Geologists are Essential Workers! Bumper Stickers Sale to Benefit Students

These timely Geologists are Essential Workers magnetic bumper stickers let people know that geologists all over the country are still hard at work, despite the challenges of COVID!  Now is the time to order one for yourself by donating $25 to the AEG Foundation, if you haven’t already done so.  Since we can’t meet in person right now, we are using an “Each One Reach One” approach to get the word out, so please help us by reaching out to just one of your geologic colleagues with the message about the bumper stickers.  It’s all for a very good cause—-the AEG Foundation will use the money to provide more students with scholarships, which will be even more important this difficult year! Thank you from the AEG Foundation, and all the students who will benefit!Donate here:  www.aegfoundation.org/fund-drive

AGI Critical Minerals Forum webinar series: Feb 12 – Feb 26

The World Community of Geological Survey Organizations (WCOGS) is pleased to sponsor a three-part webinar series that brings together representatives from multiple geological surveys organizations to provide an update on the latest geoscience results and to discuss future critical mineral research. The Critical Minerals Forum will be hosted as a set of three regional sessions (Americas, Europe and Africa, and Asia and Oceania). Each regional forum will feature lectures from science policy experts and geoscientists during a live plenary and moderated discussion session with attendees.

Presentations will focus on advanced mineral system models that are applicable to critical minerals and new methods for modelling mineral potential in buried, remote, and/or other challenging mineral exploration settings. Both of these research themes are included within the new Critical Mineral Mapping Initiative that is being conducted between the Geological Survey of Canada, Geoscience Australia, and the United States Geological Survey. Global efforts to expand this collaboration, including the development of an online geochemical portal for critical mineral deposits, will be discussed as part of this special session and is open to further contributions, research, and analysis.

This webinar series will feature international leaders in the field, presenting the latest developments, and will be of interest to students, academics, private sector practitioners, and other government agencies.

The Critical Minerals Forum sessions are as follows:

Americas – 12 February 2021 – The role of geological survey organizations to advance critical mineral research
Pre-recorded presentations live stream 11.00 – 13.00 EST
Live plenary and discussion 13.00 – 14.30 EST
The pre-recorded presentations for this session will be available online starting on 08 February.

Europe and Africa – 19 February 2021 – The past, present, and future directions of critical mineral research
Pre-recorded presentations live stream 11.00 – 13.00 CET
Live plenary and discussion 13.00 – 14.30 CET
The pre-recorded presentations for this session will be available online starting on 15 February.

Asia and Oceania – 26 February 2021 – Geoscience to support critical mineral discovery
Pre-recorded presentations live stream 11.00 – 13.00 AWST
Live plenary and discussion 13.00 – 14.30 AWST
The pre-recorded presentations for this session will be available online starting on 22 February.

For more information, including registration details, please visit: www.americangeosciences.org/webinars/critical-minerals-forum-2021  

For more information, please see the attached PDF. We encourage you distribute this email to anyone who may be interested.

Please contact Christopher Lawley at christopher.lawley@canada.ca with any questions about this webinar series.

The Critical Minerals Forum is organized by the Geological Survey of Canada, Geoscience Australia, and the United States Geological Survey, and hosted by the American Geosciences Institute.

UNESCO Lecture Series: Earth Materials for a Sustainable and Thriving Society

The IUGS and iCRAG have organized an upcoming UNESCO online lecture series on Earth Materials for a Sustainable and Thriving Society.  Recognized global experts will present about how minerals and other Earth materials are part of the development of a sustainable global society while respecting the natural world.  The lectures are framed in context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and aim to boost the broad knowledge of sustainability and Earth materials.

All lectures are free to attend and will include live Q&A sessions with the presenters.  All sessions will be conducted in English, but live captioning in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Swahili, and Hindi will be available.

Please see below or the attached flyer for more details.  

To register and for the latest updates, visit https://bit.ly/UNESCOLectures. 

If you have any questions, please email unescolectures@icrag-centre.org.

The planned lectures are:

Earth materials: the foundation for development

Review of historical and present-day mineral demand and its connections to the economy and technology

26 January 2021
Start time: 05.00 (Vancouver) * 08.00 (Toronto, Lima) * 13.00 (London) * 14.00 (Paris, Lagos) * 15.00 (Johannesburg) * 16.00 (Nairobi) * 18.30 (Mumbai) * 19.00 (Dhaka) * 21.00 (Beijing) * 22.00 (Tokyo) * 00.00+1 (Sydney).

