EarthScope National Office Education and Outreach Program: 2013 Update on Activities and Outcomes

The EarthScope Program (www.earthscope.org) funded by the National Science Foundation, fosters interdisciplinary exploration of the geologic structure and evolution of the North American continent by means of seismology, geodesy, magnetotellurics, in-situ fault-zone sampling, geochronology, and high-resolution topographic measurements. Data and findings from EarthScope continue to transform geoscientific studies throughout the Earth, enhance understanding and mitigation of hazards, and inform applications of geoscience toward environmental sustainability. The EarthScope Program also marshals significant resources and opportunities for education and outreach (E&O) in the Earth system sciences. The EarthScope National Office (ESNO) at Arizona State University serves all EarthScope stakeholders, including the EarthScope Steering Committee, researchers, educators, students, and the general public. ESNO supports and promotes E&O through social media and web-hosted resources, newsletters and published articles, E&O workshops for informal educators (interpreters), assistance to grassroots K-12 STEM teacher professional development projects (typically led by EarthScope researchers), continuing education for researchers, collaborations with other Earth-science E&O providers, and biannual national conferences. The EarthScope E&O program at ESNO leads and supports wide dissemination of the data, findings, and legacy of EarthScope. Notable activities in 2013 include expansion of social-media and web-based content, two Interpretive Workshops in the eastern United States, the Great ShakeOut, the EarthScope National Meeting in Raleigh, and continuing partnerships with affiliated E&O providers. The EarthScope National Office is supported by the National Science Foundation under grants EAR-1101100 and EAR-1216301. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.