In February and March we all thought that this coronavirus wave would burst over us and be done in a couple of months, and then we’d all go back to normal. Meanwhile GSOC President Sheila Alfsen had been conferring with the March 8 GSOC Annual Banquet speaker David Montgomery, who told her that he had been in and out of the SEATAC airport several times the week preceding the banquet and might have been exposed to the virus. They reluctantly concluded that the banquet needed to be postponed. The decision was accepted by the GSOC Board of Directors and proved to be prophetic. Within hours of the decision the University of Washington closed, and within a week it became clear that to combat this highly contagious virus homes and businesses in the Pacific Northwest were going to have to go into a quasi-quarantine state for awhile. But we still entertained hopes of returning to normal sooner than later. With great reluctance the GSOC board also decided to try meeting via this new meeting platform called Zoom. A couple of the board members had tried it and thought it might be easy enough to try for board meetings, but the consensus was that our membership would not be willing to see an online lecture, and it would be technically difficult. So, we cancelled the lecture for April and crossed our fingers.

Join the Association for Women Geoscientists for a week-long field study of the remarkable geology along the North Coast of California from San Francisco to Mendocino. We will meet at Union Square in San Francisco on September 10th at 1:00 pm and end with a drop off at the San Francisco International Airport around 2:00pm on September 17th. We will stay four nights at the Marin Headlands Hostel Annex and three nights at the Mendocino College Coastal Field Station in Point Arena. Transportation is by coach and driver.

Upcoming changes to GSOC organization are being designed to facilitate membership registration and communications and to just “get the jobs done.”

With this edition, GSOC is publishing our last print format newsletter for the foreseeable future. Almost. By now, most of you members have been turning to the GSOC website for your information about what is going on in the club. And that will continue to be the case. For those of you who would like something to download and print, the GSOC board is planning to produce a pdf archive document summarizing the website articles and club activities at the end of each year starting in 2020. Those documents will be available on the website, included in the page with the archived newsletter files.

GSOC is also adopting a new software platform to perform membership registration, renewal and mass email communications starting in 2020. The GSOC Board of Directors will be sending an email to the membership outlining the membership renewal process and will be available to answer questions the members may have regarding the new platform and registration process. It will be important for members to renew their memberships using the process outlined in the email in order to continue to receive society emails and other membership benefits.

Needless to say, all these changes need to also be reflected in the society’s bylaws, and the board is working hard on those changes and is planning to present them to the membership in December 2019, so they can be put to the vote in the society’s annual business meeting in February 2020.

As the outgoing newsletter editor, I would like to express my appreciation for the society and for the opportunity I’ve had for writing and editing The Geological Newsletter. Twenty years have flown by so fast!

– Carol Hasenberg

President Sheila Alfsen called the meeting to order at Barbara Stroud’s home. Other board members in attendance were Barbara Stroud, Dawn Juliano, Paul Edison- Lahm, Julia Lanning, Dennis Chamberlin and Carol Hasenberg, constituting quorum. Minutes of the June 2019 board meeting were approved.

A Big Thank You to all the GSOC Helpers!

GSOC’s contribution to this year’s GSA Cordilleran section meeting was a huge success thanks to the many hands that helped build the booth and manned the booth:

• Charlie Raymond

• Marty Muncie

• Clay Kelleher

• Cris Morgante

• Denny Chamberlin

• Herb Dirksen

• Maryann Amann

• Fenella Robinson

And thanks to Paul Edison-Lahm for the beautiful poster and business cards.

Great job you guys!

This spring Portland area schools have asked for supplements to their regular Earth Science curricula and GSOC was happy to respond.

In May, Springwater Environmental Science School in Oregon City asked for a speaker on the subduction earthquake, to which President Sheila Alfsen, as public outreach officer for GSOC, responded. The students were very engaged and interested to learn about this important topic.

In June, Hockinson Middle School asked for rocks to use as a classroom set. Word was put out to GSOC members who responded generously! We were able to donate classroom rocks for both Earth Science teachers at the school.

Sheila spent the day preparing the seventh graders for their upcoming hike around the pumice plain at Mt St. Helens. The school is grateful to have our help!

Public outreach is also being expanded by Past-President Paul Edison Lahm at our monthly GSOC Meetup group at Woodstock Wine and Deli. Paul will also be collaborating on outreach this summer with Oregon Agate and Mineral Society, People of Color Outdoors, and Positively Portland.

President Sheila Alfsen called the meeting to order at Barbara Stroud’s home. Other board members in attendance constituting quorum were Barbara Stroud, Dawn Juliano, Rik Smoody, Paul Edison-Lahm, and Carol Hasenberg, constituting quorum. Also in attendance was Evelyn Bennett. Minutes of the April 2019 board meeting were approved.