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You’re Invited!

As Technical Program Chair for GSA’s 2017 Annual Meeting in Seattle, and as a
long-time GSA meeting attendee, I can say that past meetings in Seattle have been
extremely popular, and this year is no exception. The Pacific Northwest provides great
opportunities to experience the richness, diversity, and deep scientific understanding
of the geosciences in their full splendor first-hand through 24 field trips, participating
in our 25 short courses, and particularly submitting and placing your abstract(s) into
one or more of our near-record 257 Topical Sessions nested within 31 geoscience
disciplines.

There will be something for everyone, from hypothesis-driven basic and applied
research to geoscience education, information, and communication to the public
policy implications of our science. Especially important this year is how geoscience
research and communication must respond to, adjust, and perhaps pursue new
opportunities in a world and nation demanding a greater scientific understanding of
what we do, why we do it, and the long-term impacts and implications of our work.

We intend to fill our 257 Topical Sessions, plus maintain the flexibility of creating
Discipline Sessions, as well as offer numerous poster sessions, with many directly
affiliated with oral sessions. We will also be offering six Pardee Keynote Sessions
—diversity and the changing face of the geosciences, landscapes in the Anthropocene,
the Chicxulub Impact Crater, Mesozoic-Cenozoic terranes along North America’s
Pacific margin, Earth anatomy revealed through geologic mapping, and a Pardee
poster session on “speed dating” (featuring 10–12 geochronologists to personally
interact with meeting attendees). Sound interesting? This year is an incredible oppor-
tunity to truly experience GSA’s mission, “To advance geoscience research and
discovery, service to society, stewardship of Earth, and the geosciences profession,”
and to encourage colleagues to attend, submit abstracts, and experience this great
venue in Seattle.

—Dick Berg, GSA 2017 Technical Program Chair