House of Delegates Meeting

May 11, 2003 • Salt Lake City, Utah

AAPG marks a "Social Sequence Boundary" in oil industry history

As presented by Conrad K. Allen before the AAPG House of Delegates May 11, 2003 in Salt Lake City, Utah

Good morning, Mr. Chairman.

My name is Conrad Allen and I am an ExxonMobil Stratigrapher and I am also the President of the National Association of Black Geologists and Geophysicists (NABGG). I would like to thank the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and the House of Delegates for inviting me to speak on this very historic morning. I really appreciate the opportunity to tell you about our organization.

NABGG is a nonprofit organization established in June of 1981 by a group of black geoscientists in the Houston/Dallas area. This organization is incorporated in the State of Texas with its headquarters in Houston, Texas.

NABGG was organized to:

Inform students of career opportunities that exist in the fields of Geology and Geophysics.
Encourage them to take advantage of scholarship programs, grants, loans, etc.
Give financial support to students pursuing degrees in Geology and Geophysics.
Follow the educational careers of the scholarship recipients.
Aid minority students in the search for summer employment and aid corporate members interested in obtaining summer employees for positions that will enhance the student's skills and marketability.
Allow minority geologists and geophysicists to establish professional and inter-company relationships.

A few of NABGG's accomplishments are:

Raising over $200,000 for scholarships through our annual fund-raising banquet and activities.
Visiting high schools, colleges, universities, and churches with presentations and information pertaining to careers in geology and geophysics.
Holding workshops where people actively work to introduce students to various disciplines within the geosciences.
Holding annual conventions and quarterly technical meetings for members, corporate members, and individuals interested in the NABGG or in specific topics being presented.
Becoming a member society of the American Geological Institute (AGI), an associated society of the Geological Society of America (GSA), and later this week I will represent our organization in Washington, DC. at a meeting of the National Petroleum Council (NPC).

Recently, I was at a NABGG meeting and asked, "How many people here are members of AAPG?" It seemed that about 20% of the people raised their hands. I went on to encourage our entire membership to join AAPG because I think AAPG is one of the world's best geological societies and it's important for NABGG members to continue to be a part of the larger geologic community.

In a similar fashion, I'll ask this question: "How many people here this morning are members of NABGG?" I see one hand raised. Thank you, Reggie Spiller, past NABGG president. I would like to take this opportunity to invite everyone here to join NABGG. Wouldn't it be wonderful if every AAPG member was also a member of NABGG!?

I mentioned that I am an ExxonMobil Stratigrapher and I see the great Dr. Peter Vail is here this morning. Good morning, sir.

This vote before the House of Delegates to make the NABGG and AWG associated societies of AAPG marks what I call an important "Social Sequence Boundary." When a sequence boundary is forming in geology, it's very subtle and the events are hardly noticed. You could be out walking around on it and not even know the importance of what is forming right under your feet. In time, and when the events are put in full context, the importance of the sequence boundary is realized. For some of you, this vote to make NABGG and AWG associated societies may be just another item on the agenda. But in years to come, we will realize the historic significance of this day in Salt Lake City and note that it is indeed a Social Sequence Boundary in the history of our industry. I'm proud of AAPG today and I hope the vote is affirmative. Thank you for listening and enjoy the rest of the conference.