Following the 2015 price downturn, AAPG
faced serious challenges. Declining
membership and revenues forced the
Association to draw down its cash reserves
and to lay off staff – both painful and drastic
steps. By last year, the Association had
largely adjusted to the low-price environment
only to be hit by the twin black swan events
of another price collapse and the coronavirus
pandemic.
AAPG President Rick Fritz has laid out in
his column much of what the Association
has been doing to survive in these trying
times. The AAPG regions are also taking
their own individual approaches to meeting
these challenges. In addition to the trying
times we’re all facing, each Region faces
additional, localized challenges that need
to be overcome to keep the Region, and the
Association, viable.
Changing Landscape
U.S. companies are heavily focused
on unconventional exploitation and on the
transition to sustainable and green energy.
Attendant with this focus is a diminishing
role for geoscientists. This in turn presents
an ongoing challenge for AAPG and our U.S.
members.
International regions are also increasing
their efforts in at unconventional exploitation
and energy transition. However, they still have
a strong focus on conventional exploration.
Most countries are targeting 2 to 4-percent
GDP growth. Governments are aware that
for them to achieve economic growth, they
must be able to access affordable energy,
and to do that, they will need to continue to
access fossil fuels. Fossil fuels will play an
important role in energy for many decades.
As such, AAPG is increasingly relevant in the
international regions, and the regions are
more relevant than ever to AAPG.
Credentials
Each Region is unique, facing
unique challenges, and offering unique
opportunities, both for the Association and
its members. Each Region encompasses
multiple countries, cultures and languages.
Furthermore, each Region has a diverse
portfolio of opportunities.
One of the challenges for the Association
is to help our members, particularly our
international members, showcase their
credentials to the industry and to the world
as a whole. There are many very good
universities around the world, many providing
a better education in the geosciences than
some of their western counterparts. Yet,
these universities are largely unknown
outside of their Region, and in the larger
regions, even within their Region.
The Division of Professional Affairs, along
with the Executive Committee, are looking
at several initiatives to help our members
assure the industry, as well as the various
regulatory agencies, that they meet the
skills and ethical standards expected of
a professional geoscientist. In addition to
certification and board certification, the DPA
and the Continuing Education Committee
are in the process of developing criteria to
recognize subject matter experts.
Engagement
One of the most important efforts of the
Association is to engage our members in a
way that enhances both the Association and
our members – a challenge exacerbated over
the past year by the inability to have in-person
meetings as a result of the pandemic. The
challenge is even greater for our international
members, given the diversity of cultures and
languages. But, one constant that seems to
persist across the regions is the passion our
geoscientists have for geology, and for AAPG.
The regions have all found ways to
address the specific needs and demographic
challenges of their members. They have
done an excellent job of adapting to the
COVID world to improve and broaden the
skills of our members across the world,
especially students. They worked closely
with the Distinguished Lecture and Visiting
Geologists programs to virtually expand
the reach of those programs. Likewise, all
of the regions have successfully adapted
to virtual Geotechnical Workshops. These
are small meetings – typically fewer than
100 attendees, addressing topics that meet
the needs of the Region as well as helping
develop and broaden the technical skills of
our members.
Although most of us look forward to the
days when we can once again meet inperson,
the ability to meet virtually has been
a blessing to the regions, allowing each of
them to reach out to the entire Region and to
offer cost-effective topical programs.
The AAPG regions are a significant part
of AAPG. Today, the regions’ membership
is almost equal to the U.S. membership
(9,371 versus 10,128). It is safe to say that
the regions will play an increasing role
in the viability of the Association. More
importantly, the innovative steps taken by
the regions to thrive in the current crisis
offer the Association as a whole hope for
our industry.