Geoscientist Online

President’s Awards for 2017

The President’s Awards for 2017 are made to Martin Hurst, University of Glasgow, for his contribution to the development of innovative new techniques to better understand and model coastal erosion; and Andrew Smye, Pennsylvania State University, for his contribution to the thermal and chemical evolution of continental lithosphere. Congratulations to both.

President’s Day

President’s Day at Burlington House on 7 June will begin with the Annual General Meeting at 11.00am followed by a buffet lunch with the award winners (members with ticket only – £27.50 per head). As in previous years, the recipients of the major medals have been invited to give a short talk on their subject, and the Awards Ceremony will be followed by presentations by the Lyell, Murchison, William Smith and Wollaston medallists (details below).

The timetable for President’s Day and the agenda for the AGM are below. To obtain luncheon tickets please send cheques (made payable to the Geological Society) to Stephanie Jones at Burlington House or email [email protected].

Please also contact Stephanie if you wish to attend the afternoon events for which there is no charge.

Timetable

11.00    Annual General Meeting (members only)
12.30    Lunch with the Award winners (members with tickets only
14.00    Awards Ceremony
15.15    Talks by Lyell, Murchison and William Smith medallists
16.30    Tea
17.00    Talk by Wollaston Medallist
17.30    President’s closing remarks
17.40 – 19.30    Drinks reception

AGM Agenda

• Apologies
• Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 8 June 2016
• Appointment of Scrutineers for the ballots for Council and Officers
• Ballot for Council
• Annual Report and Accounts for 2016

• President’s Report
• Secretaries’ Reports
• Treasurer’s Report

• Comments from Fellows
• Report of Scrutineers on the ballot for Council
• Ballot for Officers
• Fellowship subscriptions for 2018
• Deaths
• Appointment of Auditors
• Report of Scrutineers on the ballot for Officers
• Any other business
• Provisional date of next Annual General Meeting – 6 June 2018

Talks by Lyell, Murchison and William Smith medallists

• Lyell Medal: Rosalind Rickaby – Professor of Biochemistry, University of Oxford
  Coccoliths coasting through the Elderfield Curve
• Murchison Medal: Tim Elliott – Professor of Isotope Geology, University of Bristol
  Surface environmental changes constrain rates of mantle stirring
• William Smith Medal: John Walsh – Professor of Structural Geology, University College Dublin
  Fundamentals of faulting and the pursuit of failure!
• Wollaston Medal: Richard Alley – Evan Pugh Professor, Pennsylvania State University
  Crumbling at the edges: Ice sheets and sea-level rise

Annual Fellowship subscriptions for 2018

Since 2015 the annual increase in Fellowship Fees has been set with reference to the prevailing annual rate of Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation when proposals are considered in March and April for the following year. Over the past two years rates of inflation have been low and the Society has also taken a sympathetic stance towards those Fellows affected by the oil industry downturn. As a consequence, Fellowship fees have not been increased since 2015.

Last year, however, in agreeing a rate freeze for 2017 the Society indicated that inflation was likely to rise in the future and, if so, it may in future years have to raise fees at a rate over that of CPI.

Inflation is starting to rise again in the UK economy and, as at February 2017, CPI stood at 2.3% (as opposed to 0.3% in both 2016 and 2015). Looking almost a year ahead to 2018, the Finance & Planning Committee considers it is likely, with the effects of Brexit starting to be felt within the economy, that the rate of inflation will climb higher and that the costs of providing services to Fellows in 2018 will reflect this.

It is an established principle that the fee should cover the cost of services provided. At its meeting on 5 April Council agreed to recommend to the Fellowship for approval at the Annual General Meeting the subscription rates for 2018 shown below which equate to an average increase of 2.9% (a maximum increase of £6 on 2017 rates).

The rates for Junior Candidate Fellows and Candidate Fellows remain unchanged at £10 and £15 respectively.

Future Meeting Dates

OGMs: 21 June 2017; 20 September 2017; 22 November 2017; 7 February 2018; 4 April 2017
Council: 21 June 2017; 20 & 21 September 2017 (residential); 22 November 2017; 7 February 2018; 4 April 2018