Earth Science Week Update, February 2026

 

Earth Science Week 2025 Recap

Earth Science Week (ESW) 2025 took place during October 12-18 to celebrate the theme “Energy Resources for the Future.” The week featured events that are estimated to have engaged millions of people around the world. Check out a quick summary of ESW 2025 so far: “Reach of ESW 2025” flyer. There are still opportunities to engage with Earth Science Week 2025:

• There are still 2024 and 2025 Earth Science Week Toolkits available in a double-pack from the AGI Storefront.
• Explore online resources on the ESW Online Toolkit.
• Watch the 2026 ESW Webinar Series Recordings.
• Tell us about an ESW week event you hosted or attended so it can be featured in the ESW 2025 Highlights Report. Please email information, news clips, and images to info@earthsciweek.org.

 

2025 ESW Contest Winners

AGI received nearly 350 entries to the 2025 Earth Science Week (ESW) Contests. Submissions were carefully considered in light of the ESW theme, “Energy Resources for Our Future.”

The 2025 winners are:

• Photo Contest: Ethan Li of Shanghai, China, won first place with a striking image that captures energy in motion through the convergence of industry, infrastructure, and landscape, highlighting the contest theme, “Capturing Energy in Motion.”

• Visual Arts Contest: Charles Yang of Newbury Park, California, won first place with a creative and intentional drawing that spells out “EARTH” using interconnected scenes and symbols to represent natural systems and diverse forms of energy while depicting the theme, “A World of Energy Possibilities.”

• Essay Contest: Annabelle Ash of Virginia Beach, Virginia, won first place with a well-researched essay on the theme “The Power of Tomorrow,” explaining Kinetic Floor Technology and its potential as a sustainable energy solution, effectively connecting scientific principles to real-world applications and environmental impacts.

Please visit the ESW Contest page to see the winning submissions as well as the finalists for each contest.

 

Earth Science Week 2025 Social Media Campaign

For 2025, AGI continued to expand on the ESW social media campaign to highlight ESW Focus Days, educational resources from the 2025 ESW Partners and AGI Member Societies. Overall, posts relating to ESW 2025 reached over 120,000 views and nearly 5,000 interactions (likes, shares, comments).

One of the most successful parts of this year’s campaign was our weekly #FossilFriday reels featuring 3D fossil models of specimens found within National Parks (see the full collection of these models on Sketchfab). These posts averaged 2,376 views and 144 interactions! We will continue this series to feature 3D fossil models created by AGI’s member society, the Paleontological Research Institute (PRI).

Be sure to follow @earthsciweek on all social media platforms to be among the first to see new resources and opportunities for educators!

 

Announcing the 2026 Earth Science Week Theme

AGI is happy to announce the 2026 ESW theme: “Critical Minerals for a Thriving Society.” This theme focuses on building awareness of how the use of critical minerals can address needs, shape human activities, and take into account how those activities interact with Earth’s systems. See the full press release here.

As we develop resources for Earth Science Week 2026, we look forward to working with our current ESW Partners but also wish to form new partnerships! Please see the Reach of ESW 2025 flyer for more stats on how involvement in ESW can help your organization get your resources to a wider audience!

Reach out to us at info@earthsciweek.org if you would like to:

• include educational resources in the physical or online ESW Toolkit,
• be involved in or promote the ESW Webinar Series,
• become a sponsor to help us promote Earth Science education, and more!

 

Updates for Earth Science Week 2026

Current Newletter | March 2026 | Subscribe for future updates (6-7 per year)