Draft Minutes for the 1523Rd Meeting of the Geological Society of Washington

Draft minutes for the 1523rd meeting of the Geological Society of Washington Annual Bradley Lecture November 14th, 2017 John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.

President Bentley called to order the unruly 77 attendees to order at 20:03 EDT, then at 20:04, and once more at 20:05. After some milling about, the attendees finally settled into their seats.

Minutes

As per usual, the first order of business was the approval of the minutes from the 1522nd meeting. At the 1522nd meeting, the minutes were read aloud by the meeting secretary, as the posting of minutes online has only proven moderately successful at best. However, resurrecting the method of reading aloud induced some glossed over gazes; therefore it was decided to introduce the “Minutes Minute” at the Fall Council Meeting, in which the Meeting Secretary gives a 60 second synopsis of the previous meeting. After a witty oration of the first Minutes Minute, the minutes of the 1522nd meeting were approves with three corrections.

Guests & New Members

The next order of business was introduction of new members and guests. There were no new members to announce, however there were a whopping 18 guests in attendance. Introduction of the guests went rapid fire, too quickly for the Meeting Secretary to keep up; therefore he is relying on the sign in sheet. Guests in attendance were:

My Riese – Carnegie, Jonathan Tucker – Carnegie, Héléne Le Mével – Carnegie, Miki Nakajima – Carnegie, Ashley Hogan – GeoCapital, Cheryl Gannon – AECOM, James O’brien – USCG, Bill Van Evera – APS, Thomas Doggett, Tim Oleson AGI/Earth Magazine, Adam Gattuso – JHU, Sarah Hayes – USGS, Max Rudolph – UC Davis, Mong Han Huang – UMD, Martin Schmidt – McDonogh School, Adam Blankenbicker – AGI, Leigh Sutherland – AGI, Andreza Eufrasio – Vitreous State Laboratory

Announcements

Ian Sagnor of the FBI announced that a colleague of his is currently seeking collaborators for a GPR research project. In addition, he witnessed someone’s BMW suffer a combination of brittle and ductile deformation resulting from a high velocity impact by an unknown driver. He did manage to write down the plate number.

President Bentley made 4 announcements, 1.) GSW members’ eligibility for enrollment in Geocare health insurance, 2.) A recent drought in resources to sponsor speakers’ dinners at the Cosmos Club (GSW simply doesn’t have enough members who are also Cosmos Club members), 3.) The date and location of the 125th Year celebration, which will (ironically, given the previous announcement) at the Cosmos Club, which means that several members will need to find a way to acquire ties and jackets, and 4.) the slate of candidates for officials for 2018.

There were no informal communications and the formal program commenced at 20:17 EDT.

The Bradley Lecture for 2017, “The Power of the Planet – Communicating Geology to the Public”, was given by Iain Stewart, Professor of Geoscience Communication at Plymouth University, UK

In his lecture, Dr. Stewart explained how geoscientists could better communicate earth science to the public; to paraphrase Dr. Stewart, how we can more effectively talk about science to “normal” people, especially when it relates to geological hazards.

After discussing case studies relating to eruptions of Mt. Merapai in Indonesia, a tragic mudslide in La Conchita, CA, and earthquakes along the Anatolian Fault in Istanbul, Dr. Stewart posed the question, “Why don’t people listen to scientists when they predict an impending disaster.”

This scientific information is often complex, and when presented with complex material, people often make their decisions based on beliefs rather than logic and facts. In essence, non-science minded people, the average Jane and Joe, take in information from the people around them (friends, family members, important people in their community such as religious leaders) because this information is already automatically trusted, and mirrors the values of the seeker. This information is often conveyed through stories and anecdotes, and discussions, therefore, are not necessarily about science.

The conclusion, then, is that scientists need to become better story tellers; people have learnt over the centuries by listening to narratives passed down from elders and peers. We need to spark wonder, fire the imagination, and entertain, all the while supplying the facts and logic within those narratives. To paraphrase Dr. Stewart once more, forget the facts; tell stories (with facts).

Questions were put forth by:

Jamie Allan – NSF, Joe Kenney – NRC, Liz Coppfield – Smithsonian, Erik Hankin – hdjs, Phil Justice – Rockville Science Center, Victor Zabielski – NVCC, Carl-Henry, Mark McBride – NRC (ret.), Hunter Hughs, Jane – USGS, John Repetski – USGS, Caitlin Cheza – NVCC, Ben Mandler – AGI