Dear Continental Scientific Drilling Enthusiasts,
We write to solicit your interest in developing a Continental Scientific Drilling Interdisciplinary Interest Group (IIG) within the Geological Society of America (GSA).
For more information, and to indicate your interest, please read the information below and visit the weblink:
GSA Interdisciplinary Interest Group for Continental Scientific Drilling Interest Form
Background
The National Continental Scientific Drilling Coordination Office (CSDCO) at the University of Minnesota was established in 2014 to assist the U.S. Continental Scientific Drilling community in project development, operations support, infrastructure development, and various community planning and coordination activities. The CSDCO largely replaces the Drilling, Observation and Sampling of the Earth’s Continental Crust (DOSECC) consortium as the community organization of the U.S. scientific drilling community. DOSECC is now in the process of disincorporation, which we hope to complete in 2017.
About the new Interdisciplinary Interest Group
Over the years DOSECC has acquired substantial financial assets that we feel would be best used to support the continental drilling and coring community. To this end, we propose to create a new Interdisciplinary Interest Group (IIG) on Continental Scientific Drilling within the Geological Society of America.
This new Continental Scientific Drilling IIG will have many benefits for our community. First and foremost, this IIG will highlight the outstanding research conducted through scientific drilling and coring. The IIG can sponsor or co-sponsor topical sessions at GSA meetings that highlight the science from scientific drilling projects, and can organize and promote meetings, working groups, and other activities in areas of interest to our community.
The DOSECC consortium’s financial assets can be set up as an endowment with The Geological Society of America Foundation, which will maintain the account and distribute its gains to fund activities that promote our science. These could range from student research grants, to traveling lectureships, to many other activities to be determined by the IIG and its members. Lastly, the IIG is composed of individual members and operates much like a GSA division, but will not compete with Divisions for individual membership. The IIG can in fact serve to bridge science across multiple divisions, important given the interdisciplinary nature of many drilling projects.
We have discussed this new IIG with GSA membership, and they are extremely supportive. To establish the IIG, we must show community support and interest in membership in the IIG from current GSA members, and submit a proposal to GSA with proposed IIG bylaws.
How to get involved
If you are interested in becoming a member of this IIG, please provide your name, home institution, email address, primary research interest, and whether you are a GSA member on the GSA Interdisciplinary Interest Group for Continental Scientific Drilling Interest Form.
Going forward, our hope and plan is to have the IIG approved by GSA leadership in time to hold our first organizational meeting at the 2017 GSA fall meeting in Seattle.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Jim Russell
Brown University
John Shervais
Utah State University
Anders Noren
University of Minnesota
