(recorded by Vikram Sen and Pamela Terekhova)
Tim Berge, Chairperson GAC (opening remarks) : The mission of the GAC is to assist in the globalization of SEG. For the first time, international membership is set to exceed US membership and the fastest growth of SEG membership is taking place outside the US. 12 new student sections were opened during 2001-2002 exceeding the target of 10 set by Fred Aminzadeh last year. Global Membership (underwritten by Apache Corporation) was instituted for the first year – very specifically targeted at fellow colleagues in World Bank class IV and class V countries. For the first time , the GAC declared by-laws regarding (i) its organization , (ii) responsibilities of regional coordinators, vice-chair and chairperson and (iii) election procedures. And for the first time both candidates for vice-chair reside outside the US. Voting powers for Global Members has been suggested , but redistricting is still an outstanding issue.
(Chair requests region coordinators to place their reports)
George Cameron Smith (Africa) :
· 14 country reps have been appointed for the Africa region. The South African Geophysical Conference was succesfully held last October – with Walt Lynn, Pam Terekhova and Tim Berge attending.
· Coordinating PC’s for students in Nigeria.
· Geoph Society of Angola (Nov 19-21, 2002 Luanda) opened.
· Conference in Nairobi March 2003. Conf in SA October 2003.
AG
Pramanik (Asia)
:
· Mumbai 2002 was a great success. Lynn, Thomsen and Brian Russell attended.
· SPG has opened a new NA chapter in Houston.
· BHU, NGRI, IITKgp and AU Vizag student chapters have been inititated and are currently under consideration.
· SPG alongwith SEG is trying to assist geophysical education by donating hardware and software to educational institutions , data processing lab’s started in 2 universities. New consortium started in ISM (supported by Paradigm and SGI) for R&D as well as education.
· Requested more DISC venues in south / south east asia.
Alfred Liaw (Asia) :
· Jessy Kozman has been appointed country rep in Malaysia.
· A request has been made providing student discounts for buying books.
· SEGJapan will be held in January 2003.
Tagir Galikeev (CIS) :
· Upcoming conferences (Sept Moscow 2003 SEG EAGO EAGE exhibition and conference – Yoram) (St Petersburg Young Scientist Conference Fall 2003 – 300th anniversary of city )
· Moscow State Univ received full suite of Landmark software.
Brian Russell (Canada) :
· Canada accounts for 10% of SEG members
· CSEG is very active – with a well networked organization in the Calgary area
· November 2002 dates have been announced for Doodle Training Week .
· Recorder is coming up with new enhanced issues but facing resource crunches.
Yoram Shoham encouraged the Canadian oil industry to take up the challenge on developing heavy oil and tar sands technology.
Aldo Vesnaver (Europe) :
· Italian joint SEG-EAGE section is an unique example of a professional society , emphasizing that high level collaboration between SEG and EAGE is possible.
· Milan meeting went well. Also mentioned SEG EAGE summer workshop (model dependent / model independent studies – common reflection stack vs tomography).
· Marschall and Spitz will both retire next year and GAC should start looking for replacements.
Mariangella Capello (Latin America) :
· Recognized SBGf and invited Ivan Simoes to introduce – Rio 2003 conference deadline April 2003 co-organizers : SEG EAGE Sbgf ;
· Announced Peru conference and Venezuela congress including session on Trinidad
· First summer research workshop to be held outside US – Margarita Island - emphasized the need to hold meetings outside US to expand community.
Mike Bahorich (SEG President 2002-2003) :
· energy is the world’s largest enterprise and there are great challenges ;
· importance of growing international membership has to be recognized and global membership has to be supported
Dick Edwards (Middle East) :
· Aldo Vesnaver helped nominate country representative for Saudi Arabia : M Sagaf (Dahran Geoscience Society)
· Cairo 2002 poised to be a big success.
· Seismic activity still at high level – about 10 crews in Saudi Arabia.
· SEG and SPE alternate in holding conferences in Bahrain ;
· Regarding SEG membership, since 1998, 300 members have remained at a constant – 175 from Saudi Arabia ; 12 global members from Middle East.
Samir Abdel Moaty (Cairo 2002) :
· 750 registrants from 36 countries intend to attend Cairo 2002.
· 1/3 of Global Members registered this year came from Egypt .
Walt Lynn (SEG President 2001-2002) :
· Among the important issues under discussion within the SEG, there are at least two that pertain to GAC – nominations for ExCom and Council Rep’s for the 10 districts ;
· Halliburton initiative (March AAPG meeting) for student memberships.
· 700 new global members ; 5% of global members responded to questionnaires – voting rights considered important ; given the internationalization of SEG and the fact that travel scope is limited ; distance learning around the world through web based technology will becom increasingly popular ; option to donate powerpoint presentations from SEG Annual Conferences will allow greater access to the material ; SEG is also experimenting with audio recording and matching actual talks with powerpoint presentations for later distribution.
· More global members need to join GAC .
· SEG should pursue outreach programs for high school students.
Shane Coperude (GAC Chair-Elect 2002-2003) :
· A fund consisting of 10000 dollars is available for the “PC’s for students” program.
· Bulgaria was covered by SEG this year ; and Vietnam was supported by a matching grant of $2000 from Unocal ;
· At the Baku conference the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy was awarded a PC (Seismic Micro Technology provided supporting software ; ExxonMobil provided the PC and data ; Conoco provided the printer ; and Unocal supplied the video controller) ;
· Nigeria and Indonesia are two of the possible candidates for next year .
Fred Aminzadeh : expects greater participation from new global and student members ; existing GAC members should invite showcase people and new members to GAC and be more active in the regional societies ;
Lisa Sutliff : DISC courses are offered at a limited number of locations ; some locations i.e. Houston, Calgary, etc are always visited . The program is funded by foundation and sponsorship ; local chapters need to provide venue, AV and lunch if applicable .
Leslie : News student sections were opened in ; Africa 3 (nigeria) , Asia 2 (china, india) , Canada 2 (manitoba, toronto) , FSU 3 (kazakhstan, ukraine , russia) , europe 2 (italy, turkey) , latin america 1 (brazil) , pacific no new (11 existing) , US 1 pending in NY
Open Forum : Yoram Shoham
moved that during any future GAC meeting
held during an Annual Conference , a greater
portion of the meeting be devoted to meaningful debates of – of
strategic issues . However the GAC chair will
determine how that is
implemented and what the final agenda is. Passed unanimously.
Brian Spies suggested that agendas for winter meeting be scoped out more widely and firmed up well before the meeting.
Tim Berge suggseted the use of a chat room for soliciting views and opinions on issues of interest to membership at large. Online Governing Board needs to be consulted on this.