It has been a bit hectic as of late including trying to meet publishing deadlines in- between travels. With that said I would like to share with you all some of the more interesting highlights – but before that, please make sure that you take the time to read the article titled "The Old Geoscientist and the Young Geoscientist" in this issue and work your way through. You could be richly rewarded for your efforts by having a chance to win one week of valuable training sponsored by Subsurface Consultants and Associates!
DPA Midyear Meeting - Houston, TX
- VP Vacancy Election -
- The DPA Council during its meeting on October 4th, with concurrence of the DPA Executive Committee, unanimously elected Michael R. Canich to fill the Vice President slot vacated by Dan Reynolds who resigned in August. I am confident that Mike will do an excellent job serving in his new capacity as Division VP. Mike previously served as the DPA’s Treasurer. His term of Vice President is until June 30, 2009 finishing out the term remaining.
- Legislative Tracking Service -
- If you have not had the opportunity to read recent articles that have appeared in the AAPG Explorer, you need to know that there are some new membership benefits coming your way. The first of these is already available to DPA members in the “Members Only” section of the DPA web site. Take a look at the legislative tracking service that is now being provided - there are several predefined profiles that you can click to see if there is any legislation in any and/or all of the U.S. states that may impact your professional practice. The new service also tracks federal legislation in the predefined profiles. Go take a look at this service being provided to you!
- Quasi Online Ethics Courses -
- Many of you are subject to annual continuing education requirements, for example the mandatory continuing education requirements if you are a licensed geoscientist in the state of Texas. Due to be released in the next few weeks will be the first of several ethics courses that will be essentially free to DPA members (if a CD is provided shipping and handling charges will apply). The first of these ethics courses will be the equivalent of 1.0 Professional Development Hour (PDH) that will satisfy the ethics requirement in continuing education programs. It will be also made available to others for a fee but again, it will be free to DPA members!
- DPA Luncheon during the GCAGS -
- The DPA sponsored a luncheon during the GCAGS meeting on Tuesday, October 7 that had Judge Lynn Hughes give his presentation on “The Dilemmas of Trust.” The luncheon was sponsored by Baker Hughes and was well attended - please see Bob Shoup’s article on ethics that is also related to Judge Hugh’s presentation that was also recently given during the meeting in Cape Town, South Africa.
Other Meetings of Significance and Interest
- 3rd Annual International Professional Geology Conference -
- In early October, Past DPA President Tom Ewing and I attended and gave presentations at this international conference held in Flagstaff, AZ. The DPA was a cosponsor of this event and although somewhat small, we had a roomful of geologists from all over the globe that addressed issues and matters that affect us all as professional geologists.
- AAPG Eastern Section Meeting -
- I was able to attend, on the heels of the GCAGS meeting, the Eastern Section meeting held in Pittsburgh, PA. From what I saw, that meeting was a great success with overflow space needed for a record number of exhibitors and also a record number of meeting registrants that approached the 1,200 mark. During opening ceremonies each of the AAPG Divisions were given the opportunity to give presentations on their division — a worthwhile and excellent way to let everyone know what each division is all about and what they are involved in. Thank you to the organizers of this meeting!
- Upcoming Meetings of Interest -
- Mark your calendars for the following meetings that are scheduled to be held:
- AAPG Southwest Section - Southwest Section meeting is scheduled to held from April 26-29 in Midland, TX.
- AAPG Pacific Section - This upcoming meeting is set for May 2-7 in Ventura, CA.
- AAPG 2009 Annual Meeting - The Annual AAPG meeting is scheduled to be held in Denver, CO from June 7-10, 2009. Planning for this meeting has been ongoing for quite some time now. The DPA Vice Chair for this meeting is Cliff Clark and he has been able to arrange the following DPA activities:
- DPA Sponsored Forums:
- Discovery Thinking, co-chaired by Charles Sternbach and Ed Dolly (co-sponsored with AAPG);
- Peak Oil, co-chaired by Richard Nehring and Cliff Clark;
- DPA Short Courses:
- Ethics, presented by Robert Shoup;
- Reservoir Engineering for Geologists, presented by Chuck Norris;
- Quick Look Techniques, presented by Daniel Tearpock;
- DPA/EMD/DEG Joint Session:
- The Good and Bad of CO2 Sequestration
- DPA Tuesday Luncheon
- The Honorable John Hickenlooper, Mayor of Denver, a geologist in a former life
Lastly, if any of you have any ideas or suggestions on membership services that you think would benefit DPA members please take the time and pass them along - all will be considered............
Until the next issue -