As I sat down to write this column I contemplated what new and informative message I could put forth that hadn’t been conveyed previously by my predecessors in their inaugural president’s message.
It turns out there is not a lot I personally can add to the conversation – other than to stress the importance of the benefits that AAPG’s Energy Minerals Division brings not only to its own membership but also to the AAPG membership in general and public at large.
As pointed out earlier this year at one of our EMD leadership meetings by Brian Cardott, chair of EMD’s Coalbed Methane Committee, EMD provides benefits to all AAPG members through publications such as Sequence Stratigraphy, Paleoclimate and Tectonics of Coal-Bearing Strata (AAPG Studies in Geology No. 51), Heavy-Oil and Oil-Sand Petroleum Systems in Alberta and Beyond (AAPG Studies in Geology No. 64), Atlas of Coal Geology, 2nd Edition (AAPG Datapages Discovery Series No. 17) and the Unconventional Energy Resources of North America: EMD poster as well as sponsorship at professional meetings.
Basic information on each of EMD’s nine commodity and two supporting committees can be found in the public area of the EMD website (emd.aapg.org).
EMD’s Success at ACE
This year’s AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition gathering in Denver proved to be a success for EMD with the meeting’s EMD vice chair Jeff Aldrich and his team organizing nine oral sessions (64 talks), six poster sessions (66 posters), one field trip, two short courses and, of course, the annual EMD luncheon.
During the luncheon EMD service awards were presented to a number of deserving recipients:
- Neil Fishman, Paul Basinski and Joan Spaw each received a Certificate of Merit for their service at the 2014 ACE meeting in Houston.
- Distinguished Service Awards were given to Frank Walles and Peter Warwick for their many years of dedicated service to EMD.
- Honorary membership was bestowed upon Brian Cardott for his past and ongoing service to the Energy Minerals Division.
Speaking of Neil Fishman, he has stepped down as chair of the Shale Gas and Liquids Commodity Committee after five years of commendable leadership and service. Neil and his committee compiled mid-year and annual reports providing a concise overview of not only the major shale plays but also of many of the lesser known ones as well.
The most recent reports often exceeded 150 pages, and are a valuable resource to those involved in unconventional resource exploration and development.
Ursula Hammes agreed to take over as chair of the committee effective July 1.
Also during EMD’s annual meeting in Denver, it was pointed out repeatedly by the commodity committee chairs that the current low natural gas and oil prices were having a negative impact on activities related to not only shale gas and liquids, but also to coalbed methane, bitumen/heavy oil, geothermal resources and coal.
On the bright side however, there is renewed interest being shown in natural gas hydrates and nuclear power.
EMD Membership
According to the most recent numbers available, EMD membership stands at more than 4,300, which is down almost 17 percent from the previous year – a loss attributed to the decline in the price of oil.
If you are not one already, I would urge you to seriously consider becoming a member of the Energy Minerals Division.
And it’s a good deal – it’s free to join.
To become a member of EMD, just log onto the AAPG website, click on “My Profile,” find the Involvement tab to view your Division status and finally locate and click the “Join EMD” button.
In addition to the publications mentioned above you will gain access to the Members Only section of the EMD website, which contains an archive of past commodity and supporting committee reports and other valuable information resources.
In the coming year EMD is looking to improve and expand its information delivery system through the use of social media applications and email blasts so as to get information into the hands of the membership in a more timely fashion.
EMD also is seeking volunteers to fill a number of vacant section and region councilor positions. Primary duties of a councilor include representing EMD members of their respective section or region on the EMD Council, promoting EMD’s interests by ensuring papers and other programs of interest are included in meetings hosted by sections and regions and providing a report on section/region EMD activities at the mid-year and annual leadership meetings.
To paraphrase a famous American president: Ask not what EMD can do for you, ask what can you do for EMD.
As a volunteer, you will find yourself working with an extremely dedicated group of individuals who give freely of their time and knowledge to spread the word about the use of geoscience in the world of unconventional and alternative energy resources.