If It’s Been Three Years Since the Last Time the Geologists Got Together…

Nearly five dozen alumni, faculty and students participated in the fifth triennial Geology Alumni Conference (fondly shortened to “SLUGAC” by its fans), on campus late in April. Events included:

• A banquet and auction to benefit the William T. Elberty Jr. memorial fund
• The R.O. and Vera Bloomer Lecture
• A tour of the Dolan Outdoor Lab and the Wachtmeister Field Station
• Alumni panels that discussed graduate school options and the world of work with the students

While many people had a hand in putting the program together, the principal campus coordinator was Chapin Professor of Geology Mark Erickson; alumni participant David Waugh ’99 supplied these photos.

R. Booth Platt ’00 and Heather Cunningham ’98 compare notes about graduate school.  Platt is at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, while Cunningham, most recently an instructor at a branch campus of Kent State in Ohio, begins a Ph.D. program in Australia this fall.	Professor Emeritus of Geography Bill Romey, left, visits with Paul Myer ’53, retired professor and chair of geology at the University of Wisconsin/Eau Claire. Romey and his wife, Lucretia, live on Cape Cod in retirement, and travel extensively.
David Wald ’84, left, USGS seismologist and Seismological Society of America Distinguished Lecturer, was the Bloomer Lecturer; after being introduced by Professor Erickson, right, and presenting his lecture, he took questions about the December 2004 South Asia earthquake and tsunami.	The W. T. Elberty Jr. Medal was awarded for the first time, to, from left, Rick Standish ’71, Dean Eppler ’74, Duane Eppler ’71 and Roy Christoffersen ’76, who was not able to be present. These four were the originators of the SLUGAC concept. “Working with faculty members, they developed the idea and mission of SLUGAC and gave their effort toward its creation,” Prof. Erickson explains. The medal, which is named for the late Professor Emeritus of Geology William T. “Bill” Elberty ’53, is awarded “for service to St. Lawrence University through and by direct service to and support of the Department of Geology,” according to the department’s Web site.
Group Picture of the attendees.