parks, classrooms, and online!

The probability that a given natural hazard could become a natural disaster is higher today than at any previous point in history, largely because of population growth putting more people and infrastructure in harm's way. Who pays for the damage and how is value and risk assessed? Much of it comes down to insurance and reinsurance agencies, which are relying more and more on sophisticated catastrophe modeling tools to help gauge when the next disaster will strike, and how much it will cost.

Diesel-soaked clothing, 90-hour work weeks, and the constant groaning of a multimillion-dollar oil rig towering overhead: Welcome to life in Williston, N.D., home of the United States' latest oil boom. In this month's issue of EARTH Magazine, R. Tyler Powers, a young geologist thrust into the middle of the new boomtown, offers his perspective on what life is like today in the new Wild West.

Celebrate the first-annual Geologic Map Day! On October 19, as a part of the Earth Science Week 2012 activities, join the American Geosciences Institute (AGI), the Association of American State Geologists (AASG), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in promoting the importance of geologic mapping to society.

With less than two months before Election Day, AGI and its federation of 50 professional geoscience societies have come together again to provide a list of critical issues and policy recommendations for the next presidential administration. The document, Critical Needs for the Twenty-first Century: the Role of the Geosciences, is meant to inform policymakers of the unique knowledge, experience, and ingenuity of the geoscience community, and to address some of society's most pressing issues.