Perhaps you did a double take pulling the April issue of EXPLORER from the mailbox. What is this?
If you joined AAPG in the last 40 years, you’ve only known EXPLORER in its long-standing tabloid format. It worked well for many years as our advertisers – particularly seismic companies – loved the large format and the ability to display their data on a sweeping canvas.
For readers, it was a little more awkward. I recall observing one of our members on a flight home from URTeC several years ago trying to read it on the plane without disturbing his neighbors. He succeeded by using a process as involved as someone making origami.
But as Bob Dylan famously sang, “…the times they are a-changin.’”
For years I have been writing in this column about the importance of community – and particularly the value that our community of energy geoscientists brings to the world. Yes, AAPG is about science and technology – the knowledge and tools we use to supply energy to the planet – but as an association, AAPG is fundamentally about people.
That is the focus of a new communications initiative we’re launching this month. The goal of the project is threefold: First to support each other in our scientific and business endeavors. Second, to attract and mentor a new generation of energy geoscientists. Third, to reach the many colleagues we work with from other disciplines, such as engineering, business and finance, regulatory and policy. We also cannot forget the geo-enthusiasts, the rock-hounds and others interested in the study of our planet.
The Newsletters
To accomplish these goals – educating, supporting, inspiring – we are launching four topic-specific newsletters that you can sign up to receive in your inbox each week;
- While reading Core Elements, prepare to be enlightened as Rasoul Sorkhabi of The University of Utah’s Energy and Geoscience Institute provides his “take on current events, research, new projects, why all of it matters, and how it affects you as an energy professional.”
- If the technology landscape is your focus, you’ll be Enspired as Sarah Compton of Compton Integrated Analytics shares her passion for “technology and innovation, where and why it fits in our geoscience backpack, and our role in its responsible use and development.”
- We don’t “do” energy geoscience in a vacuum; it’s critical to be Well Read. Shangyou Nie, a non-resident fellow at Columbia University’s Center for Global Energy Policy, will leverage his extensive industry experience to “break down recent upstream finance, business and policy developments and how they affect you as an energy professional.”
- My day is typically spent in front of the computer, but that’s not why I got into geology. Cate Larsen is our guide to the GeoLifestyle each week, as she shares “information on a handful of topics combining geology with travel, food and drink, hiking and more.” Look for “personal stories from students and professionals, celebrations of geoscience history, and lifestyle tips just for us geo-lovers.”
Go to aapg.org/newsletters to learn more and sign up for these newsletters – pick one or pick them all. We’re committed to providing you with news and information you can use in a format that is easy to consume and share.
The new EXPLORER will feature stories that match the newsletter subject areas, and over time we plan to add new newsletters, including newsletters that are for members only. We also plan to expand AAPG’s digital media offerings to share stories in video and podcast formats, as well as other media.
As geoscientists, we understand the value that we bring to the companies that we work for and the society that we serve. Yet, you wouldn’t know it from how geoscience is undervalued in industry – including our industry – and you certainly can’t find it accurately portrayed in the media.
That’s where AAPG fits in – we’re here to advocate for geoscience and geoscientists. There is much more we have to offer, and that’s the focus of this EXPLORER redesign and our digital media effort: Giving voice to your stories to build community, to inspire a new generation of geoscientists, and to share our unique perspectives with the world.
Times are indeed a-changin’.