There are three main reasons why I have accepted the invitation to be a candidate for an AAPG office. I joined the AAPG in 1991, right after the massive political changes in Eastern Europe and the fall of the communist regime in Poland. I also convinced some of my friends to join, and our group was recognized as the very first AAPG Student Chapter in the post-communist countries. Following this I was invited to Calgary for the AAPG ACE, had an interview for the AAPG Explorer — and was hooked for good. This rather rapid and unexpected exposure to the top-notch geology and geophysics provided through the AAPG showed me that leading-edge science and industry could be tightly integrated, and that this might become my future career. It has all worked out for me, to a very large extent because of the impetus the AAPG gave me in 1991 — and I believe that now, exactly a quarter of a century later it is high time for me to give something back to the Association.

For some time now, I've been involved in the AAPG Visiting Geoscientist Program as well as in activities of the History of Petroleum Geology Committee, but I would like the opportunity to take it to another level. This was one of the reasons why I said "yes" when asked to run for the AAPG vice president for Regions.

Another reason why I agreed is that I think that a lot of out-of-the-box thinking is necessary to move things forward in these difficult and very challenging times. I have never worked for industry per se but throughout my entire career I have been working very closely with oil and contracting (geophysical) companies, both from Poland and abroad. I think that such a position — within a research institution but with an intimate knowledge of the industry — is a bonus in these times, as it provides me with broad exposure to all sorts of problems both the oil industry and the associated science are facing nowadays.

Finally, my deep interest in the history of geology and of geological cartography gives me a somewhat unusual outlook — after all, we are all standing on the shoulders of the giants, and it is good to put everyday professional hurdles, problems and obstacles into the proper perspective. Working with high-quality seismic data while surrounded by thousands of old geological books and maps — which is my everyday working environment in my home office — would provide an ideal setting for serving as the AAPG Vice-President for Regions.