Geological Society of Washington

Minutes of the 1503rd Meeting

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

John Wesley Powell Auditorium,

Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

 

Geological Society of Washington President Jamie Allan called the 64 attendees at the 1503rd regular meeting of GSW to order at 8:01 p.m.

 

The minutes of the 1502nd meeting were read and approved with one correction.

 

Six guests were introduced: Murray Hitzman of the Colorado School of Mines, Alex Overman, Shane Mudd, Andrea Fitzgerald, Graham Lederer, and Gina Lee.

 

Two new members were announced: James Rustad (DOE) and Abby Lunstrum (UVa).

 

President Allan gave a very informal communication urging attendees to use nametags to facilitate more social interaction.

 

Hal Weaver of the Applied Physics Laboratory gave a talk on “The Exploration of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt by New Horizon,” in which he showed numerous images of Pluto from New Horizon’s fly-by last July.  These images showed an amazing diversity in surface features and terrains on Pluto, including glacial flows, ice mountains, and floating icebergs.  Questions from Pete Toulmin, Dick Smith, Brooks Hanson, Bill Burton, Bob Burruss, and Pat Carr.

 

Madalyn Blondes of the USGS then talked on “Produced water geochemistry of the Utica Shale and implications for reservoir connectivity in the Appalachian basin.”  She presented preliminary results from an ongoing USGS project on the chemistry of waters produced during oil and gas extraction from the Utica Shale.  The baseline formation water is characterized by high salinity and Ba and Sr concentrations.  Work is ongoing to identify chemical fingerprints that may distinguish it from similar formation waters in overlying and underlying reservoirs.  Questions from Alex Overman, Pat Carr, Bill Burton, Bill Outerbridge, and Jamie Allan.

 

Finally, Larry Meinert of the USGS described “Skarns of the Ertsberg District, Papua, Indonesia - the world’s largest Cu-Au deposit.”  This deposit is located on a remote mountain top in one of Earth’s most exotic locations.  Meinert vividly described the difficulties in accessing the mine, and then focused on the petrogenesis of the high-grade Big Gossan Skarn within the complex.  Questions from Pete Toulmin, Murray Hitzman, Jane Hammarstrom, Pat Carr, Dan Doctor, and Brooks Hanson.

 

President Allan adjourned the 1503rd meeting at 9:49 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted

Carl-Henry Geschwind

 

Geological Society of Washington

Minutes of the 1504th Meeting

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

John Wesley Powell Auditorium,

Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

 

37 intrepid attendees braved the aftermath of Snowzilla for the 1504th regular meeting of GSW, which President Jamie Allan called to order at 8:05 p.m.

 

The minutes of the 1503rd meeting were read and approved without correction.

 

Four guests were introduced: Tom Burbey and Wendy Graham (both NSF), Margaret Moerchen (Carnegie Institution for Science), and Sheri Singerling (University of New Mexico).

 

Three new members were announced: Gina Lee (AECOM), Graham Lederer (USGS), and William Overman (Niitek).

 

President Allan, on behalf of GSW Service Committee Chair Muffarah Marr, made the annual pitch for volunteers to serve as science fair judges.

 

Michael Toomey of the USGS gave a talk on “Late Cenozoic Sea Level and the Rise of Modern Rimmed Atolls.” He used parametric models of subsidence and dissolution in coral reefs, calibrated against the stratigraphy of Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands, to reconstruct sea level changes from the Miocene to the present.  Questions from Brooks Hanson, Jamie Allan, Roz Helz, and Jim Rustad.

 

Sophia B. Liu of the USGS then talked on “Engaging Citizens and Communicating Science through Open Innovation,” in which she used examples from her own work to show how crowdsourcing, citizen science, and civic hacking can be used to improve the communication of scientific information.  Questions from Tom Burbey, Mark McBride, Maeve Boland, and Adam Mansur.

 

Finally, Mattia Pistone of the Smithsonian presented “Taking geoscience to the IMAX: 3D and 4D insights into geological samples and processes using X-ray Tomographic Microscopy.”  He used synchrotron-based X-ray tomographic microscopy on laser-heated samples of rhyolitic obsidians to examine the process of vesicle formation in volcanic eruptions.  Questions from Ester Sztein, Nick Geboy, Jim Rustad, Dennis Geist, and Jamie Allan.

