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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Board Meeting Notes October 2015

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Board Meeting Notes October 2015

President Janet Rasmussen called the meeting to order at the home of Rosemary Kenney. Other board members in attendance were Bo Nonn, Dawn Juliano, Paul Edison-Lahm, Kirben Smoody, Marty Muncie, Larry Purchase, Sheila Alfsen, and John Piccinnini, constituting quorum. Also in attendance were Rosemary Kenney, Carol Hasenberg, Dave Olcott, and Doug Rasmussen. The minutes of the August 2nd, 2015 board meeting were approved

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Mt. Hood field trip

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Mt. Hood field trip

Larry Purchase writes about our recent amazing GSOC Mt. Hood field trip "My thanks to all who contributed, especially..."

  • Janet for her firm Presidential direction: "No Matter What! Don't Cancel!"
  • Ellen for naming the flowers and appreciating the hydrology of the White River stream flow.
  • The Smoody Family for reconnoitering the area for years.
  • Julia for taking such great photos. Wrecking yard junk at the bottom of the Parkdale Lave Flow?
  • The park rangers for warmly welcoming us and giving us a wonderful tour of the Cloud Cap Inn.
  • Eric & Paul for organizing a last minute car load of participants.
  • Most of all to Bo! — for devoting so much time and energy in researching the geology and preparing such a concise, to the point, field trip guide.
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Women in Geology: Margaret Steere

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Women in Geology: Margaret Steere

Diligent, talented, industrious and devoted are only some adjectives to describe Margaret Steere. Margaret was a native of Michigan, but came to Oregon early during her career. Schooled at the University of Michigan with degrees in geology, Margaret applied her skills in cartography for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II. She joined the staff of Oregon’s Department of Geology and Mineral Industries and worked for 30 years as a geologist and geologic editor. Upon retirement, Margaret continued her service to the state as a volunteer. Margaret’s expertise in geology included paleontology as she utilized her skills to maintain and curate the collection for DOGAMI’s museum as well as authoring numerous articles on fossils.

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Jan and Janet Discover Mima Mounds from Google Earth Image

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Jan and Janet Discover Mima Mounds from Google Earth Image

President Janet's SE Oregon Scouting Trip (Take Two)

On Monday, June 1, Jan Kessler and I headed down to SE Oregon to scout my field trip stops for the September GSOC trip. My husband Doug and I did a preliminary trip last August.

We had Marli Miller's new Roadside Geology of Oregon with us so the navigator could read aloud from it as we travelled. It was very helpful. We stopped at Glass Buttes off Hwy 20 between Bend and Burns. Neither of us had been there before. The turnoff is on the south side of the highway, just west of milepost 77. Look for a cattle guard. I was disappointed that it wasn't a sparkling glass mountain as I had imagined.

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Board Meeting Notes

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June 13, 2015

President Janet Rasmussen called the meeting to order at the home of Rosemary Kenney. Other board members in attendance constituting quorum were Bo Nonn, Paul Edison-Lahm, Lawrence Purchase, Kirben Smoody, Sheila Alfsen, and John Piccinnini. Also in attendance was GSOC member Doug Rasmussen. The minutes of the April 11th, 2015 board meeting were approved. Treasurer’s Report (Submitted earlier by Dawn): Approved by the board. 

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Meteorite Findings and “Greatest Hits”

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Meteorite Findings and “Greatest Hits”

Pictured: polished and etched silicate-bearing iron meteorite, with millimeter scale at left

Meteorites “Greatest Hits” from Dr. Ruzicka's May 8th lecture: (1) The solar system formed relatively fast, in only 10 million years; (2) Much early planetary material was either partly melted, evaporated, and/or dispersed in the early solar nebula; (3) Pre-solar grains are incorporated in the chondrite matrix; (4) Pre-biotic organic synthesis occurred as building blocks in the early solar system; (5) Decay of short-lived radioactive isotopes gave the heat source of silica-rich bodies in the early solar system; (6) Planetary rock swaps occurred throughout the history of the solar system. 

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Synopsis of Dr. John Bershaw's GSOC Friday Night Lecture, April 10, 2015

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Synopsis of Dr. John Bershaw's GSOC Friday Night Lecture, April 10, 2015

Using Fossil Teeth and Paleoclimatology to Bracket Duration of Andean Uplift 

Dr. John Bershaw, PSU Department of Geology, came to the GSOC Friday night lecture in April to discuss his research using fossils to determine information about past climate change. Specifically, Bershaw’s task was to use oxygen isotopes in fossil mammal teeth to bracket the age of formation of the Andean Plateau (Altiplano) in South America. 

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Synopsis of the 80th GSOC Annual Banquet with speaker Dr. Tanya Atwater, University of California Santa Barbara

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Synopsis of the 80th GSOC Annual Banquet with speaker Dr. Tanya Atwater, University of California Santa Barbara

Shaping the Tectonic World View 

by Carol Hasenberg 

Outgoing GSOC President Sheila Alfsen introduced Dr. Tanya Atwater by discussing the origins of GSOC and its name “The Oregon Country”. The first decades of exploration and research into the geology of the Oregon Country answered the questions of What and Where, she said. It was clear that Oregon contained a strip of volcanism that was present all around the edges of the Pacific Ocean. The big question left to answer was the Why. And that is what the work of Dr. Atwater and many other scientists did over the last 50 years. Plate tectonics has been one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all times. 

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BOARD MEETING NOTES

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BOARD MEETING NOTES

April 11, 2015 

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, Marty Muncie, Kirben Smoody, Sheila Alfsen, and John Piccinnini. Also in attendance were GSOC members Doug Rasmussen, Dave Olcott, and Carol Hasenberg. The minutes of the February 14th, 2014 board meeting were approved. 

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When the Plate Tectonic Revolution Met Western North America: the Lure of Science and the Oddness of being Female

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When the Plate Tectonic Revolution Met Western North America: the Lure of Science and the Oddness of being Female

I was in high school in 1957 when the Russians successfully launched the first man-made satellite, Sputnik. It is hard to explain to younger generations just what a profound event that was. To us, it was totally astonishing: that we humble humans could put an object into outer space. Until then I had planned to be an artist, but I thought “Wow! If scientists can do that, they can solve anything (ghettos, hunger, strife, …)”. So began my checkered studies in science.

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