What will 2016 look like for seismic?

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Downturns are periods filled with adversity and challenges.  It’s no surprise that the difficulties we faced in 2015 had significant impact on both our professional careers and the technical societies we are involved with. As we move towards the new year, these technical societies can help us as individuals and as corporations.

The Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG) and CSEG Foundation (CSEGF) promote geophysics and geoscience specifically as it applies to exploration. The focus of the society is to encourage fellowship and cooperation among all career professionals, research scientists and anyone who is interested in geophysical sciences or is a part of other interconnected disciplines. Joining the society supports the CSEG and gives members access to a wide variety of technical, educational and social events organized by CSEG volunteers. These events are opportunities for members to develop their technical knowledge while growing their network.

From a technical perspective, members can gain knowledge from several sources. Each membership includes a subscription to the CSEG’s official publication, The Recorder, and gives access to past publications. The CSEG Technical Luncheons and CSEG Distinguished Lecture Tour promote the science and application of geophysics while highlighting topics of current interest.  For a discounted rate, members can also attend the GeoConvention and its workshops to network and learn with fellow industry professionals.

Other initiatives include:

The Value of Integrated Geophysics (VIG) committee is sponsored by the CSEG and actively collects and shares geophysical value-adds and successes with other disciplines and stakeholders.

From a social perspective, members can network and build relationships with colleagues and mentors through several social committees sponsored by the CSEG.  All of these events are great opportunities to catch up with old industry friends and make new ones. Great social events include:

  • The CSEG DoodleSpiel – an annual event for both the competitive and recreational curler that typically boasts over 300 attendees
  • The CSEG SkiSpree – a weekend of fun competitions and social events for the whole family
  • CSPG/CSEG Road Race & Fun Run
  • Doodlebug Golf
  • T-Wave Golf
  • Women in Seismic (WiSE) Golf tournament

We recognize that the future of the industry lies with young professionals. Investing in members today will allow our Geoscience community to flourish in the future. The CSEG wants to help young professionals develop their soft and technical skills by offering technical talks, networking events, employability workshops and more. The Emerging Professionals Program (EPP) is a recent initiative open to all CSEG members that provides learning opportunities, technical workshops and soft skills development. EPP targets young professionals with one to five years of experience, though also provides support to any CSEG member.

Another notable program that is popular among post-secondary students is the CSEGF for Travel and Educational Grants which allows members to host or attend educational conferences, workshops and field excursions. For post-secondary students, the Geophysical Industry Field Trip is a useful multi-day trip with exposure to industry acquisition, processing and interpretation.

An ‘old-timer’ recently told me, “We’ve been through this before, and with a positive attitude, good work ethic, intelligent & logical personal actions, we’ll get through this again – a bit bruised & bloodied, but also wiser. Remember, we’re all in this together, and the geophysical/CSEG community is tight. We help each other.”

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