AL SO C IC IET OG Y L June, 2003 O O F E G M A THE MAINE E I H N T E GEOLOGIST Volume 29 1 9 74 NEWSLETTER OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF MAINE Number 2 expenses (principally the one catered meal and sometimes lodging costs). Every three to five years, The President’s Message the coffers have been replenished through proceeds Spring Meeting gained from a Short Course. However, this situation The Spring Meeting was a great success with an is far from ideal since it places too much emphasis on impressive array of research topics – the Abstracts the continual support and volunteer efforts of a small are included herein on p. 4-8. Michael Choate from percentage of members to keep the Society the University of Maine at Farmington received the financially stable. Walter Anderson award for best poster presentation. In order to get a better idea of how GSM’s fee Nicole Ouellette from Bates College received the schedule compared with other state societies, I did a Water Anderson award for best oral presentation. quick search on the web to collect information Both students had their names engraved on the pertaining to yearly fees and services rendered for Walter Anderson plaques and received $100 each for each state society. In some cases, more than one their work. Congratulations to them and to all the society existed in a particular state, so I randomly other presenters for such a great showing. chose which ever first appeared. At other times, no Many thanks to Dr. Jennifer Shosa of Colby societies were listed. Below is a graph showing the College for her keynote address entitled A Hydro- results of that search. geochemical Retrospective. Jen gave us a fascinating Distribution of Full Member rates for 29 account of her training and research that has included geological societies work on acid rain, the pressure dynamics involved in 8 sedimentary basins, as well as tracking the changes in 7 Average: $16 seawater composition through time. Thanks again Median: $15 for such an interesting and impressive presentation, 6 Standard Dev.: ~ $6 Jen. We’re all looking forward to hearing the results 5 GSM - $7 of your research in the near future. 4 Bylaws 3 On a more tedious note, the GSM Council has Number of Societies 2 been involved with pulling together an updated and revised set of GSM Bylaws. The last time the 1 Bylaws were published was in 1976. Several 0 amendments and revisions have been made since <0 [0,5) >=35 [5,10) (e.g., changing the annual meeting from the summer [10,15) [15,20) [20,25) [25,30) [30,35) to the fall) but have never been formerly recorded in the Bylaws. Therefore, an updated and revised set of Price Range (in dollars) bylaws is available at <www.gsmmaine.org>. Members are encouraged to read through the bylaws It is quite apparent from this figure that GSM’s online and to send any recommendations, revisions, yearly dues are significantly lower than either the comments, etc. by October 1, 2003 to Dan Belknap mean or median yearly dues of all 29 states. <[email protected]> or me <[email protected]>. Maine’s dues fall well outside the standard deviation Society members will be asked to vote on the revised ($15 - $6 = $9, which is still > $7). In fact, only one bylaws during the Fall Meeting. state society (Georgia at $5) charged less than Maine. Services offered by other societies were Dues increase and restructuring comparable to those offered by GSM. For many years now, the money raised through Based on these results, and the budgetary issues membership dues has been inadequate to fully fund outlined above, the Council felt that it was appropriate the Society’s activities. GSM’s major expenses to propose an increase in yearly dues. The increase include the printing and mailing costs of the will take place in the next fiscal year, starting in Newsletter, incidentals associated with the spring and August 2003. In addition, the $2 application fee will fall meetings (beverages and munchies when not be dropped. See table below for comparison of supplied by the host institute) and summer field trip present and proposed rates, and estimated yearly Geological Society of Maine Newsletter, 2003, v. 29, no. 2, p. 1 revenues based on each. Membership numbers are address). Check the GSM website for more details in based on current enrollment. the upcoming months. Membership Number Present New Rate Peter Baker (keynote) - Corinna Superfund Site Level of Rate (8/2003) Dave Andrews - dam removal Associates 33 $6.00 $10.00 Liz Champeon -seismic risk or waste-water studies Lisa Churchill-Dickson – National Environmental Institutions 15 $7.00 $12.00 Policy Act and road ecology Jim Hillier - bathymetric studies of lakes Regular 294 $7.00 $12.00 Alice Kelley - geoarcheology Students 52 $4.00 $5.00 Steve Kelley - TBA Steve Pinette - hydrogeological studies or metal Total 394 $2,569.00 $4,298.00 concentrations in glacial deposits Rudy Rawcliffe - geothermal projectsLisa Churchill-Dickson, [email protected] This information was presented at the Spring Meeting and met with unanimous support (via a show of hands) by all those present. Although the tttttttttttttttttt Council can technically make this decision without Geological Society of New Hampshire such input, it was reassuring to see that the other and the members of the Society also support this increase. Geological Society of Maine Joint Summer Field Trip Joint Summer 2003 Geology Field Trip This year’s summer field trip will be jointly Mount Washington and the Gorham Area of hosted by the Geological Society of New Hampshire the NH White Mountains Friday evening July and GSM. The trip starts the evening of July 25th 25th through Sunday mid-afternoon the 27th (Friday) and will last through the afternoon of July 27 th (Sunday). See the announcement on p. 2. The GSM and the GSNH have planned a joint Many, many thanks to Woody Thompson and Lee summer Geology Field Trip. Those wishing to camp Wilder (President, GSNH) for pulling this trip for the weekend may stay at the group 4 or 5 site in together. Barnes Field at Dolly Copp Campground, on NH Rte. 16, south of Gorham. Or you can make GSM Geology of Maine Short Course reservations at one of the many motels in the Gorham CHANGE IN DATE – now scheduled for area. Make your motel reservation early because this October 15, 2003 at Bates College. See final will be peak tourist season. The AMC Pinkham announcement on p. 3 of this Newsletter and Notch Camp on Rte. 16 also provides very nice www.gsmmaine.org for more details. lodgings. Rates include bed, sheets, shower, and breakfast/meal options. Reservations can be made by Upcoming Fall Meeting calling 603-466-2727, Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Liz Champeon and I have been busy putting together a fall meeting that will emphasis the work of The trip’s present itinerary includes: the consulting sector. The meeting is scheduled for FRIDAY EVENING, 7/25: Tuesday, November 4th at the Elks Lodge in Augusta. A midweek date was chosen to better 8:00 PM - talk by Brian Fowler (North American accommodate many of the consultants who find Reserve) on the Old Man of the Mountain, at the Fridays a difficult time to attend. Unfortunately, Visitor Center, Dolly Copp Campground. Park at Tuesday (Election Day) was the only day available, our designated campsite in Barnes Field if space so make sure to cast your votes early that day! permits; otherwise, parking at the Visitor Center is The format of the meeting will be slightly subject to a National Forest $3.00 fee. different than those of the past, and will include a SATURDAY, 7/26: half-day of formal presentations followed by the usual business meeting, social hour, dinner and 6:30-7:00 AM: Assemble and consolidate vehicles in keynote address. Some groups will also be asked to the large parking lot on the west side of Rte. 16, just set up poster presentations illustrating some of their south of the Mt. Washington Auto Road entrance. recent projects. Dyk Eusden (Bates College) has made special A preliminary slate of speakers and subjects is arrangements for our group to get EARLY admission listed below. Each presentation will be about 30 to the road at a rate of $18.00 per vehicle (including minutes in length (with the exception of the keynote occupants). Sturdy vans would be good if colleges Geological Society of Maine Newsletter, 2003, v. 29, no. 2, p. 2 or others can bring them. (Occupants of each van are 1. Name(s) of those attending the GFT: responsible for somehow “coughing up” the $18…) ______________________________________ 7:00 AM – 5 PM: Drive to summit of Mt. Washington. Depending on the weather…we will: ______________________________________ study the Summit geology with Dyk Eusden, Brian Fowler and Thom Davis (Bentley College); tour the ______________________________________ Mt. Washington Observatory and Museum; and (Include only those paying to attend, not family descend the Auto Road, stopping at various turnouts members who will be with you, but doing other and parking areas to examine bedrock, glacial, and activities during the trip times.) periglacial geology. (Bring a lunch to eat en route.) 2. I/We WILL camp at the Barnes Field group sites: Mid to late afternoon: Bedrock and glacial stops Y/N along Rte. 16 with Tim Allen (Keene State College) 3. There will be _____ (#) attending the Barbeque and Brian Fowler. Cook-out Sat. eve and a check made out to the “Free time” to relax and freshen up for the… Geological Society of NH is enclosed for: $ ______ SAT EVENING, 7/26: 4.