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Welcome to the Arizona Geological Society

AGS Recognizes Three of its Members for their Service to the Society

AGS has been the beneficiary of generous donations by the members. By far, the most valuable donation we can receive from our members is their TIME. The time required to operate the society, manage its financial affairs, select scholarship recipients, prepare newsletters, and organize meetings, field trips and symposia is immense. In short, the Society would cease to exist without these generous donations of time by the members.

At the December 2014 meeting , the Arizona Geological Society awarded three members  a Honorary Life Membership for their extraordinary contributions to the Society.   Each of the honorees has donated the equivalent of at least a couple of years of full-time work to the Society.  

The first Honorary Life Membership was awarded to one of the unsung heroes of AGS, Kevin Horstman – a 25-year member and behind-the-scenes volunteer who has selflessly assisted in numerous capacities – most of which weren’t glamorous, but which helped AGS events to function efficiently.  He served on dozens of field trips as a driver (and ad hoc tour guide with deep knowledge of Arizona’s history and geology), has prepared AGS directory covers, field trip maps and guidebook components, been a late-night compiler for several guidebooks, and is someone who has helped ensure the comfort of others by providing logistical support to numerous field trip leaders. He made countless trips to the AGS storage room to collect books to sell at the dinner meetings and to help perform the necessary, but admittedly tedious annual inventories. He served as AGS President in 2009 and Past-President in 2010 and has been on the Publications Committee since this time.

Archiving of AGS publications in the past few years is probably the single most important factor in raising AGS’s profile in the world. This honoree has spent countless hours digitizing to a better-than-original condition more than 100 AGS publications including 22 Digests and 80 Guidebooks. He  prepared the digital publications in a high-resolution, high-quality OCR format for download from the AGS website. This has revived formerly out-of-print works and made our excellent publications available to a wider audience. His exceptional service is fulfilling AGS’s mission to promote interest in the geology of Arizona. Many of our publications were not easily acquired previously and, frequently provide insights about locales that are no longer accessible or are not easily accessible to the geologic community.


Kevin Horstman and Ann Pattison

The second Honorary Life Membership was awarded to Ann Pattison, who has been tireless in her participation, holding almost every office and committee assignment in the Society over the past 23 years!   She served as VP of Programs in 1992 and 1993, Vice Treasurer in 1994 and 1995, Vice Secretary in 1996, Councilor in 2000, 2002-2006, and 2010, President in 2007, Past president in 2008, and VP of Marketing in 2011-2014.  Her efforts in rounding up dinner meeting sponsors has done much to improve our bottom line.

BUT THERE’s MORE. Ann has also been a member of the finance committee for the past 13 years and on the scholarship selection committee for 11 years (2002 through 2004 and 2006-2014).  She was part of the team that made the Ores and Orogenesis symposium a success by organizing short courses. And she continues to be active - next year she will continue to serve as VP of Marketing and on the Scholarship and Finance Committees.


Jon Spencer

The final honoree was Jon Spencer, Senior Geologist with the Arizona Geological Survey.   Since 1992, Jon has served on the AGS Executive Committee  as President in 2001, Past President in 2002, Secretary from 1995 through 2000) and as Councilor from 1992 until1994 and 2003 until 2008.   He was member of Technical Program Committee for the 2007 Ores and Orogenesis symposium and a co-editor of Digest 22, which resulted from this successful event.   Over the years, Jon has participated as leader or co-leader of many AGS Field Trips and was one of the authors of the Arizona Geologic Highway map.   He also served on the Arizona Geological Society's Scholarship Committee from 1998 through 2005.

In addition to his participation with the Arizona Geological Society, Jon has worked throughout much of his professional career with the Arizona Geological Survey, where he has authored and/or co-authored more than 150 scientific publications that have greatly advanced our knowledge of the geology of Arizona.

Jon was unable to attend December's meeting due to work commitments that kept him in the field.  The Arizona Geological Society will formally make a presentation to him at our January 2015 meeting.


2014 Scholarship Winners

The Arizona Geological Society presented scholarships to students at the December 2014 dinner meeting.    


