Fall is here. It strikes me that September has much more significance as the start of a new year than January. The new school year starts, which affects our student geophysicists and the parents among us. Many of our professional activities follow the same pattern that entrenched us throughout our academic lives. We even take a break from our monthly luncheon over the summer, and now that autumn is upon us, we will stoke up a full head of steam for the winter season to come.
This fall, we have the usual assortment of technical activities, plus the SEG is hosting a workshop on induced seismicity and the EAGE and CSEG are jointly hosting a workshop on conventional land seismic exploration. Our world-class continuing education week, DoodleTrain, along with its related activities like the luncheon, meet-the-teacher night, and Junior Geophysicists’ Forum, is the technical capstone of our fall calendar.
September is also a time when most of our CSEG committee activities jump back into full swing, which makes this an ideal time to think about how you might want to plug into our society. If you are interested in volunteering for the CSEG, Sheryl in the office would be glad to hear from you. The office contact information is on our website: cseg.ca/about/contact
We have a wide variety of technical and social committees, which offer an equally varied range of opportunities for professional or personal fulfillment. Depending on the committee and the role you take, there will likely be some combination of these opportunities:
- Skill development in leadership and organization
- Networking opportunities:
- Students
- Fellow professionals
- Future clients/employers
- Social opportunities
- Rewarding feeling from involvement in our community and/or reaching out to others
OK, so that’s my plug for volunteering. Again, Sheryl can help you find something fun and rewarding.
On another September topic, I wanted to update my fellow geophysicists with what’s happening with the CSEG Chair in Geophysics at the University of Calgary.
The Chair in Exploration Geophysics Endowment was established in 1979 through donations made by individuals and corporations, many of whom were members of the CSEG, along with a matching grant by the Province of Alberta. CSEG and the U of C recognize that the CSEG Chair is underfunded and cannot be sustained with the existing endowment allocations. CSEG recognizes that the University can no longer act in accordance with the intent of the original gift and, as such, agrees that the endowment fund be fully spent to support the CSEG Chair in Exploration Geophysics over the next five years. The redirection of these funds from an ongoing endowment to an operating fund will allow the University to properly support a chair in the area of exploration geophysics and will allow for renewed momentum in this area of study.
This is good timing for the Department of Geoscience, because they are facing a potential deficit in geophysical professors. With professors nearing retirement age and finding opportunities to contribute to our scientific community outside of Calgary, this is an opportunity to preemptively add another strong member to the geophysics faculty.
This is also an opportunity for us to rekindle the enthusiasm for a chair funded by our society and our community. It is my hope that the next five years we, the CSEG and members of our scientific community, find ways to extend the chair into the future and potentially procure a level of funding required to fully endow the chair.
So, happy fall, everyone! It is a time when nature is winding down in preparation for winter, but for our scientific and academic communities, it is a time for fresh starts and new beginnings.
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