July 2005

Professionals in our society have responsibilities, most having to do with ethical obligations to their clients, society and colleagues. Professionalism requires capability beyond mere competence, and the willingness to be accountable.

One of AAPG's strategic goals is grounded in the belief that, to build a vital and productive Association, we must provide good service to AAPG members and the "grassroots" organizations that support AAPG at the local or regional level -- affiliated societies and AAPG Sections and Regions.

The Division of Professional Affairs is involved in several high profile projects at this time -- and probably the most important one is the certification of petroleum reserves evaluators.

To optimize subsurface geophysical interpretations, it is beneficial to place seismic attributes into the proper regional geological context; knowledge of regional geology may assist exploration/exploitation efforts in advance by high-grading attribute selection and attribute intersection for purposes of risk analysis.

AAPG has six Sections in the United States, composed of the affiliated geological societies within each area, and six International Regions comprising AAPG members as individuals or as groups of affiliated geological societies.

Our difficulties of interpreting seismic data near salt domes has been eased immeasurably by the patterns of deformation discovered and demonstrated by Parker and McDowell.