Annual Report 2011: FY July 1, 2010-June 30, 2011
Public Outreach
The function of the Committee on Public Outreach is to develop means of informing the public about geology in general and petroleum geology in particular, and to report successful projects to AAPG's affiliated societies.
Our world is rapidly changing. The ways to communicate with the general public are also changing. Public Outreach is a critical part of AAPG and the petroleum industry. The Public Outreach Committee is in the process of changing to meet these needs. Over the last two years we looked for ways to get information out through television. For example, Don Clarke and Chuck Noll looked into the idea of producing short (1 minute) spots called “That’s Geology.” A CBS producer thought they could use them as long as they could break them up as needed. We could maintain AAPG’s identity by branding the corner of the picture. Larry Nation talked with three television directors (ABC and Fox) who said that any sound bites would not be appreciated by the local networks because they competed against commercials, which were a major source of revenue. This idea has not blossomed yet and if it does blossom it will have a significant cost.
At this time AAPG remains a source for technical experts who appear on produced shows. Rebecca Dodge, Scott Tinker, Dave Rensink, Jim McGhay, Greg Wrightstone and other AAPG members have appeared on local newscasts, podcasts and the like. The Discovery Channel (History Channel) did an episode of Trashopolis on Los Angeles, which will air this fall. Don Clarke participated by describing the history of oil production in LA. Television is still an excellent place to leverage our resources, but we still have a lot to learn. AAPG Past President Scott Tinker’s documentary “Bridges” will be out soon and API still has very well-made commercials. Our work has been seen globally on at least 10 television networks and appeared in dozens of publications from the New York Times to Playboy magazine.
POC member Karen Blake ran for the California office of Superintendent of Public Instruction on a platform of geology, science, and engineering based education. Though she didn’t win the election she was given both television and newspaper coverage all over the state. She also built an energy webpage for her campaign. She got over 290,000 votes. I’d say she got the word out.
Many of us work with the local Desk and Derrick Clubs to put on workshops and presentations concerning energy exploration; these are open to the public and publicized in the local community. Rebecca Dodge works with the local Educational Service Center also, which serves teachers in 17 counties around Wichita Falls, to train science teachers from multiple disciplines about Earth System Science. Many like Chuck Caughey work with school groups and are available to just about any student groups who ask for help. The National Science Teachers Association holds conventions, charter school groups like COSEE-West hold training sessions for teachers. We are a part of these efforts. Many geologists have spoken to students in the K-12 system, to scouting and to civic organizations. RMAG continues their volunteer work at Dinosaur Ridge and the South Texas Geological Society continues their work with “Maps for Schools.” Sadly Owen Hopkins passed this spring. He was the inspiration and energy behind the “Maps in Schools” program. He will be dearly missed.
There are a number of YouTube postings by AAPG. Check them out at: www.youtube.com/aapgweb. You might even type PetroleumGeology.org into your browser and see what happens. Thanks to our AAPG staff, Larry Nation, Janet Brister and the rest who have facilitated these efforts.
Finally we need encourage other geologists to join us in this effort.
Don Clarke, Chair
Committee members:
Tony L. Albrecht, Donald Dean Clarke (chair), David Richard Cook, Rebecca Lee Dodge, David Harold Hawk, Rachel Hannah Paez, Eric Radjef, and Radha Vyas