Like a Hurricane

Low tide on the beach at Corolla, NC (photo © P. Mallette)

"If we had a Katrina-sized storm, 75 percent of these islands could be gone," says Stan Riggs, a geologist at East Carolina University who has studied the Outer Banks for four decades. "You can count on it cleaning the clock."

A series of stories on hurricane hazards appeared on the news wires recently. Interesting reading, though these stories hardly qualify as "news" to ECU geology alums who cut their teeth on this stuff, or to the current faculty and students who continue the tradition of trying to educate the public on the folly of building mega-dollar homes on mobile ribbons of sand.

Stan Riggs is quoted in the story by AP writer Mike Baker - "THE OUTER BANKS: '75 percent of these islands could be gone'". Scroll down ... you'll find it toward the bottom of the page.

[Edit: The link to the story was corrected on 1-June. --Pat]

Minutes from the May 4th GAC meeting

Notes from the Fourth ECU Geological Sciences Advancement Council Meeting
May 4, 2006

Present: Steve Culver (Chair), Scott Snyder, Scott Hartness, Pat Mallette, Steve Benton, Ron Crowson, Jim Watson also attended at Culver's request.
Absent: Mike Amsbaugh, Brent Chambers, C.Q. Brown, Jerry Dominey, Wink Winkler, Lynn Sutton

1. Culver called the meeting to order and welcomed the alumni.
2. Culver reviewed action points from the third GAC meeting. Watson contributed information re web site development activities.
3. Hartness and Crowson reported on past activities of the Geological Alumni Society (GAS) and led discussion of future plans.
4. Wide-ranging discussion occurred on fund-raising efforts, past and present.
5. The following action plan was agreed to.
a) Crowson and Mallette will meet in the next few weeks to design and construct a GAS web site or blog.
b) Old slides/images are to be forwarded to Culver who will organize scanning and storage on a departmental server. Selected images will be rotated onto the departmental web site and GAS web site/blog.
c) Names of potential new Alumni Council members will be forwarded to Culver by end of May, 2007.
d) The president of Sigma Gamma Epsilon will be invited to future GAC meetings.
e) Hartness and Crowson to organize funding of the Jean Lowry plaques immediately upon receipt of the final quote from Jim Watson.
f) Culver to provide the contact information of all alumni donors over the past three years to Hartness. Hartness, Crowson, Mallette and Benton will call the donors to thank them and to ask them to consider organizing regular donations and estate planning to include the Department of Geological Sciences.
g) Culver will ensure that the 2008 departmental newsletter will include information on estate planning.

Following business, the meeting was adjourned, and all made their way to Richard Spruill's front 40 to celebrate the recent geology graduates with friends and families, fine eastern NC BBQ, and golden beverages.

The Graying of the Guard

During a recent conference in Miami, held by the Latin American Mining Congress, a middle-aged speaker began her presentation by asking the crowd, "Do you remember when we were the youngest people in the mining industry?" After a pause, she answered her own question: "Well ... we still are!"

Today, there is very little young talent entering the mining and exploration business from US schools. The will be a shortage of highly trained geologists to fill leadership roles in US- and Canadian-based companies in the near future.

Most of the young geologists that I work with these days speak spanish ... as their native language.

The problem is not restricted to the United States. Australia is feeling a similar pinch, as outlined in this story by Gregory Webb at OnlineOpinion.com.au.

Old Timers' Club

left to right: Ron Crowson, Steve Benton, Jim Watson, Pat Mallette; 2004.

If the first post to a new blog is not the hardest ... well, I guess that would mean that we are in for minimal content here.

It is time to push forward ... to gain momentum.

We - the members of ECU's Geology Alumni Society (GAS) - have been looking for ways to communicate with you - the alumni of the ECU Department of Geological Sciences (yes, the department has a new name). During our annual GAS meeting in early May, Pat Mallette suggested that we create a blog page ... "It's easy! It's cheap! Everyone can participate!", he said. So, following that dumb comment flash idea, I am here working on this first post.

Where we go with this blog is anyone's guess. Honestly, if it flies, it will be everyone's guess ... everyone's ideas. I'll look to you for feedback and suggestions. And, I'll be very generous with handing out administrator privileges ... if you'd like to share the duty fun of posting here.