SEG/EEGS Joint Task Force completes online questionnaire seeking NSGS and EEGS members' perceptions about potential joint SEG/EEGS activities

Tulsa, Oklahoma, 23 November 2012—The Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society (EEGS) and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) joint task force committee have completed a survey of EEGS and SEG's Near Surface Geophysics Section members. The survey, deployed on September 14, sought to characterize the cultures of both groups, elicit their respective views on working together and/or merging into a larger near-surface geophysics community, and identify how programs would need to be adapted if the community were unified.  Multiple questions within the survey were asked to elicit member insight into perceptions of existing member benefits, society activities, organizational structures and other aspects of associated society programs. Member feedback indicated a clear desire for near-surface community autonomy accompanied by the need for an annual conference and publication focused solely to near surface community needs. This effort is part of a larger on-going initiative to evaluate options for further cooperation between SEG and EEGS for the benefit of the greater near-surface geophysical community. 
Both organizations thank their members for participating, and they highly value the members' input.  The two organizations will release a summary of the questionnaire results by the end of this year. Additional polling on focused topics may occur over the next month as questions arise on community expectations.

The joint task force is evaluating the survey and will weigh the results in their final recommendation to their respective societies' boards of directors by early 2013. The EEGS and the SEG approved and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) this past July "to proceed in good faith to develop a draft agreement and implementation plan for a merger between EEGS and SEG."  "It is important to note that the MOU is not an agreement to merge but an enabling agreement that allows both parties to assess how a merger of the two organizations might look and be implemented," said SEG task force member, John Bradford.

"Our joint task force thanks those who responded to the questionnaire.  From the outset of our discussions, we agreed that involving our respective memberships in every step along this journey would be paramount.  We've definitely been rewarded with member feedback and insights" said EEGS task force member Bill Doll.

About the EEGS and SEG
The Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society (EEGS) is an international applied scientific organization founded in 1992 as a not-for-profit corporation with approximately 650 members (www.eegs.org). The society's primary activities are producing an annual scientific symposium and publishing and distributing its peer-reviewed scientific journal and electronic newsletter quarterly. It also publishes, markets, and distributes books and CD-ROMs on the application and use of geophysical technologies. EEGS also champions the development and appropriate use of environmental and engineering geophysics; promotes the science of geophysics especially as it is applied to environmental and engineering problems, and fosters common scientific interests of geophysicists and their colleagues in other related sciences and engineering. 

The Society of Exploration Geophysicists (www.seg.org), the international society of applied geophysics, is a not-for-profit organization that promotes the science of geophysics and the education of applied geophysicists. SEG fosters the expert and ethical practice of geophysics in the exploration and development of natural resources, in characterizing the near surface, and in mitigating Earth hazards. The Society, which has more than 32,000 members in 138 countries, fulfills its mission through its publications, conferences, forums, Web site, and educational opportunities.

For more information, contact:

SEG Media Relations
Whitney Emerick
Senior Manager of Marketing & Communications
918.497.5523
wemerick@seg.org

EEGS Media Relations
Jackie Jacoby
Managing Director
(303) 531-7517 Ext. 308
staff@eegs.org