Benefits of GCAGS

1.  65th Annual Convention and Exhibition hosted by the Houston Geological Society, Sept 20-22, 2015, George R. Brown Conv. Center, Houston, Texas
Paper themes:

• New Oil and Gas Discoveries • Unconventional Plays • Development Field Studies • GOM Shelf and Onshore Plays • Salt Tectonics and Traps • Mexico and Caribbean Plays

• Gulf of Mexico Deepwater • Environmental Geology • Coastal Geology and Surface Impact • Geology-Geophysics-Engineering • Portfolio Management • Geophysical Technology

Call for Papers webpage: www.gcagshouston.com or contact Linda Sternbach, Technical Program Chair, at linda.sternbach@gmail.com.

2.  Society Representative on the GCAGS Board of Directors:  The Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies (GCAGS) has 13 affiliated societies.  The affiliated societies are the core of GCAGS.  The President of each affiliated society (or his or her representative) is a voting member of the GCAGS Board of Directors.  As such, the societies have a strong voice in the decisions made by the GCAGS Board of Directors.

3.  AAPG Advisory Council Representation:  The Gulf Coast Section is the largest AAPG Section with close to 9000 members.  Because of its size, the GCAGS has two Advisory Council Section Representatives while the other Sections have only one.  “The AAPG Advisory Council serves in an advisory capacity to the AAPG Executive Committee.  They report on matters involving ethics and discipline, long-range planning, constitutional review, nominations for officers and honors and awards and other special projects as requested by the Executive Committee.”

4.  GCAGS Student and Faculty Grants:  Each year the GCAGS awards $20,000 in scholarship grant money to approximately 20 deserving graduate or PhD students in the Gulf Coast area.  In addition, GCAGS awards $10,000 to two faculty members to support their research on Gulf Coast geology. 

GCAGS PRESIDENT Charles Sternbach 281-679-7333 carbodude@gmail.com	GCAGS VICE PRESIDENT Brent Hopkins 361-884-8824 brenth@suemaur.com	GCAGS PAST PRESIDENT Mary Broussard 337-354-5041 Mary_Broussard@fmi.com
2015 GCAGS CONVENTION GENERAL CHAIRMAN Larry Bartell 713-781-6974 ldbartell@legendsexpl.com	GCAGS TREASURER Steve Hill 713-880-4343 steve.hill@LSDecker.com	GCAGS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Kate Kipper 512-925-1200 gcags.mail@gmail.com

5.  GCAGS Scholarship Fund Matching Program:  GCAGS periodically initiates a Scholarship Fund-Matching Program for the societies.  This is a great opportunity for the societies to double the value of donations going to their scholarship foundations, and in turn, help deserving geoscience students in their local areas.  The total value of the donations from the GCAGS is $195,500.

6.  Travel to Student Chapter Leadership Summit:  Each year GCAGS provides $1000 in support for student travel to the AAPG Student Chapter Leadership Summit.  Summit attendees participate in training, interact with AAPG leadership, and establish mentoring relationships.

7.  Advertising:  Every year each GCAGS Affiliated Society receives a free ¼ page of advertising space (black & white) in the AAPG Explorer. 

8.  Sponsorship of Section Level Imperial Barrel Award Competition:  If sufficient corporate funding is not raised, GCAGS will donate $5000 (on an annual basis) to sponsor the Gulf Coast Section IBA competition.  GCAGS also volunteers to host the Gulf Coast Section university IBA teams and administer the entire event including one-day training for all participants. The IBA program is hugely popular with the students and industry support has grown immensely over the last few years.  Two Gulf Coast Universities have won the Global IBA competition:  The University of Texas, Austin (1 victory), and the University of Louisiana, Lafayette (2 victories). 

9.  Honors and Awards:  Every year members of GCAGS’ affiliated societies are nominated by their peers for awards for their service and accomplishments at the Society, Section, and the National AAPG levels.  Winners are recognized with an award plaque at the GCAGS Convention.  

10.  Teacher of the Year Award:  In addition to an award plaque, GCAGS gives the winner of the Owen R. Hopkins Outstanding Earth Science Teacher Award $2000 ($1500 for personal use and $500 for use by their school) and an expense paid trip to the Annual GCAGS Convention. 

11.  GCAGS Transactions:  Professional registrants for the GCAGS Convention receive an electronic version (CD or flash drive) of the GCAGS Transactions with their registration fee. 

12.  GCAGS Journal:  The GCAGS Journal is a peer-reviewed premier publication dedicated to Gulf Coast geoscience research and concepts.  Contact Barry J. Katz BarryKatz@chevron.com for more information.

13.  www.gcags.org:  The GCAGS website is linked to local society websites.  New material, comments, updates, etc. are welcome.

14. Social Media:  Ability to send out updates on GCAGS events—please contact Dianna Phu at dianna.phu@intecsea.com.