Photo courtesy of T im Ray V antage Point Imagery 1 GETTING ST AR TED Introduction to the Geological Society of America In its 1 25 th anni ver sary year the Geological S ociety of America GS A has grown along with the times while staying true to its mission as a stew ard of the geosciences F ounded in 1 888 by some of the great geologists of the day including J ames Hall J ames Dwight Dana and Alexander Winc hell the S ociety relocated from New Y ork to Boulder Colorado in 1 968 and in 1 972 mo ved across town into what has become a oneofakind solar paneled building In k eeping with GS A s mission to be a leader in advancing the geosciences the S ociety of fer s its 250 0 0 member s a variety of publications whic h include toprank ed journals Geology GS A Bulletin Geosphere Lithosphere En vironmental Engineering Geoscience and the science and news pub lication GS A T oday It also publishes four wellrespected books series Field Guides Special P aper s Memoir s and R eviews in Engineering Geology Bac k in 1 890 GS A Bulletin w as the fr st GS A journal to mak e it into the hands of geologists Now reader s access the latest developments in geology with online aheadofprint ar ticles and use their smar tphones to view paper s via mobileoptimiz ed sites Alw ays progressi ve and forw ardthinking GS A continuously looks for w ays to promote the geosciences and to pro vide services to its world wide member ship via social networks including T wit ter F acebook Link edIn and smar tphone apps In vesting in the future of the geosciences is a k ey component of GS A s mission as it celebrates its 1 25 th year Through its Education and Outreac h and Employment S ervice programs the S ociety of fer s numerous resources for di ver se groups within the geosciences including students job seek er s looking to advance in geoscience or geosciencerelated career paths geoscience educator s and member s of the public GS A member s have access to employment assistance and mentor programs and are also encouraged to apply for feld program aw ards and travel grants and enroll in shor t cour ses Through www geosociety org educate K1 2 educator s may download lesson plans and programming ideas GS A along with man y par tner s and sponsor s fuels interest in geologic features with Ear thCac he This program allows an yone with a GPS unit to locate and study these features around the world As GS A celebrates 1 25 year s of service to the worldwide community of geoscientists whether in academia industry policy or for students in preparation for one of these career s its annual meet ing remains a touc hstone for the geoscience community at large S eventeen specialty di visions