 

President Allan adjourned the 1504th meeting at 9:41 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted

Carl-Henry Geschwind

 

Geological Society of Washington

Minutes of the 1505th Meeting

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

John Wesley Powell Auditorium,

Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

 

Geological Society of Washington President Jamie Allan called the 89 attendees of the 1505th GSW meeting to order at 8:02 p.m.

 

The minutes of the 1504th meeting were read and approved without correction.

 

Among the many visitors introduced were Eric Getz and William Salgado from NVCC; Mark and Deborah Ferrenz, retired; Mitchell Haller, Grace Duke, Albert Chen, John Milne, Shayna Quildas, and Elizabeth Lee from UMd; Kate Flynn and Linda Debrewer from USGS; Meredith Weberg and Christine Yacubi, local cavers; Jennifer Wenner from UW-Oshkosh; and Harjant Gill from Towson University.

 

There were no new members to announce.

 

In announcements, Muffarah Marr pleaded for one more science fair judge, Yael Fitzpatrick announced a lecture at the AGU, Nick Geboy described the upcoming GSW spring field trip to the National Arboretum, Ester Sztein invited applications for travel grants to the IGC, Jamie Allan asked for a volunteer as alternate GSW delegate to the Washington Academy of Sciences, and Meredith Weberg promoted a Virginia karst workshop.

 

Callan Bentley of NVCC gave an informal communication on the proposal to designate nelsonite as the state rock of Virginia.  Question by Bill Burton.

 

Becca Peixotto of American University then finally presented her Bradley Lecture, “Rising Star Expedition: Homo naledi Fossils and Open Science in the Cradle of Humanity.”  She described her involvement in a paleoanthropological expedition that recovered more than 1,500 bones from at least 15 individuals of a new Homo species.  In the process she covered both the challenges of doing science in a confined cave environment and the exciting opportunities provided by social media, 3-D printing, and other open science tools for expanding scientific outreach.  Questions by Diana Roman, Deborah Ferrenz, Callan Bentley, John Repetski, Dan Doctor, Victor Zabielski, Larry Meinert, Nick Geboy, Tom Crafford, Bill Burton, Grace Duke, Mark McBride, and Lynn Wingard.

 

President Allan adjourned the 1505th meeting at 9:35 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted

Carl-Henry Geschwind

 

 

Geological Society of Washington

Minutes of the 1506th Meeting

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

John Wesley Powell Auditorium,

Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

 

Geological Society of Washington President Jamie Allan called the 74 attendees of the 1506th GSW meeting to order at 8:03 p.m.

 

The minutes of the 1505th meeting were read and approved without correction.

 

Eight guests were introduced: Mitchell Haller, Grace Duke, Albert Chen, John Milne, and Elizabeth Lee from UMd; Ben Mandler, now with AGI; Jesse Reimink from DTM; and Joe Kanney from NRC.

 

Eight new members were announced: Nicole Lunning, Michelle Sobba, Dean Kauffman, Sheryl Singerling, Luciana Astiz, Emma McConville, Erin Murphy, and Kathryn Dyl.

 

President Allan asked for a moment of silence for long-time member Art Hammarstrom, who passed away on February 29th.  Liz Cottrell announced that the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program is looking for a science writer, and Nick Geboy once again pitched the upcoming GSW spring field trip.

 

Jennifer Wenner of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh then presented a talk titled “Locally heterogeneous mantle sources in the Southern Cascades.”  Together with her undergraduate students she has examined primitive basalts from the Poison Lake Chain east of Lassen Peak.  These basalts are tightly clustered in both time and space, but bulk chemistry and the composition of olivine-hosted chrome spinels suggest that they derived from at least three distinct sub-arc mantle sources.  Questions from Liz Cottrell, Marion Le Voyer, Ben Mandler, Callan Bentley, Jim Rustad, and Jamie Allan.

 

Nicholas Schmerr of the University of Maryland then discussed “Greenland Melting Away: New Observations of a Firn Aquifer Near Helheim Glacier, Greenland.”  He described geophysical and hydrological investigations of an aquifer at the firn-ice interface in southeastern Greenland.  This particular aquifer has expanded significantly over the past twenty years and shows lateral flow even during the fall and winter.  Questions from Callan Bentley, Karen Prestegaard, Jim Rustad, Joe Kanney, Alex Overman, and Jamie Allan.

