Special Sessions

This session is to honor the memory of A. Keith Turner and his areas of specialty. Keith helped develop the first computer generated geologic maps, advanced research into environmental and geologic hazard mitigation, and developed techniques related to remote sensing and geologic modelling. In spite of these accomplishments, he felt his greatest professional achievement was listening to and collaborating with researchers from different parts of the world and facilitating open channels of communication with the public. We invite talks in the areas of geologic and environmental engineering, hazard mitigation, landslides and rock falls, 3D digital mapping, and 3D computer modelling.

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This session will feature invited oral and poster presentations providing overviews of the state of development of non-petroleum geologic energy resources. Topics to be featured include geothermal energy and geologic hydrogen resources, as well as geologic reservoirs and materials that are necessary for essential alternative-energy infrastructure (e.g., critical minerals for batteries, solar panels, etc.; identification and development of subsurface storage capacity for CO2 and energy gases). The session will feature contributors from the GSA Energy Geology Division, members of several commodity committees from the AAPG Energy Minerals Division, and other speakers.

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Join past and present leaders of the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) and prominent geoscientists across our community as we recognize the 75th Anniversary of the Institute. Speakers will recall motivations that lead to emergence of the Institute, its impacts on the geosciences and society, and look ahead as our profession faces unprecedented transitions in the scope and imperative of the geosciences: who we are, and how we work. Kick-off speakers include:

• Senator John Hickenlooper (invited)
• David Applegate (Acting Director, US Geological Survey)
• Elizabeth Eide (Executive Director for the Division on Earth and Life Studies at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine)
• Scott Tinker (Director, Texas Bureau of Economic Geology)

AGI was founded to foster the geosciences to support society, including the challenges of the Cold War, expanding the geosciences globally, and recognizing and supporting the health of the discipline. This session will scan the horizon of the geosciences in context of past responses to stress points, the challenges of today, and the opportunity of sustainability serving as a unifying framework for the future of the geosciences.

The day will end with an engaging panel discussion and lengthy Q&A focusing on the vital role of geoscience in sustainability and climate change, filling the K–12 education gap, the future of the workforce, and public geoscience literacy. The panelists include:

• Karen Berry, State Geologist, Colorado Geological Survey
• David Curtiss, Executive Director, American Assoc. of Petroleum Geologists
• Debra Glickson, Board Director, National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine
• Jakob Lindaas, Professional Staff, Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, US House of Representatives
• Naomi Oreskes, Professor and Author, Harvard University
• Eric Pyle, Professor, James Madison University
• Barbara Ransom, Program Director, National Science Foundation

The closing panel is co-moderated by Scott Tinker, State Geologist, Texas Bureau of Economic Geology and Jonathan Arthur, Executive Director, American Geosciences Institute.

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