American Geosciences Institute’s Critical Issues program

The Arizona Geological Survey’s winter e-magazine features an article about the American Geosciences Institute’s Critical Issues program (www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues).

The aim of this AGI program is to pioneer a new approach to sharing societally-relevant science with state and local decision makers. “Here in Arizona, we are sharing this with state and local decision-makers to help them wrap their heads around the complex issues involving groundwater, geologic hazards, and sustainable natural resource management.”

The program aims to support connections and communication between the geoscience community and decision makers. Although the program caters to decision makers at all levels, it particularly focuses on state and local decision makers because these stakeholders are commonly underserved by geoscience policy efforts.

The program convenes meetings, such as the AGI Critical Issues Forum, but its main interface is a web-based platform of resources that bring the expertise of the geoscience community to decision makers by offering a curated selection of information products from sources that include state geological surveys, federal and state agencies, and AGI’s member societies.

The Critical Issues program offers the following freely accessible information services:

Research database: Over 4,000 publications primarily from state geological surveys and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Webinars: Free webinars on a variety of topics that bring geoscientists and decision makers together to discuss potential solutions to challenges at the interface of geoscience and society.

Maps & Visualizations: 144 interactive maps and visualizations covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Case studies: A new product that is coming online in Spring 2017. Specific applications of geoscience to societal problems.

Fact Sheets: A new product that is coming online in Spring 2017. Provide more in-depth information on the big issues.

Frequently Asked Questions: 105 questions on topics including: climate, energy, hazards, mineral resources, and water.