Enthusiasm for Arizona Science & Technology Festival

Nearly a hundred people showed up at the ASU SkySong center in Scottsdale earlier this week to plan for Arizona's first Science & Technology Festival set for next February during the state's centennial. During the breakout sessions, over 400 concepts were proposed, discussed, sorted and analyzed. One of the top ranked ideas is the science of tourism in Arizona including geology and mining.

The SciTech Fest is scheduled to take place in February 2012 in conjunction with the state's centennial. Most of the activities are set for the Phoenix valley but those of us in Tucson are talking about satellite events down here in Baja Arizona.

Arizona mining events to be co-located this year

Jim White told the audience at the recent SME Tucson dinner meeting that the 2011 American Mining Hall of Fame Banquet, Fundraiser, and Awards Ceremony, presented by the Mining Foundation of the Southwest, will be held Saturday, December 3, 2011 at Starr Pass Marriott Resort in the Tucson Mountains. The SME 2011 Arizona Conference will be held at the same location on December 4-5. This is the first time that the two events will be co-located.

The 2011 Inductee to the American Mining Hall of Fame is reported to be Laurence Golborne, Chilean Minister of Mining. Jim said they hope to have the rescue capsule on display that was used to bring the 33 miners to the surface last year in Chile.

Arizona ranked 24th in clean energy leadership

Arizona ranks 24th in the second annual U.S.
Clean Energy Leadership Index from the group Clean Edge, based on 70 indicators in technology, policy, and capital.

"Key market indicators tracked by Clean Edge include total electricity produced by clean-energy sources, hybrid and electric vehicles on the road, clean-energy venture and patent activity, and policy regulations and incentives."

The top 10 states in the ranking are California, Oregon,
Massachusetts, New York, Colorado, Washington, New Mexico, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Vermont

Geologic mapping project approved

AZGS Senior Geologist Jon Spencer was notified today that our Statemap proposal to the USGS was approved for $189,853 in funding, beginning in Sept. There was intense competition for funding this year and we did not get as much as we requested, so Jon will modify our work plan to conform to the funds we'll receive. AZGS will match the federal money, one-to-one.

We proposed 1:24,000 quadrangle maps in three areas: Artillery Mountains in western Arizona, Prescott, and Stafford. The areas were selected and prioritized by our State Mapping Advisory Committee, composed of map-user representatives from state and federal agencies and industry.

The USGS peer review panel's comments on the proposal were positive :

• Overall the proposal was very well written with well-defined priorities.
• Excellent Advisory Committee letter and well balanced membership.
• Panel appreciated the “Analysis of AZGS mapping costs for STATEMAP maps.”
• Proposal included excellent map and was well illustrated.

The Statemap component is slated to be preferentially cut in the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program FY12 budget. We have contacted the AZ congressional delegation asking for their support of the program.

Sagan Medal to ASU's Jim Bell for excellence in science communications

Professor Jim Bell, planetary scientist at Arizona State University, is the 2011 recipient of the Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communication in Planetary Science. The prize is named after the distinguished planetary scientist Carl Sagan (1934-1996), who through public lectures, television, and books, contributed significantly to the public’s understanding of planetary science. [right, credit DPS-AAS]

The Sagan Medal was established by the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society to recognize and honor outstanding science communication contributions by an active planetary scientist to the general public. It is awarded to scientists whose efforts have significantly contributed to a public understanding of, and enthusiasm for, planetary science. Bell is the twelfth recipient of the Sagan Medal and the first from Arizona State University.

Bell has been heavily involved in many NASA robotic space exploration missions, including the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rover, Mars Odyssey Orbiter, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Mars Science Laboratory rover mission. As a member of the Mars Exploration Rover team, he has served as the lead scientist in charge of the Panoramic camera color, a stereoscopic imaging system on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers.

He is a frequent contributor to popular astronomy and science magazines like Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, and Scientific American, and to radio shows and internet blogs about astronomy and space. He has appeared on television on the NBC “Today” show, on CNN’s “This American Morning,” on the PBS “Newshour,” and on the Discovery, National Geographic, and History Channels. He has also written three photography-oriented books that showcase some of the most spectacular images of Mars and the Moon acquired during the space program: “Postcards from Mars” (Dutton/Penguin, 2006), “Mars 3-D” (Sterling, 2008), and “Moon 3-D” (Sterling, 2009).

In addition, Bell is president of the Planetary Society, the world’s largest public membership space exploration advocacy organization. The Carl Sagan Medal will be presented to Bell during the DPS 2011 meeting, Oct. 3-7, in Nantes, France.

[taken from the ASU news release]

Spring sidewalk sale today at AZGS Tucson mapstore

Swing by the AZGS Map/Book Store in downtown Tucson today to snap up bargains in our Spring Sidewalk Sale.

From 10 am to 3 pm, books and gifts are reduced 10-50%. Hundreds of out-of-date topo maps are on sale for pennies on the dollar. We have free parking.

In addition to our sale items, we sell all USGS topographic maps - more than 1900 quadrangles -- and BLM Surface Management maps for Arizona. Map prices are identical to those of USGS - $8.00 per 7.5' topographic quadrangle (1:24,000 scale), $9 for 30'x60' USGS TM-series map and BLM-Surface Management map (1:100,000 scale).

AZGS is located at 416 W. Congress, one block east of I-10 in the State Office Complex. Parking is available behind the building.

New State Geothermal Data web site rolled out

The AZGS managed State Geothermal Data project web site rolled out softly yesterday. A lot of it is aimed at project members - 45 state geological surveys and partners - but there is plenty for the geothermal community and interested readers.

StateGeothermalData.org has received a makeover, adding functionality and improved communications for sub-recipients of the State Geothermal Data Project and the public. For the public, this site provides a comprehensive overview of the project, automatic feeds to the most up-to-date and relevant news on geothermal energy, and access to all publicly available data on the State Geothermal Data Project including Webinars, White Papers, and completed deliverables.

Members have the ability to access information on all stages of Data Delivery, including the data development cycle, technical discussions, user scenarios, vocabularies, and content model templates. They will also be able to login to access the member’s repository, forums, and to upload reports and deliverables. The recorded webinars and training, as well as presentations from various conferences and invited talks, will also be available to project members and are being uploaded to the State Geologists YouTube channel.

This is a working version of a site that we plan on expanding continuously. Comments and suggests are welcome!

Kudos to AZGS webmaster par excellence Pam Barry-Santos for the new site (and the AZOGCC site among other makeovers).