- How does Ask-A-Geologist work?
- Who answers the questions?
- How many questions have been answered? (and other statistics)
- A brief history of Ask-A-Geologist.
- More information about Ask-A-Geologist.
Questions sent to Ask-A-Geologist are saved until 3:15 AM Pacific Time, daily.
Then, custom software forwards some of the questions to USGS scientists.
Sometimes we get more questions than we can answer.
We don't reply to the extra questions due to
spam
problems.
Ask-A-Geologist scientists research the answer to your question,
then reply directly.
Our goal is to reply within three working days.
USGS employees, retirees, and contractors volunteer to answer questions.
Most Ask-A-Geologist scientists work on these questions on their own time,
during lunch or after work.
Their job titles include geologist, hydrologist, cartographer, and technician.
Their experience ranges from recent college graduates
to senior scientists with more than 30 years experience.
Questions are not assigned by specialty, so a question about earthquakes
might go to a specialist in ground water.
All Ask-A-Geologist scientists have a general background in the earth sciences,
and an enthusiasm for answering a broad range of questions.
Many scientists enjoy finding answers to questions outside their specialty.
Ask-A-Geologist scientists often learn new things and make new contacts
that help their regular work in multidisciplinary projects.
- We answered more than 37,000 questions October 1994 through March 2013.
- We received more than 129,000 messages October 1994 through April 2012.
Mostly
spam.
- 58 USGS scientists answer questions (March 2013).
- Most scientists answer up to six questions, once per month.
October 1994
Ask-A-Geologist starts as an experiment with 35 USGS scientists
in Palo Alto, California.
One scientist answers all the questions received on a given day of the month.
In the first month, Ask-A-Geologist receives 127 messages.
September 1995
Ask-A-Geologist shut down due to widespread layoffs at USGS.
October 1995
Ask-A-Geologist is revived and reinvented,
using over 300 scientists nationwide to answer questions.
Each message received is forwarded to a different scientist.
The Ask-A-Geologist project wins the U.S. Department of Interior
Innovation Award.
November 1995
Ask-A-Geologist receives 209 messages.
December 1995
Ask-A-Geologist shut down this month due to US Government shutdown.
October 1996
Ask-A-Geologist receives 595 messages.
October 1997
Ask-A-Geologist receives 1121 messages.
January 1998
Due to overwhelming demand, new software limits the number
of questions answered each day.
Ask-A-Geologist receives 1147 messages.
About 60% get answers.
October 1998
Ask-A-Geologist software rewritten to save all the messages for a day,
then forward to scientists for answers.
Scientists can answer questions more efficiently.
Ask-A-Geologist receives 1505 messages.
About 50% get answers.
October 1999
Ask-A-Geologist receives 1723 messages.
About 51% get answers.
November 2004
Published SoundWaves
article on
Ten Years of Ask-A-Geologist.
April 2012
Ask-A-Geologist receives 313 messages, mostly
spam.
About 6% get answers.
For more information about the Ask-A-Geologist project,
contact the project coordinator, Rex Sanders,
.
Rex cannot answer earth science questions!
About Ask-A-Geologist
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
