GeoSpectrum

by Larry Smith,

TRGS President and Associate Research Geologist,

Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology

The Tobacco Root Geological Society (TRGS) will be conducting its 31st annual field conference in Libby, Montana this up coming year.

We’ve been fortunate to have strong support from the geological community, and thanks to generous financial donations by Rob Foster, the late Jack Harrison, and many others, the TRGS has been able for some years to offer three $500 scholarships to students working on geological projects in the Northern Rockies.

We hope to make the wider public aware of this potential student research support. The three different scholarships focus on field-oriented, Precambrian, and economic geology research.

Full descriptions are available on our web site, www.trgs.org/scholar.htm

Deadline for applications is February 1 and checks are usually provided in time for the summer field season.

Two-page applications or inquiries should be sent electronically to TRGS President, Larry Smith, at lsmith@mtech.edu.

Following agreement between the Councils of the three societies, the first ever joint meeting of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the Mineralogical Society of America, and the Mineralogical Association of Canada will be held in Fitzwilliam College Cambridge in June 2007. The scientific focus of the meeting will be on recent advances in research in to the properties and behaviour of minerals together with their geological contexts in rocks and biosystems, under the overall theme of “Frontiers in Mineral Sciences.”

A list of plenary lectures and symposia is currently under consideration by the conference convenor Michael Carpenter and the Organising Committee. Suggested sessions already received (as of September 2005) include topics such as Interactions between minerals an organic molecules; Diagenesis and contaminated environments; Structural topology of minerals; Adsorption processes on mineral surfaces; Simulations of minerals: advances and limitations; Structural and microstructural origins of remanent magnetism etc. It is hoped that a decision on the main session topics will be reached by the end of 2005 so that people have plenty of time to focus on these and prepare their contributions to one or more of the sessions. As usual there will be an opportunity for oral and poster presentations. A list of the proposed main session topics will be published on the web site at: www.minersoc.org/Frontiers2007.html as soon as they become available.

The bi-annual technical conference of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG), “Wealth Creation in the Minerals Industry – Integrating Science, Business, and Education,” will be held at the Keystone Resort in Colorado, May 14-16, 2006.

“The SEG 2006 conference occurs during a most interesting time for the minerals industry,” stated John Dow, conference chair. “An extraordinary growth in the demand for global metals has fuelled a resources boom. Miners and explorers are operating in a more demanding social environment.

“Even with record earnings, exploration is struggling to replace reserves,” he noted. “In addition, academic institutions are producing fewer graduates for the mining industry to support these requirements.”

Speakers from throughout industry and academia will address some fundamental questions:

• What are the crucial factors of geology, human insight and business opportunity that drive exploration success?
• How can the mining industry build better social and community competency?
• How can explorers make better use of exploration research, good science and operating best practices to improve efficiency and profitability?
• How will industry develop a more strategic and sustainable approach to education, training, recruitment and human resource planning?

The three day event will include technical and poster sessions, an exhibit hall, evening speakers and events, and the SEG Awards night. Several field trips to nearby geologic sites and seven workshops will be held before and after the conference.

In conjunction with the conference, the SEG will hold the first ever SEG Student Conference on May 13, bringing together earth science students and SEG student leaders from around the world.

“This conference provides a unique opportunity for collaboration between mineral explorers, business leaders, earth scientists, researchers, students and investors on issues which will shape the minerals industry for years to come,” asserted Murray Hitzman, current president of SEG.

Further information is available at the conference website: www.seg2006.org

Four outstanding earth science publications and websites were honored by the Geoscience Information Society (GSIS) at its October meeting in Salt Lake City.

The Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences (Academic Press, 2003), edited by James Holton, John Pyle, and Judith Curry, received the Mary B. Ansari Best Reference Work Award. The six-volume work is an authoritative resource covering all aspects of atmospheric sciences, both theoretical and applied.

George C. Dunne and John Cooper were awarded the Society’s Best Guidebook Award for their work on Geologic Excursions in the California Deserts and Adjacent Transverse Ranges (Pacific Section, SEPM, 2001). The volume consists of four field trip guides prepared for the April, 2001 joint meeting of the Cordilleran Section of the Geological Society of America and the Pacific Section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

Since 2002 GSIS has annually honored a geoscience website that exemplifies outstanding standards of content, design, organization, and overall effectiveness. This year’s Best Website Award was shared by two recipients: The Paleontology Portal (www.paleoportal.org), an academic site, and Volcano World (volcano.und.edu), a site aimed at the general public.

The Paleontology Portal is produced by the University of California Museum of Paleontology, the Paleontological Society, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, and the United States Geological Survey. The site serves as a resource for “anyone interested in paleontology, from the professional in the lab to the interested amateur scouting for fossils to the student in any classroom”.

Volcano World provides up-to-date information about volcanoes on the Earth and other planets in an accessible, lively fashion. Highlights include news of current eruptions, photos and movie clips, and projects for teachers and students. The site is sponsored by the Department of Space Studies, University of North Dakota, and the North Dakota NASA Space Grant Consortium.

Nominations are being sought from members of the Society for the 2006 award of the Mineralogical Society-Schlumberger Medal, given to recognize scientific excellence in mineralogy and its applications by a key worker. Evidence should be in the form of published work by a currently active scientist.

Nominations are also sought from members for the 2006 award of the Max Hey Medal, to recognize existing and ongoing research carried out by young scientists (normally under 35 years at the time of the award).

Nominations, with supporting evidence, should be sent to The Mineralogical Society, 41 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 5HR, UK to arrive by April 21, 2006. Recipients of the awards need not be members of the Society. Full details of the awards and requirements for nomination can be found on the website: www.minersoc.org under the awards button.