• Dr Larry Meinert, Meinert Consulting LLC, Delaware, USA.
• Dr Nellie Mutemeri, Mining Practice Lead, Mutemeri Consulting and Associate Professor, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Climate neutrality, the circular economy, and earth materials

Reimagining metal supply to meet demand and societal expectations

2 February 2021
Start time: 07.00 (Vancouver) * 10.00 (Toronto, Lima) * 15.00 (London) * 16.00 (Paris, Lagos) * 17.00 (Johannesburg) * 18.00 (Nairobi) * 20.30 (Mumbai) * 21.00 (Dhaka) * 23.00 (Beijing) * 00.00+1 (Tokyo) * 02.00+1 (Sydney)

• Prof. John Thompson, PetraScience Consultants, Vancouver, Canada and Honorary Professor of Sustainable Resources, University of Bristol, UK.
• Prof. Frances Wall, Professor of Applied Mineralogy, University of Exeter, UK.

The neglected minerals and materials of development

Materials produced and consumed locally (in both developing and developed countries), including the role in construction, infrastructure, agriculture, water treatment, etc as well as environmental, social, and economic dimensions

9 February 2021
Start time: 01.00 (Vancouver) * 04.00 (Toronto, Lima) * 09.00 (London) * 10.00 (Paris, Lagos) * 11.00 (Johannesburg) * 12.00 (Nairobi) * 14.30 (Mumbai) * 15.00 (Dhaka) * 17.00 (Beijing) * 18.00 (Tokyo) * 20.00 (Sydney)

• Prof. Daniel Franks Program Leader, Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland, Australia.

Mineral extraction and communities

Regulation of the mining sector; mining and local communities in the context of Latin America and Africa

16 February 2021
Start time: 06.00 (Vancouver) * 09.00 (Toronto, Lima) * 14.00 (London) * 15.00 (Paris, Lagos) * 16.00 (Johannesburg) * 17.00 (Nairobi) * 19.30 (Mumbai) * 20.00 (Dhaka) * 22.00 (Beijing) * 23.00 (Tokyo) * 01.00+1 (Sydney)

• Dr Rajiv Maher, Research Professor, EGADE Business School del Technológico de Monterrey, Mexico.
• Dr Melba Kapesa Wasunna, External Affairs Manager, Base Titanium Ltd., Kenya.

Suppliers, consumers, and the global minerals supply chain

Technical, environmental, business, and social aspects of different scales of mining operations; links between consumers and source

2 March 2021
Start time: 02.00 (Vancouver) * 05.00 (Toronto, Lima) * 10.00 (London) * 11.00 (Paris, Lagos) * 12.00 (Johannesburg) * 13.00 (Nairobi) * 15.30 (Mumbai) * 16.00 (Dhaka) * 18.00 (Beijing) * 19.00 (Tokyo) * 21.00 (Sydney)

• Dr Kathryn Moore, Senior Lecturer in Critical and Green Technology Metals, University of Exeter, UK.
• Dr Judy Muthuri, Associate Professor of Corporate Social Responsibility, Nottingham University Business School, UK, and Project Lead, Sustainable Artisanal and Small-scale Mining Project (Kenya).

Earth materials and a sustainable future

 9 March 2021
Start time: 04.00 (Vancouver) * 07.00 (Toronto, Lima) * 12.00 (London) * 13.00 (Paris, Lagos) * 14.00 (Johannesburg) * 15.00 (Nairobi) * 17.30 (Mumbai) * 18.00 (Dhaka) * 20.00 (Beijing) * 21.00 (Tokyo) * 23.00 (Sydney)

• Prof. Murray Hitzman, Director, iCRAG, Dublin, Ireland. Prof. Hitzman directs the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences.
• Ms Halleluya Naantu Ekandjo, PhD candidate at iCRAG, University College Dublin., where she is studying the Rosh Pinah zinc-lead deposit in Namibia.

AEG Leadership Event February 4

AEG ASSOCIATION LEADERSHIP EVENT!

February 4, 2021

Pacific 3:30 PM / Mountain 4:30 PM / Central 5:30 PM / Eastern 6:30 PM

Please join the AEG leadership for a one-of-a-kind, interactive, Zoom event.  Dr. Kevin Snyder will be entertaining and facilitating a happy-hour style event designed to re-invigorate your AEG spirit after the craziness of 2020.

There will be raffles

There will be giveaways

There will be substantial points awarded towards the Outstanding Chapter Competition for each member of Chapter leadership who attends.  (Yes, we are shaking everything up!)

Come prepared with your beverage of choice and ideas for membership, leadership and communication.

