In April, the good times were rolling again in New Orleans – there was plenty of music, food, exotic culture and a whole lot of fun.
But the key word for all was “science.”
The 2010 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition returned for the eighth time to New Orleans, attracting 5,970 attendees for a meeting built on the theme “Unmasking the Potential of Exploration and Production.”
The meeting boasted an abundance of excellent presentations, dazzling displays of cutting-edge technology and unforgettable moments.
But the meeting’s central theme and overall message came in the opening session, cited first by general chair Tom Hudson and then emphasized by AAPG President John Lorenz:
“AAPG is about the science,” he said at the very start of his presidential address. “We are a scientific organization.”
This matters, he continued, because “science is becoming critical and crucial to being able to extract from the subsurface the energy that we need to be able to run civilization.”
That’s important, Lorenz said, because the world’s growing population and technological development demanded an ongoing source for energy.
“AAPG is scientifically oriented,” Lorenz said. “We are supremely poised to contribute to (solving) this global problem.”
Lorenz also documented and applauded AAPG’s contribution to maintaining and promoting the science that successful exploration demands.
“AAPG gives us the tools to do this,” he said. “It gives us Hedberg Conferences, where we advance the science. Publications where we disseminate the science. Conventions like this one, where we’re coming primarily to see the science.”
Other meeting highlights included:
- Scott Tinker’s introduction of Sidney Powers Memorial Award winner Frank Brown – reading the citation prepared by recently elected AAPG president-elect Paul Weimer, who was ill and unable to attend the meeting.
- The presentation of the L. Austin Weeks Memorial Medal to Larry Funkhouser, in recognition of “extraordinary philanthropy and service in advancing the mission of the AAPG Foundation.”
- Standing-room only crowds for several presentations and events, including Bobby Ryan’s talk at the All-Convention Luncheon, Aubrey McClendon’s Michel T. Halbouty lecture, the Discovery Thinking technical session and James R. Moffett’s paper on the recent Davy Jones discovery in the Gulf of Mexico.
The 2011 AAPG annual convention will be held April 10-13 in Houston.