Willis Hames: Okay, great well we're not at the finish line quite yet there are five more field trips that are scheduled for this meeting and i'm going to say that.
Willis Hames: At least two more times during the comments that I make my name is bill hames it's been my great privilege to be the chair for the SE resection meeting of the geological society of America hosted by auburn university and the main people, I wish to thank.
Willis Hames: All of you, I want to thank you want to thank you for coming.
Willis Hames: I want to thank you for for registering I want to thank you for being here, I want to thank you for all whatever level of participation you're not in this meeting.
Willis Hames: Because you make it possible, you made it possible for us to do this we've looked forward to this meeting, for a very long time, and of course lots has happened, but we are grateful to have host to the meeting, we can say that.
Willis Hames: Your participation and the participation of field trip leaders short course leaders, but really all of the attendees all of you have made this meeting possible.
Willis Hames: We have approximately 360 attendees that's great that's really what we're hoping for, I can say as well that our impressions are that.
Willis Hames: The professional registration of the meeting professional geologists really were steadfast in attendance, for this meeting in comparison to any any year for this meeting, it helps a lot it's very important in a number of different ways, there were 195 is called 200 total presentations.
Willis Hames: About 70 posters and about 130 oral presentations so but we're not over the finish line yet and we've got.
Willis Hames: Five more field trips, I think this meeting sets of record for sections and field trips I had that.
Willis Hames: we're going to see things in the future about meetings that we learn from all of the meetings that this past year, and there were two will nature and things will be different going forward with a lot of good effects that go forward, I wish to thank on.
Willis Hames: Donald sequel the immediate past President of tsa school and stuff Barker the current President of tsa and vicki mcconnell is well for.
Willis Hames: and others for executive leadership from tsa their steadfast hand their oversight really helped guide us through some challenging times of this past year, I want to thank audrey Hugh more than once, to fake for her help assistant support, along with heather Clark.
Willis Hames: They make things happen and Rebecca for us see William Cox lynsey hensley Jennifer nice to Reno.
Willis Hames: becky 17 and Nancy right who we heard about it look, I look forward to meeting, even before we began the discussions for this particular meeting which have gone on for about three or four years, almost it's really wonderful to have her.
Willis Hames: Looking over the team as well, and the very expert.
Willis Hames: team that she has, I want to thank our sponsors auburn university vulcan materials corporation Bob foo sick incorporated SIP Tara the southern company.
Willis Hames: auburn university geoscience Advisory Board and i'm going to say more about our faculty and staff, but of course our department of science faculty and staff.
Willis Hames: The event sponsors have really been terrific and in many direct ways they participated in this meeting and content personnel and made the meeting great, and we appreciate that very much, I wish to thank our team Nicholas Giordano, of college of science and math at auburn university overall.
Willis Hames: We have a lot of support from our dean's office and that translates to financial support it translates to well wishes and and.
Willis Hames: Just the ability to do what we do, we have a lot of backing from our administration in our in our support, wish to thank Dr banquo Lee our chair.
Willis Hames: very capable in of anytime at these times in particular he's our Chair, and we thank him for his leadership and his guidance and looking over us, though.
Willis Hames: The local committee.
Willis Hames: With technical program chairs, you know that the technical program chairs make things happen, Dr Karen mcneil and Catherine Brown.
Willis Hames: katie has made a lot happen i'm going to give a special call out to katy organizing the spatial chad's inspiring a lot of the special things that happened at this meeting, basically, keeping me sane and sending lots of emails to help remember what to do, um we have.
Willis Hames: Also, Dr Sparta chuck has been our sponsorship chair and he said a great job if you beat raised money culture he's been been very, very good at that.
Willis Hames: We should also thank our other members of the local committee Dr King David King Laura build occur and Ojeda hobos our strength boutique Maryland vocal stephanie Rogers renovate underworld um we.
Willis Hames: We have a great faculty and we get along well and and our faculty never flinched we and students, we we really look forward to and embrace hosting the meeting this year and I can't say enough about our faculty.
Willis Hames: I.
Willis Hames: I guess, I have a few comments to make myself as well and they're not scripted so forgive me, but I have this pointer for myself behind me the mineral collection of.
Willis Hames: Harold and Catherine mellor we receive this just a few months ago, really and we're beginning to unpack and sort through the samples, there are hundreds of mineral samples.
Willis Hames: Not only do you see him quality samples but samples that you just can't really collect to the more this person collected in the 1950s or 60s and there are a lot of fun, there are things that i've read about it and they're just terrific to have now, when I was a student.
Willis Hames: I think that it may have been recognized that there were about 1500.
Willis Hames: give or take known mineral samples, of course, the number was presumably higher, but perhaps if you find five to book from the year of the 70s, there would be something less than 2000 minerals, perhaps.
Willis Hames: The mineralogy textbook that we teach from today lists the fact that we know more than 3500 barrels today so by that well why do we know more than twice the number of minerals that we do, and I was a student will.
Willis Hames: mineral sucker as a function of environments and earth's early history and in our solar early history when things may have presented fewer environments, there are fewer minerals, but through time the number of analysis, increased people.
Willis Hames: Have have studied and learned just through geologic time there are more minerals, but that's not really the whole story.
Willis Hames: We change we change aside CES we look in more places and we even broaden our definitions of geology and we brought in our definitions we strain.
Willis Hames: It teaching them enroll into class what's the definition of a mineral wealth, but doesn't definitions of even.
Willis Hames: What constitutes of material change have changed and our change and the definitions of what archie logic materials what constitutes technology, these things are changing right in front of us when back again when I was a student.
Willis Hames: We were on the heels of the plate tectonics revolution and geologist will Harrison script walked on the moon.
Willis Hames: And that was an exciting time of revolution, what a what an exciting time to be in earth sciences well what an exciting time now to be an earth scientists were in the middle of a revolution.
Willis Hames: it's profound and our field is dynamic and changing and growing more encompassing.
Willis Hames: Looking in more places involving more people asking more questions look at the breath that we had, and in this virtual GSA meeting we had everything from evolution of the solar system to the anthropocene and.
Willis Hames: topics that are happening today we got climate change in deep time we had climate change in the past few years as topics for this week.
Willis Hames: So um with those thoughts and flanked by the Miller collection that we're feeding in and, by the way we appreciate donations of any kind of any kind, really whatsoever will come at it.
Willis Hames: Of this is a case in point um I just thank you, I thank you for your participation, I think GSA for the chance to have this meeting.
Willis Hames: I guess that's mostly what I wanted to say I, I do have one more question, it might be a few quizzical looks i'm getting or not what's up with the tie of the chat get you know my try to impress somebody.
Willis Hames: Well, I am I am.
Willis Hames: i'm i'm trying to impress my high school sweetheart.
Willis Hames: Personal it's our anniversary today and I look forward to this meeting, and having her with me to take some of you have up to 10 or a lot of you to to show show her off at the bb and.
Willis Hames: But i'm still gonna make that date so i'm going to leave in a moment and go have dinner with my high school sweetheart I can't say which anniversary purposes let's just say.
Willis Hames: For there were about 1500 don't minerals, when we got married and i'm sorry i'm going to make that date and think, thank you all for the time, thank you for the time to to host this meeting.
RISE GSA Audrey Heun: I guess, we should just week we can unmute and clap.