Winners of the world’s most celebrated awards for highest achievement in a singular event, competition or other effort are usually presented medals, plaques or trophies to commemorate the honor (Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Academy Award, World Cup). In some cases, the awardee’s name is added to the list of previous winners inscribed on a one-of-a-kind trophy kept at a permanent location.
The AAPG, likewise, has its own prestigious awards for highest technical achievement at the Annual Convention and Exhibition – the best paper awards. That trophy in the photo? That’s the silver Matson Cup, which resides permanently at the AAPG headquarters in Tulsa. Winners of the best paper presented orally at each ACE are honored with the George C. Matson Memorial Award at the following annual convention, and their names are engraved on the Matson Cup. The presenters of the best poster session paper are bestowed with the Jules Braunstein Memorial Award, also given the following year.
Of course, these awards are not all about the hardware, or engraved lettering, nor even applause. These awards not only honor the highly deserving presenters for their hard work and technical excellence, but also help bring focus onto the most valuable new ideas, technology and applications that are being made available to AAPG Members and the petroleum geoscience community. Many of the past winning papers represent landmark studies that formed the basis for new directions in our ever-evolving science.
Many of the best petroleum geologists in the world will pass through the San Antonio convention halls at ACE 2019 this May, and as an attendee, you will be one of them. Regardless of whether you are a Member, Emeritus Member, Student or Associate, or even a non-member geoscientist attending ACE, you will be qualified to serve as a judge of the technical papers. As you listen to the presenters and view their graphics, you will already be making critical observations and evaluations. It will take very little extra time for you to record your judgments on a scoring card, and so you might as well volunteer for the judging team and help select the best papers!
If you would like to help identify and honor the most deserving presenters and play a role in the future of petroleum geology, please sign up to judge in the sessions you plan to attend. There will be 21 half-day AAPG oral sessions and 27 AAPG poster sessions from which to choose. Judges are also needed for sessions sponsored by the AAPG Division of Environmental Geosciences and the Energy Minerals Division, as well as the Society for Sedimentary Geology. You can sign up to judge specific sessions when you register online. If you’ve already registered for the convention and wish to sign up as a judge, please contact Rachel Piotraschke at AAPG headquarters. If you do not decide to judge until after you arrive at the convention, or if you would like to judge additional sessions, please come by the ACE Service Center (formerly the Judges’ Room) at the Convention Center and ask if you can help.
See you in San Antonio!