Earth Science Week 2009

Earth Science Week started yesterday, and I noticed that not a single thing is listed under "What's Going On" for the entire state of Nevada. (I also noticed in general that much of the Earth Science Week website is still focused on 2008, with many links either broken or linking to events and sites from last year.)

Actually, I've been a little bamboozled by Earth Science Week this year. It almost always overlaps with the Annual GSA meeting, which is of no concern to me in years when I don't go. This year, however, I am going, so I inconveniently didn't plan anything for Earth Science Week.

I belatedly noticed that the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology (NBMG) scheduled their Earth Science Week field trips for this last weekend, meaning that the field trips ran on Saturday and Sunday, October 10th and 11th. And I missed out! I have gone on these field trips on more than one occasion, and have found them enjoyable. They are open to the public, and kids, families, and school teachers are especially welcome. Local geologists from the Geological Society of Nevada (GSN), accompany the trip as informal field trip guides to help answer questions (and to learn more about new areas they might not have visited).

This year's field trip was called "Digging Deeper into the Comstock." An online road log is available, so you can take the trip on your own sometime (or at least part of it), whenever it is convenient.

Next year, I'm going to have to mark my calendar much earlier in the year. I had assumed that the field trips would run while I was away at GSA, so by the time the announcement came out, I had already made other plans. And, anyway, the last month turned out to be a little hectic in some ways.

Because I'm not doing anything for Earth Science Week myself this year, I'd like to point you to a few sites of interest:

• Kim at All My Faults are Stress Related has a few ideas, including:
• Donating to the Geobloggers DonorsChoose challenge, which is highlighted and described by Anne at Highly Allochthonous, and
• Michael at Through the Sandglass describes the Earth Science Literacy Initiative's (ESLI) nine Big Ideas in terms of, you guessed it, sand!

I hope you find something of interest!

UPDATE: This post has been submitted to Accretionary Wedge #21 on Earth Science Outreach.

Accretionary Wedge #21: Earth Science Outreach