 

President Allan adjourned the 1506th meeting at 9:38 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted

Carl-Henry Geschwind

 

 

 

Geological Society of Washington

Minutes of the 1507th Meeting

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

John Wesley Powell Auditorium,

Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

 

Geological Society of Washington President Jamie Allan called the 61 attendees of the 1507th GSW meeting to order at 8:01 p.m.

 

The minutes of the 1506th meeting were read and approved without correction.

 

Among the guests were Nassir Faqiri, Albert Chen, Grace Duke, and John Milne.

 

Six new members were announced: Wayne Canis, Rebecca Fischer, Mitchell Haller, Ben Mandler, Jesse Reimink, and Matthew Smith.

 

President Allan asked for a moment of silence for Bruce Wardlaw, a former GSW officer and best paper award winner who recently passed away.  Nick Geboy advertised the upcoming GSW spring field trip as well as Rock Detective, an earth science education group that will be at the USA Science and Engineering Festival.  Jamie Allan presented Muffarah Marr’s report on the science fairs that GSW members have judged so far.

 

Mark Uhen of George Mason University gave a talk asking “Where Did Whales Come From?”  He reviewed a number of fossil specimens illustrating whale evolution, demonstrating that whales are definitely a member of the artiodactyls.  He also showed that whale diversity has declined since the mid-Miocene, which can be attributed to trends in both ocean temperature and productivity.  Questions from Kevin Marvel, Bill Burton, Erik Hankin, George Helz, Victor Zabielski, Brooks Hanson, Sean Brennan, and Albert Chen.

 

Ming Tang of the University of Maryland then discussed “The Onset of Plate Tectonics: A Geochemical Perspective Based on Crustal Evolution.”  Using a global dataset of Ni/Co and Cr/Zn ratios from terrigenous sediments as a proxy for average MgO content of the upper continental crust, he showed that the crust became increasingly felsic in the late Archean.  This implies that global plate tectonics had been initiated by about 3 billion years ago.  Questions from Bill Burton, Kathryn Dyl, Brooks Hanson, Jamie Allan, Ben Mandler, Nick Geboy, and Graham Lederer.

 

President Allan adjourned the 1507th meeting at 9:29 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted

Carl-Henry Geschwind

 

 

 

 

Geological Society of Washington

Minutes of the 1508th Meeting

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

John Wesley Powell Auditorium,

Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

 

Geological Society of Washington President Jamie Allan called the 77 attendees of the 1508th GSW meeting to order at 8:02 p.m.

 

President Allan first introduced and presented rock and mineral specimens to seven students from four area high schools who had been winners at local science fairs.

 

The minutes of the 1507th meeting were then read and approved without correction.

 

The following guests were introduced: Julie Geschwind, Elizabeth Lee, Albert Chen, Grace Duke, John Milne, Shayna Quidas, Nassir Faqiri, Pat Michaels, Vishnu Reddy, Marsella Kachingwe, Jason Wolfson, and Jean Foster.

 

Three new members were announced: Christine McCarthy, Louise Prockter, and Sean Sullivan.

 

Nick Geboy discussed the GSW spring field trip, which had to be rescheduled due to inclement weather.  President Allan then announced his intention to canvas members on whether and how to restructure meetings in order to make them more attractive.

 

Stefanie Tompkins of DARPA talked on “The Age of Impossible Materials.”  She described research at her agency on advanced materials, including thermoelectric materials, bio-inspired designs that might allow one to climb walls like a gecko, and materials with negative thermal expansion that might be used for optical mounts.  Questions from Victor Zabielski, Maeve Boland, Russell Hemley, and Pete Toulmin. 

 

Jim Zimbelman of the National Air and Space Museum then presented “Sand Dunes of Mars,” giving us a tour of various aeolian features detected there so far.  Many of them have terrestrial analogues, but there are also surprises, caused for example by electrostatic forces in the ever-present Martian dust.  Questions from Pete Toulmin, Chris Sweezey, Victor Zabielski, and Mark McBride.

 

President Allan adjourned the 1508th meeting at 9:40 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted

Carl-Henry Geschwind

 

 

Geological Society of Washington

Minutes of the 1509th Meeting

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

John Wesley Powell Auditorium,

Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

 

Geological Society of Washington President Jamie Allan called the 85 attendees of the 1509th GSW meeting to order at 8:02 p.m.

 

The minutes of the 1508th meeting were read and approved without correction.

