Annual Report 2012: FY July 1, 2011-June 30, 2012
Public Outreach Committee
The function of the Public Outreach Committee (POC) is to develop means of informing the public about geology in general and petroleum geology in particular, and to report successful outreach projects to AAPG's affiliated societies. To fulfill those roles, the committee must represent a broad range of technical expertise from representative industry and academic organizations around the world. The POC expects to add members in the coming fiscal year to represent all Sections, Regions, and Divisions, as well as YPs and Students, so that the committee represents the organization as a whole.
The meeting at the 2012 ACE in Long Beach reinforced the importance of presenting AAPG as a scientific society and as an essential part of the energy industry, which does an excellent job of ensuring reliable, affordable supplies of energy in the forms required by consumers.
The committee agreed to pursue several projects in the coming fiscal year:
- Slide sets that any AAPG member can use to reach out to the public. The slide sets will emphasize science and AAPG’s role as a scientific society. Committee members will review AAPG Statements (developed through DPA) for topics of greatest interest. The committee might organize a Student Chapter Challenge to get students involved in putting together scientifically rigorous slide sets. However, there was general agreement that the slide sets need to present science, data, and history rather than unsupported opinions. Topics of interest include hydraulic fracturing, global oil and gas assessments, and remote sensing.
- Speaker’s bureau providing volunteers willing to speak on AAPG and petroleum geoscience in general and about specific topics in petroleum geoscience. The committee chairs will talk to the VGP Chair about a liaison to the Public Outreach committee to address this idea.
- Coordination within AAPG so that the entire organization reaches out with a consistent message. Communications Director Larry Nation is leading this effort.
- Rapid response web pages for petroleum geoscience, as conceived by AAPG Secretary Denise Cox, to debunk urban legends. This will require careful planning to ensure adherence to AAPG communications policies with respect to the official spokesman and the need for vetting of policy and position statements.
- Refresh and expand www.petroleumgeology.org.
Gretchen Gillis and Randi Martinsen, Co-Chairs
Committee members: Tony L. Albrecht, Donald Dean Clarke, Denise M. Cox, Rebecca Lee Dodge, Gretchen M. Gillis (chair), Randi Susan Martinsen (chair), Radha Vyas, and Laura Cutright Zahm