Geology and Geography.

The Geology & Geography Division hosted a well-attended symposium the first day of the annual meeting in Tupelo. Active Tectonics in Northern Mississippi brought in special speakers from outside the state, including Stephen Obermeier (USGS, emeritus), Roy Van Arsdale and Randy Cox (University of Memphis) and Bob Lemmer (University of Arkansas, Little Rock). Seven talks and two posters were presented on this important topic. The local news media (WTVA, Channel 9 in Tupelo) even sent a reporter to film and interview several speakers. Informal discussions between participants were held afterwards on the benefit of having a topical symposium each year to highlight some aspect of current work in the broad geoscience field.

Thirteen additional talks and two posters were presented during the regular divisional presentations. Topics were as varied as Mississippi geology itself, including coastal processes, wetlands characterization, oil and gas production, and stratigraphic studies from both the northern and southern parts of the state. The Mississippi Office of Geology demonstrated the powerful resources they have made available for searching energy information in the state. Their site can be reached at [less than]http://library.geology.deq.state.ms.us/energy[greater than].

Mr. Charles Swann, president of the Mississippi State Board of Registered Professional Geologists, sought opinions from the audience on using meetings such as MAS for continuing education credit applied toward professional registration. While the Board does not currently require continuing education to maintain registration, Academy meetings would certainly be considered if this step is taken.

The divisional meeting was held Thursday afternoon. Ezat Heydari (Office of Geology) takes over as chair of this division upon conclusion of this year's meeting. Kiel Schmid (Office of Geology) was elected as the new vicechair.