visit IYPE web site
 
Q

What is IYPE?

  • Initiative of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
  • Consists of two major programs:
    • Science program—focused on complex interactions within the earth system and its long-term sustainability;
    • Outreach program—includes educational ventures at all levels.
Q

Why is it 3 years long?

  • The IYPE triennium began in 2007 with a three-continent launch of event planning, and expanded from there;
  • The focus is on 2008, but activities will continue into 2009.
Q

What is GSA doing?

  • GSA became an IYPE International Partner in 2007. GSA Past President Steve Wells served on the IYPE Board of Directors with a focus on increasing U.S. awareness and involvement in the initiative.
  • GSA helped organize a U.S. National Committee for IYPE. Participants are focused on event-planning, fund-raising, and marketing-promotion-outreach.
  • Working through the U.S. National Committee, GSA intends to establish a legacy of international cooperation on geoscience issues of global significance.


2008 Joint Annual Meeting

 

 

Joint Annual Meeting
5 - 9 October 2008,  Houston, Texas

The 2008 Joint Meeting of The Geological Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies with the Gulf Coast Section of SEPM will be a science summit event for the 2008 International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE).

Topics to be discussed in the science program which relate to the International Year of Planet Earth themes are:

  • Climate Change through Time:  Evidence in the Geologic Record
  • The Impending Global Water Crisis: Geology, Soils, Agronomy, and International Security
  • Energy Budgets and the Global Market
  • Globalization of Biogeochemical Cycles
  • Wetland and River Restoration: Environmental Saviors or Scientific Failures?
  • Coastal Impacts: Can Massive Environmental Restoration and Coastal Engineering Protect the Gulf Coast from Future Hurricane Impacts and Rising Sea Levels?
  • Geobiology and Biomineralization: From the Origins of Life to the Origin of Cities
  • Emerging Trace Contaminants in Surface and Groundwater Generated from Waste Water and Solid Waste Application
  • Carbon Sequestration: Methods, Markets, and Policy
  • Human Influences on the Stratigraphic Record

Apollo 17 Astronaut to Keynote Luncheon Event in Houston  
Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt, an Apollo 17 astronaut, will keynote an All-Convention Luncheon on Monday, 6 Oct at the Houston meeting. During the mission, he spent time on the surface of the moon, later became a U.S. Senator, and has a Ph.D. in geology.

Plan to attend the meeting to hear this exciting speaker!

volcano

“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

 

 

 

Colorado River


“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

 

Earth Day
Flyer for the
2008 Earth Day celebration
in Costa Rica.

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 of each IYPE theme.

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

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

  • American Association of Petroleum Geologists
  • American Association of State Geologists
  • American Geological Institute
  • American Geophysical Union
  • American Institute of Professional Geologists
  • Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists
  • Geological Society of America
  • International Union of Geological Sciences
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • National Ground Water Association
  • North American Committee for Stratigraphic Nomenclature
  • Northeastern Science Foundation
  • Society for Sedimentary Geology
  • Soil Science Society of America
  • United States Geological Survey

Earth Science Lecture Series

The U.S. National Committee for the IYPE will be hosing an earth science lecture series in various cities around the country. Click Here for more information.

 
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