The AAPG Eastern Section was founded in 1977 in Washington, D.C., by a council of AAPG associated societies. The Section has been active ever since, holding society-hosted annual meetings at locales throughout the Section and eastern Canada.
The Section currently is home to 2,209 AAPG members (1,039 Active, 695 Associate, 298 Student, 163 Emeritus, 11 Honorary and three Life members).
The Eastern Section fosters the tradition of the petroleum geologist in many ways. We focus on the legacies of our predecessors and the accomplishments of our members as petroleum geology professionals and educators.
Petroleum geologists have been at work in the Eastern Section for nearly 150 years -- yet new field discoveries are still being made in these, some of the oldest and most exploited basins in the world. On the other hand, with over 200,000 square miles (that’s over 128 million acres) and with as much as 45,000 feet of sedimentary rock to work with, there is considerable room for refinement of old and new ideas.
While the traditional plays of the eastern United States continue to be developed and extended, the brain and brawn of petroleum geologists are busy exploiting the still relatively new Trenton-Black River play. A true “world class” exploration play, success requires an integrated approach using sound structural, diagenetic and geophysical models.
Although the massive section of Devonian black shale has been a long-time target in the East, the application of new exploration and production technologies is causing another frenzied surge of activity similar to the Barnett and Fayetteville.
The Eastern Section also is host to more colleges and universities than any other Section or Region. There are 17 AAPG Student Chapters dispersed within the Section (see accompanying box), and as time progresses, chapters such as these will become more valuable as a resource for research and a training ground for new petroleum geologists.
In support of prime geological research, this year the AAPG Foundation awarded 24 grants to students attending numerous colleges and universities within the Eastern Section (see accompanying box).
The award process is rigorous, and the grants carry a significant amount of prestige. Student applicants are very strong candidates, and the awardees are at the apex of their educational pursuits.
All of which pulls us back to the Section’s principle purpose: to provide the forum for sharing of experience, science and opportunity. “New Ideas for Old Basins” is the theme for the 2006 Eastern Section AAPG annual meeting, which will be hosted by the New York State Geological Association Oct. 8-11 in Buffalo, N.Y.
In addition to the traditional oral presentations and poster sessions, this meeting will include a plethora of other geologic activities covering cores, real rocks in the field, continuing education workshops and one famous old map. Slated are:
- Core blast -- including examples from the Antrium, Bakken, Barnett, New Albany Shale, the Albion Scipio field, the NYS black shales of the Utica, Marcellus, Rhinestreet, and Middlesex, the NYS Theresa, Trenton, Dolgeville, Queenston, Silurian salt section, Oriskany, Onondaga Reef and more from Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
- Thirteen pre-meeting field trips -- in the height of fall seasonal colors, covering the gamut of geology, held in conjunction with the NYSGA and supported by NYSERDA.
- Four workshops: One pre-meeting (“Reservoir Engineering for Petroleum Geologist,” led by Rich Green) and three post-meeting (“The Trenton/Black River,” Graham Davies and Taury Smith; “Tectonic Development of the Appalachian Basin and Controls on Clastic Deposition -- Primarily Sandstone,” Gerald Smith and Bob Jacobi; and “Fractured Black Shale,” Dan Jarvie).
- Historic display -- an original William Smith’s “The Map That Changed the World” (the map is held by the Buffalo and Erie County Library) will be on display at the Adam’s Mark Buffalo Niagara Hotel, headquarters for the meeting.
- The Eastern Section Student Job Quest once again will be an integral part of the meeting -- and employers wishing to participate should make plans now to attend.
You are invited. Those who have attended Eastern Section meetings can attest that the meeting and its associated affairs are some of the most professional, engaging and rewarding experiences they have had.
Additional information can be found at the Eastern Section Web site