Bob Powell Congratuates J. D. Mizer

The 2014 Courtright Scholarship recipient was awarded to J. D. Mizer, who is working toward a Ph.D. degree in Economic Geology at the University of Arizona.


Bob Powell Congratuates Kathleen Compton

The 2014 Arizona Geological Society Scholarship was awarded to Kathleen Compton, who is working toward a Ph.D. in Geophysics at the University of Arizona. 


AGS Publications 

Purchase  Arizona  Geological Society Digests and Bulletins online at the Arizona Experience Store.

Click here for the Arizona Experience Store
March 2015 Newsletter




March 2015 Dinner Sponsor
             


The Arizona Geological Society is grateful for Clear Creek Associates' sponsorship,  which helps us to offset dinner meeting costs.

  For cancellations or changes please contact secretary@arizonageologicalsoc.org

Upcoming events - Register Here!

03 Mar 2015 6:00 PM • Sheraton, 5151 E Grant Rd. (& Rosemont), Tucson AZ 85712


 

Student Dinner Sponsor for 2015

Arizona Geological Society is grateful to Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. for their generous support of our student members!


Freeport-McMoRan is sponsoring student dinners for the 2015 AGS monthly meetings.


Shining a Light on the Lindgren Collection - Part I

In January 2002, the University of Arizona’s Dept. of Geosciences (UA) acquired the Waldemar Lindgren Ore Collection from Harvard University. AGS and the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society played a pivotal role by jointly providing ~$25,000 for curating and transport of the collection to Tucson.

For 12 years the collection has been secure in a shed off campus in Tucson.  The Lindgren Ore Collection – at a glance:

· 19 shrink-wrapped wood pallets (see picture)

· ~ 840 boxes of minerals and rocks

· ~ 10,000 hand specimens in individual trays

· Assorted paperwork and perfunctory catalog listing the 840 boxes, generally by location.

· Many samples have much more specific locality and specimen descriptions written on labels in the bottom of individual trays.


AGS Exec. Com member Bruce Walker shepharding 19 pallets of boxes of rocks and minerals that comprise the Lindgren Ore Collection

What to do?  The Lindgren Collection has been gathering dust for the past 12 years. It appears the time is right to revisit with our UA and TGMS colleagues, how we can leverage the collection to benefit science and the general public.


A representative example of sample information from the colleciton.  Before arriving at Harvard the collection was curated by the Economic Geology program at MIT

The AGS Executive Committee will hear a proposal at February’s Executive Committee meeting to form a sub-committee to explore what options exist for the Lindgren Collection.  That sub-committee should comprise representatives from UA Geosciences, AGS Executive Committee, TGMS and other interested parties.

We’ll keep you informed going forward. In the meantime, if you have ideas or thoughts for curating or displaying the collection, please reach out to one of our AGS Executive Committee members with the details.


Shining a Light on the Lindgren Collection – Part II

Last month’s AGS newsletter recounted some of the history of the Lindgren Collection. In January 2002, AGS and the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society (TGMS) joined forces to deliver the collection to the University of Arizona (UA) Geosciences Dept, from Harvard, where it faced an uncertain future.


Four of the 840 boxes comprising the Lindgren Colleciton

AGS is taking the lead in collaborating with UA Geosciences and TGMS to revisit the collection and deliberate on its future.  On Thursday, 19 Feb, AGS Executive Committee and AGS members met in executive committee to hear Mark Barton (UA Professor of Geosciences) discuss the university’s position on the Lindgren Collection. In the following discussion, AGS members weighted in with their opinions and concerns regarding the collection.

Subsequently, AGS Treasurer Alison Jones made a motion to form an advisory committee, to explore options for the future of the Lindgren Collection and make recommendations to the Executive Committee by May 2015. Members of the Lindgren Advisory Committee will include AGS, GMS and UA personnel.

AGS By Laws: "The object of the society shall be the promotion and encouragement of interest in the science of geology and in the geology of the State of Arizona."                                                                         Contact: info@arizonageologicalsoc.org

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