Fieldwork Grants – latest report

The Society supports geological fieldwork at home or abroad with grants from the Clough and Mykura Funds. We are always pleased to hear back about how the fieldwork went, and were delighted to receive a thorough and fascinating account from Bob Gooday about his visit to Alaska in 2017. Bob took part in the International Volcanological Summer School in Katmai National Park, Alaska. This involved staying in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes for ten days, looking at volcanic features in the Valley and the surrounding Katmai Cluster of volcanoes. The Katmai-Novarupta eruption in 1912 was the largest on Earth in the twentieth century, and completely filled a nearby valley with pyroclastic deposits. These deposits sustained intense fumarolic activity for several years, giving the valley its name. Bob notes that observation of the caldera formed during the Katmai eruption, and discussion of the processes at work have helped with his PhD work on a similar-sized, but much older, caldera system on Arran, western Scotland. So that’s at least one thing that Alaska and Arran have in common …

A mother brown bear with her cub on the shore of Naknek Lake at Brooks Lodge. Bob Gooday.

Annual General Meeting Wednesday 7 February, 7pm

The Annual General Meeting of the Society will be held at 7pm on Wednesday 7th February, followed by a lecture by Hannah Watkins on Predicting strain and fracture patterns in a fold-thrust belt, NW Scotland.

At the AGM, the following Council members are proposed for election:

Position

2017

Elect Jan 2018

President

Stuart Monro

Robert Gatliff

Vice-President

Robert Gatliff

Tom Challands

Vice-President

Emrys Phillips

Emrys Phillips

Immediate Past President

Christine Thompson

Stuart Monro

Honorary Secretary

Andrew Rushworth (acting)

Neil Mackenzie

Assistant Secretary (Annual Report)

Barbara Clarke (acting)

Don Cameron

Assistant Secretary (Minutes)

Richard Buxton

Richard Buxton

Honorary Treasurer

Christian Ranken

Christian Ranken*

Membership Secretary

Barbara Clarke

Bruce Mair

Lectures Secretary

Graham Leslie

Graham Leslie

Excursions Secretary

Vacant

Ian Kearsley

Assistant Secretary (Excursion Bookings)

Alison Tymon

Alison Tymon

Assistant Secretary (Planning & Finance)

Andrew Rushworth

Andrew Rushworth

Assistant Secretary (GeoConservation)

Mike Browne

Mike Browne

Assistant Secretary (Clough/Awards)

Graham Leslie

Graham Leslie

Assistant Secretary (Publications)

David Stephenson

David Stephenson

Publications Sales Officer

Don Cameron

Don Cameron

Librarian/Archivist

Vacant

Christine Thompson

Ordinary Member

Con Gillen

Con Gillen

Ordinary Member

Richard Smith

Barbara Clarke

Ordinary Member

Christopher Lofthouse

Christopher Lofthouse

Ordinary Member

Anastasia Polymeni

Anastasia Polymeni

Ordinary Member

Vacant

Vacant

Ordinary Member

Vacant

Vacant

Scientific Editor

Maarten Krabbendam

Maarten Krabbendam

Scientific Editor

Tom Challands

Tom Challands

Independent Examiner

J Cordery (Gibson McKerrell Brown)

*Christian Ranken will take a reduced workload through to Sept 2018, during which Don Cameron and Andrew Rushworth will cover certain aspects of the Treasurer’s role.

Public lecture – Prof James Jackson, 26 January

School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh – Planet Earth Distinguished Lecture Series 2018

Planet Earth is a series of distinguished lectures, which run annually, and each year an internationally renowned natural or social scientist working within the broad remit of GeoSciences is invited to deliver a series of engaging talks aimed at different audiences. This year Professor James Jackson from the University of Cambridge will be involved in a number of activities inspiring academics, professionals within the field of geosciences, students, and the local community.

Date: 26 January 2018
Time: 6pm-9pm
Place: National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh

Professor Jackson will be giving a lecture entitled: 50 years of Plate Tectonics: why do people still die in earthquakes?

There will be a poster session 6-7pm prior to the main event, together with a post-reception from 8pm providing an excellent opportunity to meet with the speaker, key academics and researchers, industry and local government representatives all within the field of GeoSciences. We anticipate that this event will be popular, and therefore recommended early booking to ensure your place.

If you are interested in attending please register here. General Admission: £5.00.

More information at www.ed.ac.uk/geosciences/news/pl2018.