“The aim of the International Year of Planet Earth is to demonstrate new and exciting ways in which Earth sciences can help future generations meet the challenges involved in ensuring a safer and more prosperous world.”

— Earth Sciences for Society

 

 

“The initiative will seek to raise the awareness of the contribution to, and role of, the Earth sciences in society in the minds of politicians, decision-makers, the media, and the general public.”

— Earth Sciences for Society

IYPE U.S. Lecture Series The U.S. National Committee for the IYPE will be hosting an earth science lecture series in various cities around the country.     • See current list of IYPE lectures     • How to submit your lecture

Colorado

• 2008 NGWA/U.S. EPA Remediation of Abandoned Mine Lands Conference,
  Denver, Colorado, 2–3 October

Connecticut

• Exhibition: Phenomenal Weather,
  Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut, 8 March–30 November 2008
• Exhibition: Climate Change: From Snowball Earth to Global Warming,
  Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut, 28 June–9 November 2008

Nevada

• 2008 NGWA Ground Water Expo and Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2–5 December

Ohio

• NGWA Geothermal and Horizontal Drilling Forum: Diversification and Cross-Training Strategies, Columbus, Ohio, 25–26 August

Oregon

• NGWA International Conference on Nonrenewable Ground Water Resources, Sociotechnological Aspects of Nonrenewable Ground Water Resources: Half-Empty, Half-Full, Top-Down, Bottom-Up, and Some Paths Forward, Portland, Oregon, 13–14 October

Texas

IYPE Highlights at the Joint Annual Meeting 5-9 Oct., Houston

• 2008 GSA | SSSA | ASA | CSSA | GCAGS Joint Annual Meeting, Houston, Texas, 5–9 October. >> VIEW DETAILS >>
  
• Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Organic Chemicals in Ground Water: Prevention, Detection, and Remediation® Conference, Houston, Texas, 3–4 November
• Houston Geological Society, IYPE Committee and webpage

Washington D.C.

• Soil: Sustaining Life on Planet Earth
  18 July 2008  Sponsored by: USNC/SS, the Soil Science Society of America, and the IUSS
• Smithsonian Institution Exhibit:  Dig It! The Secrets of Soil
  National Museum of Natural History

Education & Research Themes of the IYPE

• Groundwater—Toward sustainable use
• Hazards—Minimizing risk, maximizing awareness
• Earth & Health—Building a safer environment
• Climate—The “stone tape”
• Resources—Toward sustainable use
• Megacities—Going deeper, building safer
• Deep Earth—From crust to core
• Ocean—Abyss of time
• Soils—Earth’s living skin
• Earth & Life—Origins of diversity

Click here for a full description on each theme.

A prospectus and downloadable brochure on each theme is available at www.yearofplanetearth.org

The overall theme for the Year is Earth Sciences for Society, with a purpose to:

• Reduce risks to society caused by natural and human-induced hazards
• Reduce health problems by improving the understanding of the medical aspects of Earth science
• Discover new natural resources and make available in a sustainable manner
• Build safer structures and expand urban areas utilizing natural subsurface conditions
• Determine the non-human factors in climatic change
• Enhance the understanding of occurrences of natural resources in order to contribute to efforts to reduce political tension
• Detect deep and poorly accessible ground-water resources
• Improve the understanding of the evolution of life
• Increase interest in the Earth sciences in society at large
• Encourage more young people to study the Earth sciences at universities

Participating Organizations and Members of the U.S. National Committee for the IYPE

• American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
• American Association of State Geologists (AASG)
• American Geological Institute (AGI)
• American Geophysical Union (AGU)
• American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG)
• Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists (AEG)
• Geological Society of America (GSA)
• International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• National Ground Water Association (NGWA)
• North American Committee for Stratigraphic Nomenclature (NACSN)
• Northeastern Science Foundation (NESF)
• Society of Sedimentary Geology (SEPM)
• Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)
• United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• Bruce Museum of Arts and Science