Serving science and profession
The Society’s incoming President, David Shilston, mounts the soapbox and wishes that you lend him your ears.
Geoscientist 22.04 June 2012
Dear Fellows, my year as President-designate is ending and, as I step up to become President, I am would like to take this opportunity to look forward, and also reflect a little on what I have learnt.
It is some 20 years since the Geological Society and the Institution of Geologists were re-united as a single body. This is almost ancient history, and the Geological Society - our Society - now exists in two states simultaneously as both professional body and learned society.
As we evolve to meet the changing needs of geological science, the geological profession and society at large, we draw strength from our dual state, so aptly summarised in our strap-line, ‘Serving Science and Profession’. We are well placed to do this. Geological matters are increasingly prominent in the public domain; we already contribute to public discourse at all levels and we have much more to contribute in the years ahead.
Our Council for 2012-13 includes a good mix of people with a broad spectrum of backgrounds and interests. Moreover, as a basis for our work, we have the Geological Society’s seven Aims, as recently re-confirmed by Council, which state that we wish our Society to be the respected public voice of geosciences in the UK, to provide lifelong professional support to geoscientists, to recognise and foster innovation in the geosciences, to show leadership in the geosciences community nationally and internationally, to promote geoscience education, to communicate geoscience research and practice, and to assure high professional standards for the benefit of society.
What would I like to achieve as your 106th President? In seeking election, I gave my general objectives as:
- to help ensure that the various academic and industrial/business ‘constituencies’ within the Society continue to move closer together to mutual benefit;
- to broaden the reach of Chartership within the Society into sectors and disciplines where it does not yet have a strong presence;
- to develop further the Society’s outward facing and outreach activities (to the general public, students, teachers, government, industry and fellow learned and professional institutions); and
- to help the Society and its Council plan and manage its affairs in a period of rapid economic change that will touch us all, from academe to industry and from seasoned practitioner to undergraduate.
To my great relief, these objectives have withstood the test my time as President-designate, and I look forward to the challenge that the next two years will bring. There will be much to do, across the broad activities of the Society and interests of our Fellows - interests that extend to all corners of geoscience. I hope that you will join me, Council and our many and varied committees and groups in working together to serve our science and profession.
- If you wish to send your reactions and observations to David Shilston, please email the Editor at [email protected]. If you do not wish your letter to be published please mark it “not for publication”. All such messages will be forwarded confidentially, in their original form.