“Geoheritage awareness is essential for all citizens of the planet, who are the 21st-century inheritors, managers, and protectors of a vast wealth of irreplaceable natural treasures, billions of years in the making.”
Katelyn Murtha, an AGI outreach associate, works with a student to understand how seismographs can detect motion in the Earth during Earth Science Week 2015. Image Credit: Katelyn Murtha/AGI
This year’s event, celebrated Oct. 9-15, will promote awareness of the many ways that science helps us understand, appreciate, and make the most of our geoscience heritage, or as it is also known, our “geoheritage.”
Geoheritage is the collection of natural wonders, landforms, and resources that have formed over eons and come to this generation to manage, use, and conserve effectively. Geoheritage locations are valued for many reasons, including scientific, economic, ecological, educational, cultural, aesthetic, artistic, and recreational purposes.
Earth Science Week 2016 includes learning resources and activities to engage young people and others in exploring geoheritage throughout the Earth systems, including the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. This year’s theme promotes public understanding and stewardship in many areas, including Earth science, energy, paleontology, water quality, conservation, and climate science.
“Earth Science Week 2016 celebrates ‘Our Shared Geoheritage,’ a concept that has become a rallying cry for geoscience-related efforts worldwide,” says Geoff Camphire, manager of outreach for the American Geosciences Institute (AGI). “Geoheritage awareness is essential for all citizens of the planet, who are the 21st-century inheritors, managers, and protectors of a vast wealth of irreplaceable natural treasures, billions of years in the making.”
Geoheritage sites, features, and resources are studied not only with the five senses, but also through sciences and technologies such as seismology, economic geology, remote sensing, mapping, computer modeling, and Earth observation.
Reaching more than 50 million people annually, AGI leads Earth Science Week in cooperation with its sponsors and the geoscience community as a service to the public. Each year, community groups, educators, and interested citizens organize celebratory events. Earth Science Week offers opportunities to discover the Earth sciences and engage in responsible stewardship of the Earth.
Earth Science Week is supported by many organizations, including the U.S. Geological Survey; the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Foundation; the National Park Service; NASA; Esri; the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration; the Geological Society of America; and the American Geophysical Union; Association of American State Geologists; Howard Hughes Medical Institute; and the Archeological Institute of America.
For more about Earth Science Week 2016 and ways to get involved — including newsletters, local events, and classroom activities — see the Earth Science Week website or contact Geoff Camphire.