Earth Systems Science, Inc.

Geotechnologies featured in Nature Magazine

Mar 15, 2004

The following message below from the Association of American Geographers (with ESSI editorial inserts in brackets) is just one more sign that ESSI is on the right track!

The key difference with ESSI is our community-based environmental education approach rather than the traditional education system of schools, colleges, and universities. ESSI brings geotechnologies directly to the people at the neighborhood level.

----AAG message
The recent (January 22, 2004) Nature magazine article, "Mapping Opportunities," identifies geotechnologies as "one of the three most important emerging and evolving fields," along with biotechnology and nanotechnology. The article, published in perhaps the world's leading scientific journal, demonstrates to university administrators, [students, and the public,] the growing importance of geography both within the university and in society.

The article also focuses on the need to strengthen and expand geography departments within the university to help prepare students for these rapidly expanding future employment opportunities. Importantly, "Mapping Opportunities" emphasizes repeatedly the fact that students need a deep understanding of underlying geographical concepts to work effectively in the growing geotechnologies fields. As larger numbers of talented students are attracted to geography courses or majors, geography will have a new opportunity to present the full breadth and range of the discipline and its traditional strengths to them as well.

The article is available on the AAG website at http://www.aag.org/nature/nature.htm.
----end of AAG message---