The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

dedicated to the advancement of the

geosciences Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

History

The society was founded in Ithaca,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, in 1888 by

Alexander Winchell Alexander Winchell (December 31, 1824, in North East, New York – February 19, 1891, in Ann Arbor, Michigan) was an American geologist who contributed to this field mainly as an educator and a popular lecturer and writer. His views on evolutio ...

, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchcock, John R. Procter and Edward Orton and has been headquartered at 3300 Penrose Place,

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, US, since 1967. GSA began with 100 members under its first president, James Hall. In 1889 Mary Emilie Holmes became its first female member. It grew slowly but steadily to 600 members until 1931, when a nearly $4 million endowment from 1930 president R. A. F. Penrose Jr. jumpstarted GSA's growth. As of December 2017, GSA had more than 25,000 members in over 100 countries. The society has six regional sections in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, three interdisciplinary interest groups, and eighteen specialty divisions.

Activities

The stated mission of GSA is "to advance geoscience research and discovery, service to society, stewardship of Earth, and the geosciences profession". Its main activities are sponsoring scientific meetings and publishing

scientific literature Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research and theoretical ...

, particularly the

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

journals ''

Geological Society of America Bulletin The ''Geological Society of America Bulletin'' (until 1960 called ''The Bulletin of the Geological Society of America'' and also commonly referred to as ''GSA Bulletin'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that has been published by the Geolog ...

'', published continuously since 1889, and ''

Geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

'', published since 1973. In 2005, GSA introduced its online-only journal ''Geosphere'', and in February 2009, GSA began publishing ''Lithosphere'' (both also peer-reviewed). ''Geosphere'' and ''Lithosphere'' are open access as of 2018. GSA's monthly news and science magazine, ''GSA Today'', is also open access online. GSA also publishes three

book series A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publ ...

: ''Special Papers'', ''Memoirs'', and ''Field Guides''. A third major activity is awarding

research grant A grant is a fund given by a person or organization, often a public body, charitable foundation, a specialised grant-making institution, or in some cases a business with a corporate social responsibility mission, to an individual or another ent ...

s to

graduate student Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have ...

Position statements

GSA issues Position Statements "in support of and consistent with the GSA's Vision and Mission to develop consensus on significant professional, technical, and societal issues of relevance to the geosciences community. Position Statements, developed and adopted through a well-defined process, provide the basis for statements made on behalf of the GSA before government bodies and agencies and communicated to the media and the general public." For example, in 2006, the GSA adopted a Position Statement on ''Global Climate Change'': :The Geological Society of America (GSA) supports the scientific conclusions that Earth's climate is changing; the climate changes are due in part to human activities; and the probable consequences of the climate changes will be significant and blind to geopolitical boundaries. Furthermore, the potential implications of global climate change and the time scale over which such changes will likely occur require active, effective, long-term planning. :Current predictions of the consequences of global climate change include: (1)

rising sea level The sea level has been rising from the end of the last ice age, which was around 20,000 years ago. Between 1901 and 2018, the average sea level rose by , with an increase of per year since the 1970s. This was faster than the sea level had e ...

, (2) significant alteration of global and regional climatic patterns with an impact on water availability, (3) fundamental changes in global temperature distribution, (4) melting of polar ice, and (5) major changes in the distribution of plant and animal species. While the precise magnitude and rate of climate change cannot be predicted with absolute certainty, significant change will affect the planet and stress its inhabitants.

Past presidents

Past presidents of the Geological Society of America:

* James Hall, 1889 *

James Dwight Dana James Dwight Dana Royal Society of London, FRS FRSE (February 12, 1813 – April 14, 1895) was an American geologist, mineralogist, volcanologist, and zoologist. He made pioneering studies of mountain-building, volcano, volcanic activity, and the ...

, 1890 *

, 1891 * Grove Karl "G. K." Gilbert, 1892 * J. William Dawson, 1893 * Thomas C. Chamberlin, 1894 * Nathanial S. Shaler, 1895 * Joseph Le Conte, 1896 * Edward Orton Sr., 1897 * J. J. Stevenson, 1898 * Benjamin K. Emerson, 1899 *

George Mercer Dawson George Mercer Dawson (August 1, 1849 – March 2, 1901) was a Canadian geologist and surveyor. He performed many early explorations in western North America and compiled numerous records of the native peoples. Biography He was born in ...

, 1900 * Charles D. Walcott, 1901 * N. H. Winchell, 1902 * Samuel F. Emmons, 1903 * John Casper Branner, 1904 * Raphael Pumpelly, 1905 * Israel Cook Russell, 1906 * C. R. Van Hise, 1907 * Samuel Calvin, 1908 * G. K. Gilbert (2nd term), 1909 * Arnold Hague, 1910 * William M. Davis, 1911 * H.L. Fairchild, 1912 * Eugene A. Smith, 1913 * George F. Becker, 1914 * Arthur P. Coleman, 1915 * John M. Clarke, 1916 * Frank D. Adams, 1917 * Whitman Cross, 1918 * J. C. Merriam, 1919 * Israel C. White, 1920 * James F. Kemp, 1921 * Charles Schuchert, 1922 * David White, 1923 *

Waldemar Lindgren Waldemar Lindgren (February 14, 1860 – November 3, 1939) was a Swedish-American geologist and a founder of modern economic geology. Life Lindgren was born in Vassmolösa, Kalmar Municipality, Småland, Sweden, the son of Johan and Emma Lindg ...

, 1924 * William B. Scott, 1925 *

Andrew Cowper Lawson Andrew Cowper Lawson (July 25, 1861 – June 16, 1952) was a Scots-born Canadian geologist who became professor of geology at the University of California, Berkeley. He was the editor and co-author of the 1908 report on the 1906 San Francisco ...