Click here to register

This is your Association and we need you to help grow to our full potential.

Senior Engineering Geologist (Specialist) Opening with Dept. of Water Resources

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) currently has an opening for a Senior Engineering Geologist (Specialist) position in DWR Division of Engineering, Project Geology Section. The position is responsible for planning, organizing, and conducting geology studies relating to hazardous wastes and hazardous substances. Interested applicants can apply through a Cal Careers account. The application deadline is Friday, January 8th.

https://www.calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/Jobs/JobPosting.aspx?JobControlId=227207

AEG Webinar 12/17: Lobbying and Tracking Legislative Issues Pertaining to Geologists

Lobbying and Tracking Legislative Issues Pertaining to Geologists

Join us for a webinar on December 17, 2020 at 12:00 PM EST. 

Cost: 
Free for AEG members / $20 for Non-Members 
Members Register Here
Non-Members Register Here

Speaker: G.V. Ayer
view bio

The first part of the presentation will spotlight the importance of being aware of the issues the State Legislature is considering that impact geologists. It will include the role of a lobbyist, with a particular example of the California legislative process. The second part of the presentation will focus on tools for engaging with state representatives and letting your voice be heard on legislative issues of importance to geologists and to the geologic profession.  

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

AEG Great Basin and Sacramento Holiday Gathering Tonight!

Reminder to please join us for an AEG Great Basin and Sacramento Joint Holiday Gathering this evening with photographic artist Peter Goin! Peter Goin is a University of Nevada, Reno Foundation Professor of Art Photography and Time-Based Media and his presentation is titled Telling Tales – Creating Lake Tahoe History.

Peter Goin will present a lively and conversational visual telling of Tahoe’s created history, from the faux to the ‘then and now’. For a more detailed Abstract and Biography, please CLICK HERE.

Please follow the Zoom link below to access the meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81541427423?pwd=MU9OMUUvVGFxTmdZZHVXK0NZVVBxdz09

Meeting ID: 815 4142 7423
Passcode: 485303

AEG/GRA Joint Meeting – December 16

Please join us on Wednesday, December 16 on Zoom! Our speaker will be Jim Bailey with Shannon & Wilson. Mr. Bailey will give a presentation titled Migrating Mud Pot – Emergency Responses to Protect Critical Transportation Infrastructure. The event will begin at 5:00PM.

Register Here

Once registered, you will receive a Zoom link.

We hope to virtually see you there!

Update on BPELSG License Renewal Fees and Renewal Notifications

As many of you know, in early 2020 the Board initiated the development of a new application/licensing system designed to facilitate the submittal of applications and management of license(s) through an online portal, known as BPELSG Connect.  The first release resulting from this development launched in September 2020 with online Engineer-in-Training (EIT) and Land Surveyor-in-Training (LSIT) applications in addition to online complaint submittals.

The Board anticipates that renewal of existing licenses will be included in the next release which is scheduled to occur in early 2021.  Traditionally, license holders have become accustomed to receiving a renewal notification in the mail around 30-60 days prior to their license renewal date, on a biennial basis.  These notices are printed and mailed by a state agency, through a cooperative agreement with the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) on behalf of the Board.  Due to circumstances outside of the Board’s or DCA’s control, this other agency will discontinue production and distribution of the printed renewal notices sometime during 2021.

Once renewal functionality in the next release of BPELSG Connect becomes publicly available, it will be imperative for each individual license holder to register a new profile in the system as soon as possible to ensure that future renewal notices are received by each license holder in a timely and efficient manner.

It is anticipated that during registration, the license holder will:

•       Confirm contact information including address of record

•       Link their profile to their existing license(s)

•       Verify receipt of a confirmation email

The Board believes that this initial process should only require approximately 10 minutes of the license holder’s time to complete and will be well worth that time to ensure that each license holder is properly served in an effective manner during this transition.

Please share this message with your professional licensed colleagues and spread the word.  The Board will continue to provide updates on this effort in the near future and throughout 2021.

Department of Water Resources’ Workforce Planning and Recruitment Program!

DWR’s Workforce Planning and Recruitment Program will be hosting an Engineering Geologist Info Session on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. for a virtual information session to meet some of our engineering geologists and learn about their experiences and why they chose DWR.

To register, email us at recruiter@water.ca.gov or sign up with Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/department-of-water-resources-engineering-geologist-information-session-tickets-129504215595

Link to the webinar will be sent to registered participants at least one day prior to the event.

For more information on the engineering geologist classification, including minimum qualifications, visit here.

Limited space available, so sign up soon!