Board Meeting Notes

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The meeting was called to order at the home of Rosemary Kenney. Board members attending were VP Rik Smoody, Director Larry Purchase, and Treasurer Dawn Juliano. Non board members were Barbara Smoody, Carol Hasenberg, Rosemary Kenney. Since quorum was not met, the members present used this meeting time to make plans for some of the upcoming GSOC events and table any discussions which required others to complete. 

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Paleontologist to the Rescue!

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Paleontologist to the Rescue!

Synopsis of Friday night lecture on July 8, 2016, with speaker Sheila Alfsen

GSOC Past President Sheila Alfsen described her experiences working as an onsite paleontologist on construction sites for Paleontology Associates, a company run by Oregon paleontologist Dr. William Orr for more than 15 years. Paleontology Associates was created to address the need for preserving important fossil finds on government property when they are threatened by construction projects. 

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Fossil and Erratic Sites Discovered on Our Annual Picnic

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Fossil and Erratic Sites Discovered on Our Annual Picnic
  1. Tualatin Library – Mastodon mounted bones, NARG tusk, Woodburn and other fossils located inside. 
  2. Tualatin River Greenway Path – The ¾ mile newly completed trail exhibits casts of fossils, erratic rocks, and each step represents 25 years of geologic time. 
  3. Heritage Center – Showing 10 and 2.5 ton flood erratics in front. A group of Tualatin’s erratic rocks and other fossils are also displayed inside. The center is open M-F 10-2. 
  4. Mastodon Bronze Sculpture – and small bronze boy outside the SW corner of Cabela’s. 
  5. Cabela’s – Fossil casts are located inside sporting goods store, at the entrance and center back. 
  6. Mastodon discovery site – Located near the southwest edge of the Fred Meyer parking lot in blackberries, next to Nyberg Creek. Discovered in 1962. 
  7. Sweek Pond – Short optional art walk. 
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Are We There Yet?

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Are We There Yet?

Teams Led By OSU Scientist Seek To Discover Answers On Climate Change At Petermann Glacier In Greenland 

Dr. Alan Mix, Professor of Oceanography in the divisions of Ocean Ecology and Biogeochemistry and of Geology and Geophysics in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University and Chief Scientist of the Petermann Glacier 2015 research expedition, spoke at the GSOC 81st Annual Banquet about the research he led at Petermann Glacier in Greenland. His talk stressed the value of the research in helping to further our understanding of climate change and drive the political policies needed to help us face the changes. 

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Board Meeting Notes

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Board Meeting Notes

April 9th, 2016

President Bo Nonn called the meeting to order at the home of Rosemary Kenney. Other board members in attendance constituting quorum were Rik Smoody, Dawn Juliano, Paul Edison-Lahm, Kirben Smoody, Marty Muncie, and Larry Purchase, Janet Rasmussen, and Sheila Alfsen. Also in attendance were Rosemary, Carol Hasenberg, Dave Olcott, and Doug Rasmussen. The minutes of the February 13th, 2016 board meeting were approved. 

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Paleoseismicity Research: From Trench to Earthquake Hazard Map

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Paleoseismicity Research: From Trench to Earthquake Hazard Map

Dr. Ashley Streig, Assistant Professor in the Geology Department of Portland State University and NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow, gave a talk to GSOC about her paleoseismology research on the San Andreas Fault in California. Streig’s research in the Hazel Dell site in the Santa Cruz Mountains was interpreted as showing the results of 3 significant earthquakes happening since the land was settled and logged by the first Spanish settlers.

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Board Meeting Notes

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Board Meeting Notes

President Janet Rasmussen called the meeting to order at the home of Rosemary Kenney. Other board members in attendance constituting quorum were Bo Nonn, Dawn Juliano, Paul Edison-Lahm, Kirben Smoody, Marty Muncie, and Larry Purchase, Sheila Alfsen, John Piccininni. Also in attendance were Rosemary, Rik Smoody, Jane Walcott, Dave Olcott, Julia Lanning, and Doug Rasmussen. The minutes of the December 5th, 2015 board meeting were approved.

