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LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dear GSA members, leaders, staff, and geoscience community, As President Barb Dutrow noted in her report, we have sold our
Boulder headquarters and campus and are in the process of some
First, please take a moment to read through the entire report to serious downsizing and reformatting of our workplace and work-
get the whole picture of GSA’s contributions to our members and force policies, like so many other organizations. While the decision
the geoscience community. We continue to lead under the direc- to occupy a smaller and more sustainable footprint was made before
tion of GSA’s leadership and through volunteers, as well as the we had to adapt to a pandemic world that decision is now more rel-
dedicated and professional support of GSA staff. evant. The intent is to relocate somewhere in the Denver-Boulder
I would like to introduce you to GSA’s Associate Director for corridor within the next year or so. The GSA workforce will be pri-
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Dr. Elizabeth Long. marily remote-first, with a much smaller headquarters footprint.
Elizabeth began her tenure at GSA in late January 2022 and rap- This will not affect our programs, services, or processes in the least.
idly became the lead on our DEI efforts. She is overseeing a vari- I am proud to report that the organization that purchased the prop-
ety of programs, including the On To the Future mentor program, erty, Boulder Housing Partners, will be preserving the original wing
and is working with all aspects of GSA programs and projects. of the GSA building and as much of the campus as possible while
Elizabeth represents GSA in all DEI activities involved in imple- developing affordable housing for the Boulder community.
menting the DEI recommendations, goals, and objectives of the The other change will come soon after the GSA Connects 2022
Decadal Strategic Plan and the ad hoc DEI Working Group. She meeting in October in Denver, when I retire as GSA’s Executive
works closely with the newly formed Center for Professional Director. GSA leadership is actively recruiting for the new ED/
Excellence, the GSA Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE) CEO, and we hope to be introducing them to the geoscience com-
pod, and the GSA Ethics and Compliance Office. munity in Denver. It has been my honor and privilege to serve GSA
We are also very excited to be implementing one of the major these past seven years, and I hope to continue to contribute to its
goals of our Decadal Strategic Plan—the roll-out of one of the cen- success and growth.
ters for excellence, our Center for Professional Excellence. Matt I thank all my geoscience colleagues and friends for your trust
Dawson, formerly GSA education programs manager, has been and support. I also humbly thank all the GSA staff I have worked
appointed the interim assistant director of the Center and is working with over the years. They are just the best.
on the organization and coordinating activities. The overall objec-
tive is to centralize our professional development and career-support
programs (for example, GeoCareers, research grants, scholarships,
mentoring, awards, leadership training, etc.) and present them in Vicki McConnell,
such a way as to augment our member’s usage and enhance their GSA Executive Director
benefits. The Center is a virtual construct; thus, it fits nicely with
the goal to reduce our physical footprint. We anticipate the roll out
of the Center for Geoscience Discovery in 2023.

Thank You GSA Volunteers!
Stay Connected to GSA

Looking back each year at all the work we have done together and the goals we Follow GSA @geosociety on
have accomplished, we are reminded that the “secret ingredient” in the success Twitter and Instagram.
of our Society is the wealth of dedicated and hardworking members who give
generously of their time and talents. From planning meetings, to editing journals, Facebook—Join GSA fans world-
to reviewing grants and awards applications, to serving on committees, running wide at www.facebook.com/GSA.1888.
our scientific Divisions, serving students as mentors and campus reps… the list
goes on. A huge “thank you” goes out to all of them. YouTube—Learn more about GSA
and careers in the geosciences at
To members who are not currently active but who might like to engage more deeply www.youtube.com/user/geosociety.
with GSA, please know that there is a myriad of ways to further your personal goals
as well as the aims of the Society through service. We invite you to join a scientific LinkedIn—Network and stay con-
Division, self-nominate for a committee, or let us know how you’d like to get nected to your professional peers at
involved. Email gsaservice@geosociety.org with questions. https://www.linkedin.com/company/
geological-society-of-america.

14 Annual Program Report | FY 2022