AMERICA’S GEOHERITAGE WORKSHOP II: IDENTIFYING, DEVELOPING, AND PRESERVING AMERICA’S NATURAL LEGACY--WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS

The America’s Geoheritage Workshop II: Identifying, Developing, and Preserving America’s Natural Legacy was convened by the U.S. National Committee for Geological Sciences (NASEM/BISO). Goals of the workshop were to: 1) survey the status of Geoheritage (GH) across America and provide opportunities for participants to share interests, experiences, and resources; 2) develop a shared vision for GH and demonstrate the value of GH in research, education, and for the general public; 3) identify resources needed to identify and develop GH sites in communities across the country; 4) build a community of geoscientists and collaborators to promote GH and, 5) encourage the use of GH sites by researchers, educators and the general public. The workshop was in two parts: Part I consisted of a fall 2020 Distinguished Speakers Webinar series of eight webinars with presentations by thirty speakers on topics including a global vision for GH and relation of U.S. initiatives to international programs; a survey of GH activities in the U.S. (federal agencies and state geological surveys); GH and cultural heritage, economic development and geotourism; and GH in education and in research initiatives. The list of speakers, titles, and video recordings of the webinars are posted at https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/americas-geoheritage-ii-a-workshop. Part II consisted of a January 2021 virtual writing workshop attended by ~100 participants from across diverse interests in geoscience and allied disciplines. The introductory plenary session provided an overview of historical and ongoing international and U.S.-based GH initiatives. Workshop participants contributed to 12 focus groups and 3 ad hoc topical discussion groups, with time allotted for group discussions and for personal in-depth exploration of these topics. The list of focus groups and report outs of group findings can be found at https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/01-10-2021/americas-geoheritage-workshop-ii-identifying-developing-and-preserving-americas-natural-legacy-part-ii-geoheritage-virtual-writing-workshop. The workshop proceedings will be posted at www.nap.edu. This workshop was supported by NSF, NPS, and USGS with co-sponsorship by AASG, AGI, GSA, NAGT, and NESTA.