Annual Report 2011: FY July 1, 2010-June 30, 2011
Division of Environmental Geosciences
Mission Statement and Purpose
- Educating the membership of AAPG and the general public about important issues that affect petroleum energy minerals exploration and production.
- Communicating to the general public and government agencies the Association’s commitment to protect the environment while developing the world’s natural resources in a responsible manner.
- Applying the expertise developed in the petroleum/energy minerals industries and hydrogeology to resolve environmental problems.
- Promoting environmental self-regulation within the petroleum/ energy minerals industries.
- Providing relevant educational opportunities and services for professional development of the AAPG membership through seminars and conferences in environmental geosciences, hydrogeology, and related fields.
2010–2011 Objectives
- Be well-represented at section, regional, and annual meetings
- Increase student, associate, and active memberships through active recruitment
- Communicate more effectively with our membership at large
- Promote inter-division collaboration and communication
- Improve the content and number of manuscripts published in the Environmental Geosciences Journal
- Improve website functionality and expand its content
- Support sister and local societies
- Increase environmental awareness throughout AAPG
- Stay financially solvent
2010–2011 Activities and Accomplishments
- Monthly Executive Committee teleconferences
- Significant upgrade of the DEG website and development of a Web Portal.
- Annual dues for associate and active members have been reduced from $45 to $25 per year.
- Student membership dues have been reduced to $0.
- Kristin Carter, editor-in-chief for the Environmental Geosciences Journal, has streamlined the publication process, offering new ways to ensure a nine-month turnaround time or less on submitted manuscripts. Environmental Geosciences will go completely digital as of July 1, 2011, and will be available via the DEG website. DEG members will still receive an Environmental Geosciences CD once a year. Kristin continues to develop special issues of Environmental Geosciences. There is an ongoing joint effort with the EMD to publish one or more special issues on water management and gas exploration issues associated with this Marcellus shale gas play in the Appalachian basin.
- A digital, quarterly DEG newsletter will be distributed via email and also available on the DEG website beginning Summer 2011. Managing Editor, Danielle Deemer, has spearheaded this effort.
- Strong DEG program at the AAPG ACE Meeting, Houston, 2011 with sessions, short courses, and oil spill forum. Dr. Ed Overton, DEG luncheon speaker.
- Carbon Sequestration Short Course proposal accepted for the AAPG ICE 2011 meeting in Milan, Italy
- DEG sponsored SE Geological Society Meeting, March 2011, Wilmington, NC
2011–2012 Look Ahead
- Continue Membership Drive both nationally and internationally
- Continue to upgrade the DEG committees and increase interaction with AAPG standing committees.
- Continue to sponsor Special Interest Topics for the DEG EG Journal
- Continue to work with the other AAPG Divisions, EMD, and DPA
- Support AAPG GEO-DC
Discussion from DEG President, Mary K. Harris (July 2010 – July 2011)
DEG membership drives will continue to be an important focus for the Executive Committee. DEG has gone from 1,300 active members to less than 1,000 active members over the past five years. The breaking point for Division privileges is 750. DEG may be able to sustain the current membership but an increase is needed in order to insure that DEG does not lose their seat on the AAPG Executive Council. The DEG needs to look towards increasing the international membership, which is increasing overall for the AAPG. A focus on the international regions and identifying a representative from each of the regions is crucial for maintaining and increasing the DEG membership levels.
The DEG budget is currently stable primarily due to revenue from the DEG EG Journal. The DEG Executive Committee has passed a revised dues structure that will decrease dues from $45/year to $25/year beginning July 1, 2011 and DEG student memberships have gone to $0. Another change is the DEG EG Journal will go to digital only beginning July 1, 2011. This allows DEG to decrease our dues and stop the over printing of the journals. Members will still receive a CD once a year with all the DEG journal articles for the past year.
The DEG website has been updated in accordance with AAPG Information Technology staff and now has a mobile device enabled format. The challenge will be to populate the updated website and keep it current. The website committee should be revamped and new volunteers recruited to work with AAPG on maintaining the new format. This is essential in keeping student, active, and international members as more and more people rely on the electronic formats for information and communication.