There is generally a comfortable predictability in writing an annual report; a cursory review of prior iterations of this document will reveal serial discussions on membership trends, a detailed timeline of activities and a rotating cast of leaders who shepherded the organization through another fiscal year.
However, 2020 was no ordinary year, so I find it difficult to write an ordinary annual report. Instead, I offer this account of Division business from July 2020 to December 2020.
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I assumed the Division of Professional Affairs (DPA) presidency just as cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, were surging. The world was just beginning to realize that this was a global pandemic unmatched by any seen in the last 100 years. With large gatherings restricted, travel extremely limited and facemasks becoming more and more commonplace, I found myself debating how best to lead an organization whose identity historically had relied on in-person events when, typically, the Division president would have been devising the theme for their term.
Up until March 2020, DPA President John Jordan had graciously represented the Division by attending each of the AAPG Section meetings to speak on ethics and professionalism. However, only a few months later, conventions as we knew them would be a distant memory.
Faced with the reality of losing even more members due to a combination of the pandemic-induced oil price crash, sweeping layoffs across an already embattled industry and ever-flagging member engagement within the Association, I knew that my job as Division president would be less about breaking new ground and more about holding together what I could.
Enhanced Communication
Critical to this objective would be ensuring effective and frequent communication across all committees and levels of leadership within the Division. By establishing a Google account ([email protected]) for the Division, I quickly centralized our directory of contacts and digital documents with the aim of streamlining recordkeeping, increasing the accessibility of DPA leadership to our membership and easing the anticipated leadership transition in June 2021.
With this repository in place, my focus shifted to expanding the DPA’s digital footprint within our new virtual space. With the assistance of DPA treasurer Michael Raines and AAPG Programs communication specialist Gretchen Flint, we created new pages for the Division on LinkedIn and Facebook to share Division news, updates, events, leadership biographies and articles from the Division newsletter, The Correlator.
Virtual ACE 2020
These social media platforms were heavily utilized to advertise Division events taking place at the first completely virtual ACE annual meeting in late September-early October 2020. Mid-Continent Councilor Jon Brenizer worked diligently with invited speakers and the ACE Program Committee to provide outstanding technical and business content for the meeting. At the invitation of past president Jordan and with an excellent introduction by Brenizer, Dr. Scott Tinker headlined the DPA Luncheon with a timely discussion on the energy transition with a talk titled “Energy in the Twenty First Century and the Role of Hydrocarbons.”
The following day, Brenizer and his co-chair, J.W. Curry, introduced a series of oral presentations on creating opportunities and making better, faster business decisions by leveraging existing, publicly available and newly collected geologic data. Thank you to everyone who contributed to DPA programming at ACE 2020 – and especially to Jon Brenizer for his leadership during the event!
Division Highlights
Following the annual meeting, the DPA engaged in several new initiatives to boost membership and revenue potential. These include:
- A recently completed membership initiative led by Gulf Coast Councilor and Membership Committee Chair Ron Meers.
- An investigation headed by Vice President Bruce Falkenstein of the overlap between DPA Certified Geologists and state or country licensed geologists, to identify a population of individuals who may be interested in DPA certification.
- A revitalization of the Board Certification program by the Ad-hoc Committee on Global Recognition of Certification (co-chaired by Bob Shoup, Bill Houston and Margo Liss) to include an exam-based component, which will make Board Certification the most rigorous of all currently available geologic certifications.
- The creation of a Subject Matter Expert certification, proposed by the Ad-hoc Committee on Global Recognition of Certification (spearheaded by Bob Shoup, Bill Houston and Margo Liss), which allows experts the ability to be globally recognized for their skills in one (or more) of six subject areas (i.e., Resource and Reserve Evaluation and Reporting; Conventional Resource Evaluation; Unconventional Resource Evaluation; Well Planning/Well Operations/HSE; Environmental Geosciences; and Geomodelling/Geostatistics/Data Analytics/AI).
- A proposed virtual Town Hall open to all AAPG members showcasing upcoming events and Division benefits.
With Appreciation
I am indebted to the DPA Executive Board (President-Elect Don Burdick, Past President John Jordan, Vice President Bruce Falkenstein, Treasurer Michael Raines and Secretary Margo Liss), the Region and Section councilors, the Board of Certification and the Division committee chairs and co-chairs for their steadfast commitment to the Division during a particularly difficult year.
I’m also exceptionally grateful for the support of our AAPG Administrative Coordinator Diane Keim, upon whose guidance I’ve come to heavily rely.
As planning for ACE 2021 continues, I can assure you that we’ll have the quality Division programming you’ve come to expect – and some new offerings we hope you’ll enjoy. Whether in-person or virtual, the Division remains your source for the newest content on certification, professionalism, ethics and business.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email or on social media to let us know how we and the Association can better serve your needs.