Special Events

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You’ve read about it, heard stories about and perhaps even seen videos of the Imperial Barrel Award (IBA) team presentations – but this year you can experience the excitement yourself. AAPG’s IBA Program is an annual prospective basin evaluation competition for geoscience graduate students from universities around the world. Teams winning IBA Region and Section competitions qualify for an opportunity to compete in the international finals during ACE.

For the first time ever, the live announcement of the winning teams for this year’s IBA competition will be open for all to attend — and will take place in the Grand Ballroom right before the start of the Opening Session and Awards Ceremony (see below). The presentation will include an introduction of the entire program and recognition of the sponsors, all the teams — and then, the announcement of this year’s winners.

Come help us celebrate the accomplishments of these hard-working students, see which teams win scholarship funds for their geosciences departments, and applaud the school that leaves Long Beach with the title of International IBA Champion.

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This is one opening Sunday you definitely don’t want to miss — a colorful, multimedia-driven celebration of our science, our industry and our profession.

Start your 2012 ACE experience in true California style by attending this entertaining, informative and fast-moving program that will be emceed by ACE General Chair Kay Pitts. The program will showcase several familiar opening session traditions, presented in a production that will be lively and exciting — including an important address by AAPG President Paul Weimer, and an awards show to publicly recognize and honor the best in AAPG.

Arrive a few minutes early and enjoy a dazzling multimedia presentation that celebrates the vistas of Southern California and the scenic and geologic splendor of California — and meet not only some familiar faces, but also mingle with the future of AAPG by taking part in the Young Professionals Meet & Greet.

Leading the list of this year’s honorees are pioneer researcher and internationally recognized distinguished educator Koenraad J. Weber, this year’s recipient of the Sidney Powers Medal, and Robbie R. Gries, a past president of AAPG, who will receive the Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award.

Other awards include:

Honorary Member Award

• Adekunle A. Adesida
• Ibrahim A. Al-Jallal
• Lee T. Billingsley
• Dudley W. Bolyard
• Paul M. “ Mitch” Harris
• Phillip H. Stark

Norman H. Foster Outstanding Explorer Award

• Dan A. Hughes

Robert R. Berg for Outstanding Research Award

• Henry W. Posamentier

Distinguished Service Award

• Edith C. Allison
• Susan M. Cunningham
• David A. Dolph
• Paul F. Hoffman
• Alain-Yves Huc
• William A. Morgan
• Adedoja R. Ojelabi
• Victor H. Vega
• Mark L. Wilson

Grover E. Murray Memorial Distinguished Educator Award

• Andrew Hurst
• Howard D. Johnson

Harrison Schmitt Award

• Jill Stevens and TESEP

Pioneer Award

• Tim T. Schowalter

Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award
(Presented to honor and reward the author(s) of the best AAPG BULLETIN article published each calendar year)

• Robert H. Lander and Linda M. Bonnell

Robert H. Dott, Sr. Memorial Award
(Presented to honor and reward the author/editor of the best special publication dealing with geology published by the Association)

• Michael C. Pöppelreiter, Carmen García-Carballido and Martin Kraaijveld

J. C. “Cam” Sproule Memorial Award
(Presented to recognize and reward younger authors of papers applicable to petroleum geology)

• Alexei V. Milkov

John W. Shelton Search and Discovery Award
(Presented to honor and reward the author(s) of the best contribution to the Search and Discovery website in the past year)

• Katherine Giles

George C. Matson Award
(Presented to honor and reward the best oral presentation at the 2011 AAPG Annual Convention & Exhibition in Houston)

• Lars Wensaas
  • Co-Authors: Marita Gading, Helge Loseth and Michael Springer

Jules Braunstein Memorial Award
(Presented to honor and reward the best poster presentation at the 2011 AAPG Annual Convention & Exhibition in Houston)

• Roger M. Slatt
• Younane Abousleiman

Gabriel Dengo Memorial Award
(Presented to honor and reward the best oral presentation at the 2011 AAPG International Conference & Exhibition in Milan, Italy)

• Recipient not known at press time.

Ziad Beydoun Memorial Award
(Presented to honor and reward the best poster presentation at the 2011 AAPG International Conference & Exhibition in Milan, Italy)

• Recipient not known at press time.

Geosciences in the Media Award

• Nick Eyles

Details

The energy industry is the star of a new feature-length movie that asks the question: What will it really take to make the transition from oil and coal to alternative energy sources?

Past AAPG President Dr. Scott Tinker, Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology, professor of geosciences, and renowned energy lecturer, is the onscreen guide at the center of a film that embarks on a round-the-world journey to answer this and related questions: IF coal is dirty, why do we keep using it? Can we really clean it up? Will oil get more expensive? Will it run out? How quickly will we adopt alternatives, and which ones? How risky is hydraulic fracturing? How dangerous is nuclear? What are the biggest challenges — and most promising solutions — to our energy transition? What role does each of us play?

Dr. Tinker goes inside the world’s premiere energy sites — from coal to solar — and talks to leaders in government, industry and academia to explore the world of energy like no documentary has ever done before. Test audiences have called Switch “the most important energy film since An Inconvenient Truth.”

Click here or on the video image above to see a trailer from the new film SWITCH.