The Geological Society of America
GSA 2020 Connects Online
Montreal, Quebec Canada

Topical Sessions

Electronic Submission Required

These sessions are topically focused with a combination of invited and volunteered papers. The sessions are designed to promote the exchange of timely or state-of-the-art information and to allow scheduling of interdisciplinary talks that bear on a specific topic. To ensure a successful and excellent session, advocates may invite up to two specific speakers. Volunteered abstracts will be solicited in GSA Today for all approved topical sessions.

Topical Sessions may be submitted by any member of GSA, its affiliated societies, or anyone else. Endorsement by an organization is not necessary. However, if your session does include an endorsement, please be sure to have received prior approval from that endorser.

Topical Sessions must:

  1. Include volunteered abstracts, and may include up to two invited abstracts. All volunteered talks are 15 minutes in length. Invited talks may be assigned up to 20 minutes for presentation.
  2. Advocates are encouraged to submit proposals for poster sessions to help accommodate the growth in GSA Technical Sessions.
  3. An oral topical session must receive a minimum of 12 oral preferred abstracts in order to be considered for the program. A poster topical session must receive a minimum of 8 poster preferred abstracts in order to be considered for the program. Abstracts from failed sessions will be considered for a session based on the discipline selected by the submitter.
  4. If a topical session does not receive a minimum of 12 oral preferred abstracts, the session will be removed from the technical program and the invited talks will lose their invited talk status. All abstracts submitted to the canceled session will be considered for another technical session.

Proposals must include:

  1. Full title of the session for publication (limited to approximately 30 words).
  2. Brief description of the session for publication in GSA Today (limited to approximately 35 words).
  3. Rationale for the session.
  4. The names of prospective invited speakers may be included. If not available yet, you may enter the names at a later date.
  5. Program format or relationship to other potential sessions. All scheduling conflicts should be brought to the attention of the Technical Program Chair.
  6. Selection of three scientific discipline categories. The first category selected by the advocate will determine which JTPC representative is responsible for the session.
  7. Advocates must be available for the technical program organizing process 21 July-1 August 2022.

Deadline for submittal: 11:59 PM, Saturday, 1 February 2020, (Pacific Standard Time).

This is a firm deadline for proposals and for sponsorships to be added to proposed sessions.

Web submission is required.

Review: The Technical Program Chairs (TPC) will review all proposals, with the final decision made by the Technical Program Chair and the Annual Program Committee.

What Happens After Acceptance:

-- Advocates must attend and be a session chair for their topical session during the annual meeting.

TOPICAL SESSION PROPOSAL FORM -- CLOSED