Geoff is a Technical Director–Hydrogeology and Geophysics in GHD, and Principal in Terra Entheos Geoscience with 50+ years specialized experience in the practical application of almost all NSG airborne, surface, marine and downhole geophysical methods to mining, groundwater, geotechnical, environmental, oil and gas and mineral resource assessment, CO2 sequestration, geothermal, salinity, soil mapping and bore geophysical logging and condition assessment projects. He has additional varied experience and training in irrigation review and management, water resources, remote sensing, image processing, information management, GIS and database, flood mapping, asset management, catchment management, and community engagement. Geoff also has extensive groundwater, salinity, major infrastructure and international development assistance project management experience and not-for-profit board voluntary service experience. His consulting interests include sustainable groundwater usage, sustainable irrigation, sustainable mining and mine development, geotechnical, environmental investigations and international development assistance, and community / stakeholder engagement. Geoff has worked and consulted throughout Australia and overseas in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, China, Russia, Canada, US, Philippines and Africa.
Position Statement: I
am seeking your support as a candidate for the position of SEG Near Surface President-Elect and am basing my candidacy on a manifesto of advocacy and
working to seek unity of the
America’s
Near-Surface Geophysics (NSG) and minerals geophysics professional community
under SEG in the Americas as has been the case in EAGE since its inception in
2003. I am prepared to have my candidacy rise or fall on the small America’s NSG and
mineral geophysics communities and specifically the SEG NS voting membership
acceptance of the unity I am advocating and the value proposition that unity
offers. Why unity, why now, and why should it influence your voting decision? I
assert that there are many compelling reasons and advantages.
The
SEG and our NSG profession is at the cross-roads in terms of applied geophysics
governance and the SEG with the guidance of the Task Force is seeking to
re-invent and renew itself with a greater place for NSG in SEG. However, SEG NS
is but a section in SEG (compared to a division of NSG with mineral geophysics
in the bi-divisional EAGE) and the Americas NSG community is not only about SEG
NS. EEGS broke away from SEG in 1992 and AGU NS similarly in 2005, to fulfil
their directions for NSG outside the perceived to be oil and gas dominated SEG.
People take their custom elsewhere for a reason and we need to understand and
address these reasons.
Now
our NSG community is tribalized – three NSG tribes (SEG NS, EEGS, AGU NS) all
with the same mission to advance and promote NSG science, inefficiently
competing with each other. We compete for work in the consulting, contracting and
instrument and software sales/rental sector, perspective ground in exploration,
limited grant monies in research, but where is the common sense and
professionalism in competition of our representative professional societies and
forcing our NSG community and sponsors to choose their tribe? My thesis is that
this tribalism weakens the effectiveness and credibility of our NSG profession
(estimated ~2000 NSG geophysicists plus the minerals geophysicists and
students) to engage with and get greater acceptance of our methods into the
geoscience workflows of the estimated 75,000+ potential end-users of NSG in the
many geoscience and geo-engineering professional societies.
Further,
the great crew change is upon us, with loss of experience from our profession
of the retiring “baby-boomer” geophysicists that have developed much of our
applied geophysics science to where we are today. This crew change is
particularly acutely obvious in the mineral geophysics community which as the
SEGMIN discussion attests, is grappling with the question of generational
change and where the home of mineral geophysics should be and what minerals
geophysics governance might look like going forward? Should it be SEG or dispersed
across the national chapters of Canada (CSEG, KEGS), Australia (ASEG) or South
Africa (SAGA) etc.? Again the EAGE has shown the symbiosis of NSG and minerals
geophysics can work in a global professional society representation context in
conjunction with national chapters.
Most
importantly we are in exciting and challenging times where we must individually
and collectively equip ourselves to better face up to meeting the challenges of
applying NSG science to global sustainability issues and imperatives
(sustainability in groundwater, soils, mining, infrastructure, environment and
climate change etc.). SEG recognizes this and is looking for ideas to go
forward. Strengthened by NSG unity, with collective experience in collaboration
with the wider geoscience and geo-engineering community, we can meet these challenges
more effectively focusing on solutions and better influencing research
directions.
In
short, I assert we need a new NSG paradigm and sprit – a focus on advancing our
NSG profession rather than advancing the NSG tribes, that is bringing unity to
the Americas NSG and minerals community and therefore also bringing equivalence
to the global approach to applied geophysics governance between SEG and EAGE.
In
support of my candidacy I offer a vision and passion for the Near-Surface
Geophysics profession and I am excited about the continued and accelerating
growth in geophysics know-how, technologies, computing power, and research as
well as about what the new generation of geophysics and geophysicists are
bringing and will bring. The good old days are not behind us but are forever
unfolding for our profession.
My
postgraduate training and career experience in community engagement and
development, not-for-profit Board governance and change management in a range
of challenging technical, multidisciplinary and multi-cultural environments,
tells me that working for change from a tribal to a unity paradigm is a process
which will need leadership, involvement of all stakeholders, sensitivity,
diplomacy, open discussion, listening, appreciation and embracing of cultural
differences, compromise and patience. I offer my experience to work with all
the NSG and minerals geophysics community and stakeholders in helping to enable
this process.
I
bring a commitment and track record of service to the geoscience profession (previously
in ASEG, EEGS, IAH, PESA committees and Executives and in NSG publishing –
previous Editor ASEG Preview and EEGS FastTIMES). Through this I have
developed a good understanding of the US, Australian, and international
geophysical practitioners and NSG end-users professional Society landscape and
many useful contacts.
I
consult part-time and (as per my bio) have been fortunate in accumulating broad
practical experience in mostly the NSG sector, but also in the oil and gas and
minerals sectors. I have 52 years work experience in Federal, State and
international Government Geological Surveys and private consulting, in over 300
NSG projects carried out using almost all NSG airborne, surface, downhole and
marine geophysical methods for groundwater, geotechnical, infrastructure,
mining, resource, environmental, UXO, soil, salinity, geothermal and CO2
sequestration applications (and the active and valuable learnings from several
times more projects researched and bid for where NSG methodologies and
innovation had to be developed to bid for the job).
All this experience has
engendered a particular respect for what both NSG researchers and educators
(established and emerging) and day to day NSG practitioners (consultants,
contractors, instrument makers, software developers etc.) and the diverse
geoscience and engineering NSG end-users have to offer each other and a vision
of how, if we unify and more efficiently channel our voluntary energies, we can
bring these three contributing parties closer together. We can do this with
multi-disciplinary committees focused on particular sustainability issues for
stronger advancement of our NSG science, getting greater acceptance of our
workflows into integrated near-surface geoscience day to day practice and
collectively better influencing applied geoscience research directions.
If
the unity manifesto I advocate for and pledge to, has not struck a chord with
you and you are happy with the status quo of the tribal governance of NSG in
the Americas, I am probably not your candidate.
If
however you would like to see our SEG and the Americas NSG and minerals
geophysics profession move to a position of unity and governance that SEG, EEGS
and AGU can agree on and that our European colleagues in their global applied
geophysics Society have long enjoyed and therefore to a new level of NSG
governance maturity, credibility and capability, I would be grateful for your
vote for my candidacy for SEG NS President-Elect.
The opportunity to honor my
pledge and to serve SEG NS as part of service to the greater interests of our
global applied geophysics profession and the entire Americas and wider NSG and
minerals geophysics community, is something I am prepared to follow through for
the three years of service that is entailed. Thank you for your consideration.