An outstanding and comprehensive technical program complemented by an extensive exhibits hall that boasted the latest in industry technology and professional services combined to make the recent 2014 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition one of the largest gatherings in AAPG history.
The 2014 ACE, held in early April at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center, attracted 9,386 attendees, making it the largest AAPG gathering ever held in Houston and the third largest meeting in AAPG history. The only larger meetings were the 1981 convention in San Francisco (12,152) and the 1980 event in Denver (9,475).
The meeting’s theme was “Ideas and Innovation: Fuel for the Energy Capital,” which was explored by more than 800 oral and poster presentations.
ACE highlights included:
♦ AAPG President Lee Krystinik’s address to the opening session, in which he discussed the global implications of the industry’s “unconventional resources revolution,” and AAPG’s role in those developments.
♦ The latest installment of AAPG’s Discovery Thinking forums – this year expanded to an all-day session as eight geoscientists discussed new reserves, unconventional resources, payoffs from persistence and the application of highly specialized technology.
♦ A new special forum, titled “Communicating Our Science,” featuring a panel of high-profile experts who discussed what and how to communicate with the public and media about sensitive topics in energy and science.
♦ The presentation of AAPG honors and awards, including a stirring tribute to Ernest A. Mancini, a renowned educator and leading researcher in stratigraphy and petroleum geology of the Gulf of Mexico region, as he received the Sidney Powers Memorial Medal, AAPG’s highest honor.
♦ Informative and compelling luncheon speeches by a variety of speakers covering a wide-range of subjects, including:
- Kirk Johnson, Sant Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural, who spoke on “Evolution, Time, Tectonics, Asteroids, Climate and the Trajectory of Earth Science.”
- Susan Cunningham, senior vice president of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Africa and Frontier Region for Noble Energy, speaking on “Exploration and the Oil and Gas Industry: Having a Positive Impact on People and the World.”
- Scott Tinker, director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and state geologist of Texas, speaking on “The Future of U.S. Shale.”
- Anthony R. Fiorillo, with the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, speaking on “A Perspective from Dinosaurs on Climate Change.”
The 2015 ACE will be held May 31-June 3 in Denver.