From December 15–18, 2025, the Meteoritical Society hosted a booth at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (AGU25) in New Orleans, Louisiana. AGU is the largest geoscience conference in the world, bringing together more than 20,000 scientists, educators, and students from over 100 countries. Participation in AGU25 marked the Society’s second consecutive AGU booth, following a successful debut at AGU24 in Washington, DC, and continued a growing effort to expand visibility, outreach, and community engagement. The booth was generously supported by the Meteoritical Society through both financial resources and materials. Its primary goals were to recruit new members, reconnect with existing members, and introduce a broad scientific audience to the Society’s mission, activities, and community. The booth was co-organized by Tom Burbine and Imene Kerraouch.
In preparation for the meeting, Imene Kerraouch developed a new Meteoritical Society brochure designed specifically for outreach at large conferences. The brochure design was also adapted as the booth backdrop, creating a cohesive and visually engaging presence. In addition, she designed custom Meteoritical Society gifts that were distributed to new members and visitors, further enhancing engagement and visibility. The booth benefited greatly from the generosity of Society members. Romy Hanna kindly provided a backdrop stand, Cari Corrigan contributed a collection of Elements magazines for distribution, and Allan Treiman shared meteorite samples that allowed attendees to see and handle real rocks from space. These materials proved especially effective in sparking conversations, particularly with students and non-specialists.
The booth attracted strong and sustained interest throughout AGU25, drawing attendees from a wide range of backgrounds, including planetary scientists, geochemists, cosmochemists, students, educators, and researchers from related disciplines who were new to meteoritics. Many visitors expressed curiosity about meteorites, sample-return missions, and the role of meteoritics in understanding Solar System formation and planetary evolution. The opportunity to see and handle real meteorite samples often served as a gateway to longer discussions about research pathways, career development, and involvement in the Society. The booth also functioned as an informal networking hub, where attendees learned about the benefits of Meteoritical Society membership, upcoming meetings, travel grants, and opportunities for student participation and service. Numerous conversations highlighted the Society’s role in fostering an inclusive, international community that spans laboratory studies, fieldwork, curation, and space missions. Many Society members volunteered their time at the booth during AGU25, including Maxwell Thiemens, Nancy Chabot, Laura Breitenfeld, Skylar Kaat, and Devon Kaat. Their presence ensured continuous engagement and facilitated in-depth discussions with attendees throughout the meeting.
Overall, the AGU25 booth was highly successful. More than 48 new members were registered during the conference, several existing members renewed their memberships, and hundreds of meaningful interactions took place over the four days of the meeting. The enthusiastic response reinforced the importance of maintaining a visible Meteoritical Society presence at large interdisciplinary conferences such as AGU. The Society will continue this momentum with a planned presence at LPSC 2026 and AGU26.
Thomas Burbine (Mount Holyoke College) and Imene Kerraouch (NASA JSC and LPI)