 

Among the guests introduced were Mark Tyra, Mary Benage, Nassir Faqiri, Khalil Faqiri, Kristin Hocutt, Nik Deems, Krystina Scott, Lindsey Reed, Phillip Goodling, Karen Pearson, Chao Gao, Raj Moulik, Jessica Douglass, Kumar Desai, Dhruvin Savani, Syed Usama, and Kevin Gardner.

 

Five new members were announced: Andrea Mundl, Shelley Stall, Eleanour Snow, Logan Miller, and Thomas Olszewski.

 

Dan Doctor announced the upcoming GSW fall field trips. Jessie Holland reported from the AAPG meeting and requested volunteers for the Smithsonian’s rock and ore collection. President Allan then presented the results of the membership survey conducted by Ricardo Arevalo last April on how to improve our meetings.

 

Ved Lekic of the University of Maryland gave a brief formal presentation on “Peering into the Earth with an EarthScope,” which provided an overview of this multidisciplinary research effort. No questions were allowed.

 

Tolu Olugboji of the University of Maryland then talked about “Mapping the Crustal Structure of the Conterminous USA using Surface Waves.” He used ambient noise measurements in the EarthScope seismic array together with probabilistic tomography methods to obtain improved models of crustal structure together with maps of the uncertainty in these models. Questions from Liz Cottrell, Brent Grocholski, Jamie Allan, and Jim Rustad.

 

Scott Burdick of the University of Maryland followed with a talk on “Subducted slabs and mantle plumes beneath North America from body wave tomography.” He used probabilistic tomography to produce mantle models that include measures of uncertainty, which can help to resolve classic questions such as the polarity of Cordilleran subduction in the Mesozoic and the existence of a mantle plume under Yellowstone. Questions from Ben Mandler, Brent Grocholski, Becky Kowalski, Jim Rustad, and Jamie Allan.  

 

President Allan adjourned the 1509th meeting at 9:44 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted

Carl-Henry Geschwind

 

Geological Society of Washington

Minutes of the 1510th Meeting

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

John Wesley Powell Auditorium,

Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

 

Geological Society of Washington First Vice President Callan Bentley called the 46 attendees of the 1510th GSW meeting to order at 8:02 p.m.

 

Carl-Henry Geschwind announced that, in the future, he would no longer read minutes but rather would post draft minutes online for corrections before the subsequent meeting. The minutes of the 1509th meeting were then read and approved without correction.

 

Among the guests introduced were Shawn Dilles, Ottaviano Ruesch, John Sullivan, and Richard Liebling.

 

No new members were announced. Vice President Bentley once again described the upcoming GSW fall field trips.

 

Rebecca Fischer of the Smithsonian Institution and the University of California at Santa Cruz gave a presentation on “The composition of Earth’s core from experiments and modeling.” Using data from metal-silicate partitioning experiments at very high pressures and temperatures in a laser-heated diamond anvil cell, she suggested that both silicon and oxygen are found in the core, a suggestion that is supported by numerical simulation of mass transfer and equilibration during Earth’s accretion. Questions from Larry Meinert, Willie Nicklas, George Helz, Nick Geboy, Shawn Dilles, and Pat Carr.

 

Colin Jackson of the Carnegie Institution for Science then talked about “Tracing atmosphere-mantle interactions using noble gases.” He used partition coefficients and diffusivities for noble gases in amphibole to model the devolatilization of noble gases from altered oceanic crust during subduction, concluding that the atmospheric noble gas signature observed in mantle samples was injected primarily through cold rather than hot subduction zones. Questions from Larry Meinert and Mike Ackerson.  

 

Vice President Bentley adjourned the 1510th meeting at 9:24 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted

Carl-Henry Geschwind

 

Geological Society of Washington

Minutes of the 1511th Meeting

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

John Wesley Powell Auditorium,

Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

 

Geological Society of Washington President Jamie Allan called the 49 attendees of the 1511th GSW meeting to order at 8:04 p.m.

 

The minutes of the 1510th meeting, as posted on the web in draft form prior to the meeting, were approved without correction, although George Helz expressed opposition to having the minutes no longer read aloud.

 

Among the guests introduced were Heidi Gotshall, Thomas Olszewski and Steve Olson.

