WELCOME TO THE 101ST YEAR OF THE HOUSTON GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
I am pleased to welcome you to the 101st year of the Houston Geological Society. HGS was founded on August 8, 1923, and over the past 100 years, it has been an integral organization for our geoscience community. I am truly honored to serve as President of HGS as we move forward together and look to the next century for HGS.
Vision for HGS
As HGS President, it is my goal to continue to build HGS as a premier Houston-area geoscience organization. This vision can only be realized with your active participation and support. Let’s work together to make HGS the “go-to” organization for our geoscience community, advancing geoscience by building strong community relationships and encouraging the dissemination of geological technology through education and other networking platforms. Your role is crucial in making HGS a leading resource that will guide us into future geoscience opportunities and adventures.
To accomplish this goal, I would like to focus on three objectives for this year: 1) grow HGS’s membership; 2) build HGS as a geoscience resource and networking organization; 3) and strengthen HGS’s financial sustainability. I will have more information on these goals in next month’s HGS letter.
HGS’s Board Members
As we transition into HGS's 101st year, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the tremendous efforts of the past HGS Board members, committee chairs, volunteers, staff, and family members. Your dedication and hard work have set a strong forward momentum for us to build upon. I would also like to highlight the 2024-2025 Board Members as they take on their new roles and responsibilities, knowing that they will continue the legacy of excellence.
HGS's Past President, Paul Britt, did a tremendous job on various matters that arose during his tenure. Two accomplishments that I would like to highlight are:1) the negotiation of the HGS office lease, which locked in a lower rental fee for a newer, more comfortable office space located in the same building, and 2) the sound fiscal management of the 2023-2024 HGS budget. Patty Walker, President-Elect, and I are focused on continuing HGS’s momentum.
HGS’s Past Vice President, Linda Sternbach, and her husband, Charles Sternbach, did an outstanding job organizing the HGS’s 100th Anniversary Gala, which was indeed an exceptional event. In addition, Linda organized insightful and informative technical presentations for the HGS Luncheon and Dinner Meetings. Both the Sheriff’s Lecture and the Wildcatters Dinners were sell-out capacity events and, in addition, were exceptional networking opportunities for attendees.
Catie Donohue, 2024-2025 Vice President, is working diligently to organize our HGS speakers for this year. Catie stated: “For this year’s HGS events, I would like to showcase the geological talent of Houston area professionals, technology development, and mentorship; HGS is here for you as a place for communication, networking, and community engagement.”
HGS's Past Secretary, Kenneth Mohn, compiled detailed monthly reports of the HGS Board meetings and worked with Membership Chair Kurang Mehta to compile new membership applications. Sophie Broun, 2024-2025 HGS Secretary, worked closely with Kenneth and continues compiling thorough reports, and is working with the new Membership Chair, Oyie Ekeng, on new HGS membership applications.
HGS’s Past Editor, Caroline Wachtman, brought the HGS Bulletin to a new level of excellence through the publication of in-depth, technical articles covering a variety of current topics, ranging from deepwater deposits in the Gulf of Mexico to Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage. The Bulletin remains a critical technology transfer platform for our geoscience community. Ted Godo, 2024-2025 Editor, with Lucia Torrado, 2024-2025 Editor Elect, continue on this excellence trend as you will see in this September Bulletin.
HGS’s Past Treasurer, Fang Lin, diligently worked with HGS board members and staff to provide monthly financial reports to the Board. Genn Lowenstein, the 2024-2025 Treasurer, is working with Treasurer-Elect Angela Hammond to continue compiling HGS monthly financial reports.
HGS has four directors who work closely with many HGS Committees. Directors Sharma Dronamraju and Judy Schulenberg will continue their two-year Directors' term in 2024-2025. Sharma works with several HGS committees on social networking events, such as the Sporting Clays Tournament, the Golf Tournament, and the Shrimp Peel & Crawfish Boil. Judy is working with the Continuing Education Committee, which focuses on providing instructive short courses for our geoscience community. Judy is also a current member of the Calvert Scholarship Fund committee. Directors Bill DeMis and Troy Meinen have completed their two-year Directors term of 2022-2024. Bill oversaw educational programs, including Earth Science Week and Educational Outreach. As part of HGS educational programs, our organization supported three summer internships at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. These young adults did outstanding STEM intern projects, and seeing our next generation of scientists is inspiring. Catherine Cox is the incoming HGS Director taking over these programs. Troy worked with HGS’s Social Media, NeoGeos, and Student Expo Committees. The NeoGeos and the Student Expo are exceptionally successful networking events for HGS. Lauren Robinson will be taking the lead in working with these committees.
In conclusion, I sincerely thank all the 2023-2024 HGS Board members for their dedicated support of HGS. I also thank this year’s 2024-2025 HGS Board Members, who have already taken up the challenge of growing our HGS organization and building our geoscience community.
Exciting Events Scheduled for this Fall:
We have an exciting and busy Fall 2024 for HGS with several scheduled conferences, symposiums, and HGS General Dinners and Luncheons. Here is a list of some upcoming events:
• The Student Expo is a highly successful recruiting and networking event for our geoscience community. The Expo brings together over 200 graduate students from across the country, with geoscientists and recruiters from 20 companies. This year, the Student Expo will be held September 9 – 10, 2024, at the Norris Conference Center. Registrations are on track to exceed last year’s attendance.
• The HGS Environmental and Engineering Meeting will take place on September 11, 2024,, at Los Tios restaurant, located at 9527 Westheimer Rd. Three speakers will give the presentation: Michael D. Campbell, Henry M. Wise, and Bruce Handley. The title of the presentation is “A Tale of the Re-Discovery of the Brookshire Uranium Deposit Whose Time has Come.” Undoubtedly, this will be a very interesting and well-timed presentation on uranium deposits and their historical importance in energy.
• The HGS Dinner Meeting will be held on September 16, 2024, at the Norris Conference Center. The speaker will be Dr. John Anderson, Rice University, who will present “Holocene versus Historical Response of the Gulf Coast to Sea-Level Rise and Climate Change: From Coastal Stability to Rapid Demise.” This is a timely and “must-attend” presentation with derecho and hurricane Beryl.
• The HGS-GESGB Africa Conference, “Africa 2024: The Future in Energy, Skills, and Diversity,” will be hosted by HGS in Houston, TX. The conference theme is energy transition and includes theme sessions on new Discoveries, New Techniques and Technologies, Growing Value, and Keeping the Focus on the Future. I highly recommend signing up soon because the conference will be held on September 24 – 25, 2024, at the Norris Conference Center.
• The GHS-HGS Symposium: Learning from Integrated Case Studies of Success and Failure is a “must-attend” event in which the Geophysical Society of Houston (GSH) and the Houston Geological Society (HGS) have an opportunity to join to share our learnings. Conference organizer Charles Sternbach states, "Integrated case studies of geology and geophysics expand personal experience. These experiences, a rare and valuable heritage, help us find hidden gems...” I encourage you to put this one-day event held on November 14, 2024, on your calendar.
• The HGS Sporting Clays Tournament will be held on Saturday, November 22, 2024, at West Side Sporting Grounds. The Clays Shoot was brought back last year and is an extremely popular event, so look to register for attendance and sponsorship early.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at these exciting HGS events.
Penny Patterson
HGS President
