GEOC Newsletter: Fall 1998
Report from the Chairperson
Greetings Everyone,
Well, Dallas is behind us and we are busily working towards Boston, and beyond. Dallas was a very successful meeting for the Division. We hosted three symposia (a little less than usual), but all three were very successful. In some sessions, we had over one hundred people in the audience, and in one case we even had to swap rooms because the allocated room was not big enough to hold the audience! It's great to have problems like that!
The program for Boston is smaller, but no less appealing to those interested in the three symposia which we are hosting. Looking further ahead, Anaheim, New Orleans, and San Francisco are all shaping up to be excellent meetings. There is still ample time to plan symposia, especially for New Orleans, San Francisco and beyond so if you feel that there is an area which we are overlooking, or a hot topic which could really use a focused symposium, make the suggestion! We are always willing to help.
The Division's big news, announced at the general business meeting in Dallas, is that the executive committee has voted to try and establish a divisional award, currently known as the Geochemistry Division Medal, to recognize outstanding achievements in geochemistry. Bob Byrne (past Division chair), has volunteered to help raise the necessary funds to get things started, (Thanks Bob!) and we are working hard to get things off the ground. We do not have a date for the first award yet, but much of the behind-the-scenes work has been completed and we are actively soliciting the funds we will need to make this a reality. This is a big step for the division which we hope will help to keep the division growing and raise its stature in the geochemical community. Keep watching the newsletters and coming to the meetings, we will keep you posted as we progress.
Finally, I know that this has been said before, but it is certainly worth repeating: The Geochemistry Division exists to serve the interests and needs of our members, but we cannot accomplish that objective without your help. Programming within the Division is NOT decided by the executive committee, programming comes from the members up to us. If you feel that there is an area of geochemistry which we are overlooking, or a hot topic that really needs a symposium to get everyone together to thrash out the issues......Tell us about it! Suggest a symposium topic or better yet volunteer to organize the symposium! We would love to help, and we structure our programming in such a way as to make putting a symposium together as easy as possible for the organizer. We leave the science up to you and we take care of the organizational details for you. As one who has organized a symposium I can also tell you that it can be a very interesting and satisfying experience (and it really isn't all that much work!) So talk to us. The Division's programming is only as relevant as YOU make it.
See you in Boston!
Ken Anderson