 

Four new members were announced: Nivea Magalhaes, Mark Tyra, Catherine Goldberg, and Aida Awad. Bret Leslie announced a job opening at the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. Callan Bentley solicited ideas for celebrating the upcoming 125th anniversary of GSW. President Allan, on behalf of Odette James, described the insurance benefits available to GSW members through GeoCare.

 

Katherine Skalak of the USGS talked about “The effects of flooding and dam management on large alluvial rivers: evidence for an inter-dam sequence and an alternative state.” Her team studied the fluvial geomorphology along the Missouri river downstream of the Garrison dam and upstream of the Oahe reservoir in North Dakota.  As expected, the river is incising immediately downstream of the upper dam, but once the backwater of the lower reservoir is reached, there is aggradation.  These effects of the combined dams persisted even during a 500-year flood event in 2011, and thus show the establishment of an alternate stable state of the geomorphic and ecological system as a result of dam management. Questions from Steve Olson and Jamie Allan.

 

Dick Fiske of the Smithsonian, after a heartfelt tribute from President Allan, then gave a presentation titled “Two highly energetic jets drive spectacular eruptions at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii (~900 CE).” He presented field evidence from an area southeast of the Kilauea vent of a scoriaceous deposit containing very large lithoclastics. The sizes of the lithic clasts decreased away from the vent, indicating that they were deposited through pyroclastic fall rather than ballistic ejection. The vent ejection velocities inferred from the large distance traveled by individual clasts suggests that the eruption was exceedingly energetic, indicating a mechanism not previously witnessed. Fiske speculated that the eruption may have been driven initially by supercritical CO2 disrupting a shallow magma chamber, with a second blast shortly thereafter triggered by infiltrating rainwater. Questions from Callan Bentley, Karen Prestegaard, J. K. Bohlke, Steve Olson, Dan Doctor (though his was in the form of an elaborate pun), and Carl-Henry Geschwind.

 

President Allan adjourned the 1511th meeting at 9:31 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted

Carl-Henry Geschwind

 

Geological Society of Washington

Minutes of the 1512th Meeting

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

John Wesley Powell Auditorium,

Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

 

Geological Society of Washington President Jamie Allan called the 53 attendees of the 1512th GSW meeting to order at 8:00 p.m.

 

The minutes of the 1511th meeting, as posted on the GSW website in draft form prior to the meeting, were approved without correction.

 

Among the guests introduced were Sara Jens, John Sullivan, Jim Pope, and Peter Morey.

 

Three new members were announced: Scott Burdick, Caitlin Chazen, and Kristen Hocutt.  President Allan announced the recent deaths of GSW member Bill Melson and of Jay Fein (retired from NSF). Attendees observed a moment of silence. President Allan then introduced the slate of candidates for 2017 GSW officers and council members.

 

On behalf of John Foellmer of the Mid-Potomac Chapter of the Archaeological Society of Maryland, President Allan announced that that organization would welcome speakers for its monthly meetings at the historic Needwood Mansion who could speak on topics at the intersection of geology and archaeology. Those interested should contact John at newlynotley@verizon.net or by phone at 301.384.2604.

 

Renee Braden of the National Geographic Society gave a presentation titled “All in the Family: Science, Exploration, and National Geographic’s D.C. Roots.” She noted that, while Washington was not one of the nation’s major cities in the late 19th century, it was nevertheless a center of scientific activity because of the location of numerous federal science agencies here, which led to the formation of 8 scientific societies from 1871 to 1893. The GSW and the National Geographic Society shared 14 of the same founders, many of whom were also associated with the U.S. Geological Survey or the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Braden concluded by summarizing the evolution of the National Geographic Society during the 20th century and highlighting some of the work funded by its research grants. Questions from Sara Jens and Pete Toulmin.

 

Nicole Lunning of the National Museum of Natural History then talked about “Carbonaceous Chondrite Impact Melts.” Lunning and her coworkers recently discovered five examples of carbonaceous chondrite impact melts. She discussed how studies of iron oxidation states in the metal-sulfide globules and silicate glasses in these samples can constrain models of volatilization processes during impacts of carbonaceous chondrites on other objects. She focused in particular on one droplet found in a howardite, thought to originate from the asteroid 4 Vesta. Oxygen isotope studies and other geochemical work on this droplet suggest that it resulted from the impact of a relatively large chondrite on the asteroid. Questions from Jamie Allan, Robert Busby, Jennifer Eigenbrode, and Pete Toulmin.

