Dear New User of GEOS-Chem:

Welcome to the GEOS–Chem community! We hope that you find GEOS–Chem a useful tool for your work and we look forward to working with you. GEOS–Chem is a grass-roots model that relies on contributions and good practice from its users. We ask that you browse through the GEOS–Chem web pages to familiarize yourself with the model and its user community. We also ask that you consider the following "good practice" protocol:

• Subscribe to GEOS–Chem working groups and stay informed through the model newsletters and wiki pages

• Consider offering credit to recent developers in publications if appropriate, and provide proper citation to older code developments

• Contribute bug reports and fixes to the GEOS–Chem support team

• Upgrade regularly to the latest standard version of the model

• Help out as you can in response to user requests

• Contribute mature new developments to the standard model

Please email model engineer Bob Yantosca to confirm that you have read this protocol. Also provide Bob with a link to your research for inclusion in the the People and Projects web page . Bob will give you access to the code and add you to the GEOS–Chem mailing list.

Sincerely,

The GEOS–Chem Steering Committee