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Welcome New Members

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Rex Breunsbach                                            

Alice Brocoum                                                                         

Jaclyn Phillips                                                                                      

Connie Reightler                                                                    

Diana and Fred Bradshaw

William Auel

Ryan Westling

Ann Goetcheus

April Avery

Susan Anderson

Patricia Reed      

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In Memory of Dr. John Whitmer, 1923-2016

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In Memory of Dr. John Whitmer, 1923-2016

Reprinted by permission from Northwest Geological Society. Dr. Whitmer was a long time GSOC member and avid amateur geologist, remembered for his field trips and his beautiful reports and guidebooks.

Our colleague, friend, and former NWGS President Dr. John Whitmer passed away on January 13 at the age of 92. He was born in Spokane, Wash., where he spent much of his youth, but he graduated from Billings High School, Montana, in 1941. It was during his freshman year of high school in Spokane before moving to Montana that a teacher there inspired what would be a lifelong passion for geology. John went on to attend college at Montana State College in Bozeman, where he majored in electrical engineering, but this was disrupted by World War II. He ended up in Oregon and in 1946 was accepted into the University of Oregon Medical School. 

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Cookie Dough, Jelly Sandwiches, and Structural Geology: A Beginner’s Guide

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Cookie Dough, Jelly Sandwiches, and Structural Geology: A Beginner’s Guide

Dr. Nancy Price, a recent addition to the faculty at Portland State University and a structural geology specialist, spoke to GSOC about her research in rheology. As she described her work in the course of the lecture, Price looks at metamorphic rock outcrops and samples in order to determine the histories of events which have been recorded in their structure.

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Nominating Committee Results

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The following slate of officers has been selected by this year’s nominating committee:

President...................................................................................... Bo Nonn

Vice President........................................................................ Rik Smoody

Secretary...................................................................... Paul Edison-Lahm

Treasurer............................................................................. Dawn Juliano

Director, 3 years............................................................... Kirben Smoody

Director, 2 years................................................................ Larry Purchase

Director, 1 year................................................................. Martha Muncie

Nominations will be closed for this year’s slate of officers after the January meeting of the society.  The slate of officers will be voted on and approved at the February monthly meeting.

The Nominating Committee members were Janet Rasmussen, Paul Edison-Lahm and Carol Hasenberg.  Our thanks to the selected members and members of the Nominating Committee!

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Board Meeting Notes — December 5th, 2015

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President Janet Rasmussen called the meeting to order at the home of Rosemary Kenney. Other board members in attendance constituting quorum were Bo Nonn, Dawn Juliano, Paul Edison-Lahm, Kirben Smoody, Marty Muncie, and Larry Purchase. Also in attendance were Rosemary, Carol Hasenberg, Rik Smoody, and Doug Rasmussen. The minutes of the October 10th, 2015 board meeting were approved.

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Traveling Oregon’s Geologic Highways and Byways with Dr. Marli Miller

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Traveling Oregon’s Geologic Highways and Byways with Dr. Marli Miller

Synopsis of GSOC Friday night lecture, October 9, 2015, given by Dr. Marli Miller, University of Oregon Department of Geology and author of Roadside Geology of Oregon, Second Edition (Mountain Press Publishing Co., 2014).
by Carol Hasenberg

Dr. Marli Miller explained and gave examples of her recent book, Roadside Geology of Oregon, Second Edition, to one of GSOC’s largest audiences ever. The book was a 4 year project from which Miller laughingly said that she learned an embarrassingly large amount of material. Amongst her reviewers for the project were Portland State University professors Martin Streck and Scott Burns. The Second Edition is a long awaited rewrite of the classic Roadside Geology of Oregon by David Alt and Donald Hyndman, written in 1978.

Photo credit: Marli Bryant Miller

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