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

• Offer credit to recent developers in publications, and provide proper citation to older model 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 the GEOS-Chem Support Team to confirm that you have read this protocol. Also provide the GCST with a link to your research for inclusion in the the People and Projects web page . The GCST will give you access to the code and add you to the GEOS-Chem mailing list.

Sincerely,

The GEOS-Chem Steering Committee