, 1926 *

Arthur Keith Sir Arthur Keith FRS FRAI (5 February 1866 – 7 January 1955) was a British anatomist and anthropologist, and a proponent of scientific racism. He was a fellow and later the Hunterian Professor and conservator of the Hunterian Museum of the ...

, 1927 *

Bailey Willis Bailey Willis (March 31, 1857 in Idle Wild-on-Hudson, New York, United States – February 19, 1949 in Palo Alto, California) was a geological engineer who worked for the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and lectured at two prominent Ameri ...

, 1928 * Heinrich Ries, 1929 * R.A.F. Penrose Jr., 1930 * Alfred C. Lane, 1931 *

Reginald Aldworth Daly Reginald Aldworth Daly (May 19, 1871 – September 19, 1957) was a Canadian geologist. He is best known for being one of the first proponents of the giant-impact hypothesis of the formation of the Moon. Biography Reginald Daly was educated at th ...

, 1932 * C. K. Leith, 1933 * W. H. Collins, 1934 * Nevin M. Fenneman, 1935 * W. C. Mendenhall, 1936 *

Charles Palache Charles Palache (July 18, 1869 – December 5, 1954) was an American mineralogist and crystallographer. In his time, he was one of the most important mineralogists in the United States. Background Charles Palache came from the Pallache famil ...

, 1937 * Arthur Louis Day, 1938 * T. Wayland Vaughan, 1939 *

Eliot Blackwelder Eliot Blackwelder (June 4, 1880 – January 14, 1969) was an American geologist and educator. Known primarily as a field geologist, from 1922 to 1945 he was head of the Stanford University department of geology. He served as president of the G ...

, 1940 * Charles P. Berkey, 1941 * Douglas W. Johnson, 1942 * E. L. Bruce, 1943 * Adolph Knopf, 1944 * Edward W. Berry, 1945 * Norman L. Bowen, 1946 * A. I. Levorsen, 1947 * James Gilluly, 1948 * Chester Ray Longwell, 1949 * William Walden Rubey, 1950 * Chester Stock, 1951 *Thomas S. Lovering, 1952 * Wendell P. Woodring, 1953 * Ernst Cloos, 1954 * Walter H. Bucher, 1955 * George S. Hume, 1956 *Richard J. Russell, 1957 *

Raymond Cecil Moore Raymond Cecil Moore (February 20, 1892, Roslyn, Washington – April 16, 1974, Lawrence, Kansas) was an American geologist and paleontologist.Daniel F. Merriam (2007), "Raymond Cecil Moore: Legendary Scholar and Scientist, World-Class Geologist a ...

, 1958 * Marland P. Billings, 1959 * Hollis Dow Hedberg, 1960 * Thomas B. Nolan, 1961 * M. King Hubbert 1962 * Harry H. Hess 1963 * Francis Birch 1964 * Wilmot H. Bradley 1965 * Robert Ferguson Legget 1966 * Konrad B. Krauskopf 1967 *Ian Campbell, 1968 *Morgan J. Davis, 1969 * John Rodgers, 1970 *Richard H. Jahns, 1971 *

Luna Leopold Luna Bergere Leopold (October 8, 1915 – February 23, 2006) was a leading U.S. geomorphologist and hydrologist, and son of Aldo Leopold. He received a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 1936; an M.S. in physics-meteor ...

, 1972 *John C. Maxwell, 1973 * Clarence R. Allen, 1974 *Julian R. Goldsmith, 1975 * Robert E. Folinsbee, 1976 * Charles L. Drake, 1977 * Peter T. Flawn, 1978 * Leon T. Silver, 1979 * Laurence L. Sloss, 1980 *Howard R. Gould, 1981 * Digby J. McLaren, 1982 *Paul A. Bailly, 1983 * M. Gordon Wolman, 1984 *Brian J. Skinner, 1985 * W. Gary Ernst, 1986 * Jack E. Oliver, 1987 * Albert W. Bally, 1988 * Randolph Bromery, 1989 * Raymond A. Price, 1990 * Doris Malkin Curtis, 1991 * E-An Zen, 1992 * Robert D. Hatcher, 1993 * William R. Dickinson, 1994 *David A. Stephenson, 1995 * Eldridge M. Moores, 1996 * George A. Thompson, 1997 *Victor R. Baker, 1998 * Gail M. Ashley, 1999 * Mary Lou Zoback, 2000 * Sharon Mosher, 2001 * Anthony J. Naldrett, 2002 * B. Clark Burchfiel, 2003 *Rob Van der Voo, 2004 *William A. Thomas, 2005 *Stephen G. Wells, 2006 * John M. "Jack" Sharp Jr., 2007 *Judith Totman Parrish, 2008 *Jean M. Bahr, 2009 *Joaquin Ruiz, 2010 *John Geissman, 2011 *George H. Davis, 2012 * Suzanne Mahlburg Kay, 2013 *Harry "Hap" McSween, 2014 *Jonathan G. Price, 2015 * Claudia I. Mora, 2016 * Isabel P. Montañez, 2017 * Robbie Gries, 2018 * Donald I. Siegel, 2019 *J. Douglas Walker, 2020 * Barbara Dutrow, 2021 *Mark G. Little, 2022 *Christopher "Chuck" Bailey, 2023 * Carmala N. Garzione, 2024

Notes

References

External links

GSA Official Website
{{authority control Learned societies of the United States 1888 establishments in New York (state) Scientific organizations established in 1888 Professional associations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Colorado