Geological Society of America section meeting in Savannah on March 29-30

MEDIA ADVISORY The 56th annual meeting of the Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA) will take place on Thursday and Friday, March 29 and 30, at the Hyatt Regency Savannah on West Bay Street in Savannah, Ga. The topics of discussion will include coastal development, saltwater intrusion, changes in sea level, and a variety of other environmental issues that are relevant to Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. More than 700 scientists from eight states will attend the meeting, which is being hosted by the Department of Geology and Geography and the Applied Coastal Research Laboratory at Georgia Southern University. The highlights of the meeting:

•  ‘Environmental Mineralogy in Coastal Plain Sediments and Other Environmental Issues”  this session will include an evaluation of saltwater migration into the Savannah-Hilton Head Island area’s Florida aquifer. Thursday, March 29, 8 a.m.-11:30 a.m., Scarborough 3.

• ‘Sea Level in the Southeast: Past, Present and Future”  this session will address a number of specific geographic areas as well as a new methodology for tracking sea level changes. Thursday, March 29, 1:20 p.m.-5 p.m., Scarborough 4.

•  ‘Keynote Address: Global Barrier Islands in a Time of Rising Sea Levels”  Orrin Pilkey, the James B. Duke Professor of Earth Science Emeritus in the Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, will be the featured speaker. Thursday, March 29, 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., Ballroom ABC.

•  ‘Coastal and Marine Sedimentary Geology in the Southeastern United States: A Session in Honor of V.J. Jim’ Henry”  this session will include a discussion of fetch-limited barrier islands as the final frontier for coastal development, and the intriguing possibility that the Carolinas once had a fifth cape. Friday, March 30, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Ballroom A/B.

•  ‘Geology in the Public Interest”  this session will discuss the challenges remaining in closure of the Savannah River Site and a methodology for identifying and predicting natural and human-caused changes on coastal islands and shorelines. Friday, March 30, 8 a.m.-noon, Ballroom F.

To view the complete program, visit http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2007SE/finalprogram. Members of the media are invited to attend sessions of interest, interview scientists and visit the exhibit area. Journalists can register onsite at the Hyatt Regency’s second floor lobby. Registration will take place on March 28 from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m.; on March 29 from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m.; and on March 30 from 7 a.m. until noon. Upon their arrival, media representatives will receive a name badge and the program/abstract book. Journalists who wish to pre-register can do so by contacting GSA Director of Communications Ann Cairns at acairns@geosociety.org or (303) 357-1056. During the meeting, registered members of the media may arrange on-site interviews after attending the session in which the talk is given, or by leaving a note at the GSA Registration Desk requesting an interview before or after the talk. To arrange a telephone interview, members of the media may call the registration desk at (912) 721-4753 and leave a message requesting a callback from a specific speaker. For additional information before March 29, contact Ann Cairns at (303) 357-1056 or acairns@geosociety.org . For additional information on March 29 or 30, contact the GSA Registration Desk at (912) 721-4753.