July 2005
Geological Society of America 2005 Annual Meeting
Boulder, CO – More than 6000 geoscientists will gather at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City 16-19 October for "Science, Learning, and Colleagues," the 117th annual meeting and exposition of the Geological Society of America. A total of 257 symposia, topical sessions, and discipline-specific sessions will cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from effects of the 2004 South Asian tsunami to the recently released Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
I. Scientific Program
** 8 PARDEE KEYNOTE SYMPOSIA**
Topics addressed in these invited-speaker events include the 2004 South Asian tsunami, the 2004-2005 eruption of Mount St. Helens, and results from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. Others focus on science, politics, and public policy, including the latest efforts to strengthen the teaching of evolution and water resources science. Of particular regional interest is a symposium on the Wasatch Range-Great Salt Lake hydroclimatic system.
** 150 TOPICAL SESSIONS **
These interdisciplinary sessions involve a mix of invited and volunteered papers. A sampling of topics includes:
- Sedimentology Goes to Mars
- The Yellowstone Hotspot
- Hydrogeology and Climate Change
- Dendrogeology: Geologic Applications of Tree-Ring Studies
- Refining the Global Neoproterozoic Geologic Record
- The Dawn of Animal Life: Evolutionary and Paleoecological Patterns in the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Animal Fossil Record
- Traces of Life: Micro- to Macroscopic Evidence of Past and Present Biogenic Activity and Their Implications
- Holocene Climate Change in Western North America: Spatial-Temporal Phasing of Climate Modes, Events, and Transitions
- The Lunar Exploration Initiative: Current Science Knowledge and Future Exploration
- Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Environments for Microbial Survival
** 28 FIELD TRIPS **
Trips range from one to four days in duration and some are physically rigorous. Trips include:
- Basaltic Volcanism of the Central and Western Snake River Plain and its Relations to the Yellowstone Plume
- Late Cretaceous Stratigraphy, Depositional Environments, and Macrovertebrate Paleontology in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
- Latest Pleistocene-Early Holocene Human Occupation in the Bonneville Basin
- Biogeochemistry, Limnology, and Ecology of Great Salt Lake
- Classic Geology of Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks and Cedar Breaks National Monument
- Geologic Hazards of the Wasatch Front, Utah
Finalization of the scientific program is underway as of this writing. Additional information will be made available in late August.
II. Media Participation
Onsite Newsroom facilities will be available at the meeting. Qualified media are invited to attend and registration is complimentary. Eligibility for media registration is as follows: - Working press representing bona fide, recognized news media with a press card, letter, or business card from the publication.
- Freelance science writers, presenting a current membership card from NASW, ISWA, regional affiliates of NASW, ISWA, CSWA, ACS, ABSW, EUSJA, or evidence of work pertaining to science published in 2004 or 2005.
- PIOs of scientific societies, educational institutions, and government agencies. Journalists and PIOs must pay for any short courses or field trips in which they wish to participate. Representatives of the business side of news media, publishing houses, and for-profit corporations must register at the main registration desk and pay the appropriate fees.
For additional information on eligibility and housing, and to register, visit http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/2005/rMedia.htm. Pre-registration deadline for media is 30 September 2005. Contact Ann Cairns, GSA Director of Communications, for information and assistance ([email protected]).
www.geosociety.org