Houston 2009 Annual Meeting

View the SEG Foundation luncheon photo gallery.
Back to 2009 Annual Meeting articles.

SEG Foundation luncheon celebrates donors

Linda Holeman, Associate Editor, The Leading Edge

The SEG Foundation has much to celebrate this year—152 scholarships to deserving geoscience students, projects of merit awards, SEG Online, Geoscientists Without Borders^®, and unprecedented support and success with its student outreach programs.

But at its luncheon held at the Annual Meeting in Houston, USA, the focus was on the donors—the people and companies who make all of the Foundation’s programs possible. “You make difference!” was the theme of Foundation Board Chairman Gary Servos’ address. Speaking to a packed ballroom of 500-plus donors and beneficiaries, he noted that while the economic downturn has affected the Foundation somewhat, the future is looking increasingly bright.

After recognizing International Science and Engineering Fair Distinguished Achievement Award winner Alexander Kendrick, Servos took the opportunity to show Foundation donors first-hand how their contributions are making a difference by turning the podium over to two direct beneficiaries of the many programs the Foundation supports.

First to speak was Tiffany Piercey, a graduate student from Memorial University, Newfoundland, Canada. Piercey is an SEG student “rock star” who not only was on the winning team of the First CSEG Challenge Bowl Team in 2007, but also was selected to participate in the first-ever SEG/Chevron Student Leadership Symposium (SLS) and the first-ever ExxonMobil Student Education Program (SEP).

Piercey spoke about her experiences in each program and how they’ve made her not just better technically, but a more engaged and confident leader. Piercey took the skills and knowledge she learned through SEG’s programs and channeled it, first by re-invigorating and leading the SEG Student Chapter at her university. More ambitiously, with fellow SEG Student Chapter member Emma Brand, she launched a geoscience and youth education outreach program that targets students in Newfoundland and Labrador area and teaches them the breadth and knowledge of geoscience. The program has 17 active volunteers and has completed 85 Earth science activities at schools across their province. They have spread the message of geoscience to well over 2200 young people.

Even more amazingly, the Memorial University Student Chapter has been awarded an SEG Project of Merit grant conducting field work in Venezuela in partnership with the Student Chapter at Simon Bolivar University.

“My interaction with geoscience professionals and SEG executives at these different programs has been an invaluable experience…it is through my participation in these types of events that I have gained confidence and drive. Hopefully one day I will have the opportunity to bestow my experiences on a new generation of geoscientists, with the ultimate goal of inspiring this generation to challenge themselves to become better citizens of our geosciences community, just as I have been challenged,” said Piercey.

 

Next up was Stephen Moysey of Clemson University, who, in partnership with Foundation for Economic Security and Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, received a Geoscientists Without Borders^® grant to address water crisis issues in rural Madhya Pradesh, India. Moysey spoke movingly about the region’s plight and how the lack of reliable drinking water negatively impacts 20% of the rural population in India. He noted, for example, that so much time is spent fetching water from remote places that there is no time for the children of the region to go to school, which in turn impacts the literacy rate.

The project is producing tools villagers can use to make water management decisions that will impact water availability during the year in an area where environmental degradation and drought have caused a crisis. Using an electromagnetic induction system, the work will evaluate geologic structures for water harvesting to capture runoff and increase groundwater supplies through the dry season, develop irrigation plans to decrease the agricultural demand on groundwater, and explore for untapped reserves of groundwater within the watersheds. They also are working hard to educate the population about water sustainability and advanced irrigation techniques.

Every person in attendance fought back tears when Moysey declared, “With this grant, you have allowed me to merge research with meaning—and with humanitarian outreach. I’m very touched, and I’m very honored,” he said.

Servos closed the luncheon by thanking the sponsors and donors who made these programs possible, including a new grant of US$250 000 from Global Geophysical. Servos also presented Charlie Smith with a special award for his years of tireless effort and dedication to the Foundation.

“Unselfish and noble acts are the most radiant pages in the biography of souls.”

                                                                                      —David Thomas
                                                                                   18th century American writer