 

Jennifer Eigenbrode of NASA Goddard concluded with a talk on “Unraveling the story of organic matter on Mars.” Her team, by using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry on lacustrine mudstones drilled by the Curiosity rover in an approximately 3.6 billion year old martian crater, detected the presence of aromatic and alkyl hydrocarbons and organic sulfur volatiles. This suggests that ancient organic matter can be preserved in martian near-surface environments and thus holds out hope that, if life ever existed on Mars, organic biosignature records may still be detectable. Questions from Pete Toulmin and Chris Swezey. 

 

President Allan adjourned the 1512th meeting at 9:31 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted

Carl-Henry Geschwind

 

 

Geological Society of Washington

DRAFT Minutes of the 1513th Meeting

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

John Wesley Powell Auditorium,

Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

 

Geological Society of Washington President Jamie Allan called the 47 attendees of the 1513th GSW meeting to order at 8:00 p.m.

 

The minutes of the 1512th meeting, as posted on the GSW website in draft form prior to the meeting, were approved with one correction.

 

No guests were introduced, and there were no new members to announce.

 

Chris Swezey announced Past President Nora Noffke’s recent addition to her mineral collection due to her engagement. President Jamie Allan reported the passing away of Chuck Naeser, a former USGS geologist and long-time GSW member. Attendees observed a moment of silence.

 

After being introduced by First Vice President Callan Bentley, President Allan gave his Presidential Address entitled “Fernandina Volcano: Petrological constraints on the nature of the Galapagos plume.” The Galapagos Islands are the surface manifestation of a mantle plume, with helium isotopes suggesting that erupted materials originate deep within the mantle. Current volcanic activity is diffuse across the archipelago, with the most recent activity concentrated on Fernandina Volcano. Sample retrieval from here is quite arduous. Recently erupted tholeiitic basalts from Fernandina have rare earth element signatures indicating residual garnet in the source, again suggesting a deep mantle origin. However, all of the erupted rocks, as well as their interstitial melts, are relatively evolved, with melt compositions and mineral assemblages suggesting considerable fractionation and mixing at shallow crustal levels (less than 6 km depth). Galapagos basalts differ considerably in their composition from those erupted at Hawaii, suggesting greater heat loss during their ascent from the mantle; this in turn indicates that the Galapagos plume is significantly weaker and more diffuse than the Hawaiian one. In keeping with GSW tradition, no questions were taken.

 

President Allan adjourned the 1513th meeting at 8:57 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted

Carl-Henry Geschwind

 

 

 

Geological Society of Washington

DRAFT Minutes of the 124th Annual Meeting

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

John Wesley Powell Auditorium,

Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

 

Geological Society of Washington President Jamie Allan called the 28 attendees of the 124th GSW annual meeting to order at 9:09 p.m.

 

The minutes of the 123rd annual meeting were read and approved without correction.

 

Meeting Secretary Carl-Henry Geschwind presented his report on the year’s regular meetings and announced that Jamie Allan had been this year’s Grand Inquisitor.

 

Council Secretary Pat Carr presented his report on the year’s Council meetings.

 

Treasurer Odette James presented a joint report for the Treasurer and Finance Committee, showing that the society is in excellent financial health but still relies on donations to cover its costs in excess of about 9 meetings a year.

 

Auditing Committee Chair Roz Helz presented the report of the Auditing Committee.

 

Both the report of the Treasurer and the Auditing Committee Report were accepted by the members present.

 

Incoming Public Service Committee Chair Kori Newman presented a report on the Society’s public services during the year.

 

President Jamie Allan, on behalf of the Awards Committee, announced the winners of this year’s awards: Larry Meinert as winner of the Bradley Prize for best paper, Rebecca Fisher as winner for second-best paper, and Dan Doctor as winner of the Sleeping Bear Award for best humorous interjection. No Great Dane Award was given this year.

 

The following officers and council members were elected unanimously for the coming year by the members present:

 

First Vice President - Karen Prestegaard

Second Vice President - Carl-Henry Geschwind

Treasurer - Odette James

Council Secretary - Pat Carr

Meeting Secretary - Nik Deems

Council Members - Larry Meinert, Jessica Rodysill, and Larry Meinert

 

After outgoing President Allan presented the gavel and Roberts’ Rules of Order to him, incoming President Callan Bentley adjourned the meeting at 9:59 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted

Carl-Henry Geschwind