A technical program touting the best of Gulf Coast geology, science, technology and exploration plus a global climate change forum are all part of this year’s annual convention of the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies, which will be held Oct. 21-23 in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The convention also will offer a prospect deal-making area within the exhibits hall.
“Exploring the Third Coast” is the theme for the meeting, whose technical program is built on short courses, field trips, nine oral sessions, four poster sessions and the climate change forum.
The forum, to be held from 1:30-4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 22, is titled “Estimating Natural Versus Human Impacts on Global Climate Change.”
It was designed to provide “an overview of the current understanding of the natural and human factors forcing global climate change based on the latest scientific observations and research,” according toBill Maxwell , who withGloria Sprague are the forum’s co-chairs.
Each panelist will present his/her view of the causes and consequences of global climate change based on their own research and study, Maxwell said, and not on “politics or opinion.”
The forum will be moderated bySylvia Earle , program director of the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M University, and the All-Convention Luncheon speaker at the 2003 AAPG Annual Meeting in Calgary, Canada.
The forum includes four distinguished scientists who have spent much of their professional careers conducting original research on the subject of global climate change.
Forum panelists are:
- John Anderson , Maurice Ewing Professor of Oceanography, Rice University, Houston.
- Eric J. Barron , dean of the Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas, Austin. Barron also was a member of the committee responsible for AAPG’s recently updated statement on global climate change.
- Michael MacCracken , chief scientist for climate change programs, Climate Institute, Washington, D.C.
- Philip Nissen Froelich , Francis Eppes Professor of Oceanography, Florida State University, Tallahassee.