This symposium was held April 18-20, 2019 at the Shrine of the Ages Auditorium at the South Rim of Grand Canyon in honor of Grand Canyon National Park’s 2019 Centennial celebration, the 150th anniversary of John Wesley Powell’s 1869 pioneering Colorado River expedition, and Earth Day 2019. The conveners were Karl Karlstrom and Laurie Crossey, University of New Mexico, Steven Semken, Arizona State University, Todd Stoeberl, Chief of Interpretation, and Jeanne Calhoun, Chief of Science and Resource Management, Grand Canyon National Park. The objective was to provide an update on geologic research and on innovations in geoscience education that have taken place at Grand Canyon and help promote the next century of geologic research and outreach in this iconic region. The symposium was open to the public as well as the geoscience community. It involved two days of meetings with 14 talks from researchers on all aspects of Grand Canyon geology, and 7 geoscience education talks. It ended with a public walk on the Trail of time guided by geologists. The time perspective that geology conveys is crucial for a sustainable future as we grapple with many issues such as climate dynamism, extinctions, and other resources -- including water. Grand Canyon’s 6 million annual visitors can play an important role internationally in gaining and promoting science literacy and geoscience awareness. A basic geology message for visitors is that Grand Canyon is a geologically young landscape being sculpted from very old rocks. Knowing some of the stories encoded in the rock layers and the landscapes enriches your understanding of our planet and enhances your experience at Grand Canyon.

This was a 2-day public meeting held at the Shrine of the Ages at Grand Canbyon's South Rim in honor of Grand Canyon National Park’s 2019 Centennial celebration, Earth Day 2019, and the 150th anniversary of John Wesley Powell’s 1869 pioneering Colorado River expedition.