USGS Participates in SACNAS National Conference

This article is part of the October-December 2016 issue of the Sound Waves newsletter.

Jennifer Flannery at the USGS exhibitor booth.

The Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) has been the leading multicultural and multidisciplinary science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) diversity organization in the United States for over 40 years. The annual SACNAS conference is three days of elite science, mentoring, training, and cultural activities for all levels of students and scientists of all minority backgrounds and their allies. The combination of science, culture, and diversity celebrates all STEM fields. This year the annual conference was held in Long Beach, California, from October 13–15, 2016.

Jennifer Flannery (Chemist, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center) and Christopher Smith (Research Geologist, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center) were invited to speak about their research in a USGS-sponsored session entitled “Clocks in the Rocks, Coral, and Wood: Dating Techniques That Keep Time For Earth History and Ecosystem Change” along with Thomas Doyle (Deputy Director, Wetland Aquatic Research Center, Lafayette, Louisiana) and Debra Willard (Coordinator, Climate and Land Use Change Research and Development Program, Reston, Virginia). Flannery, Smith, and Doyle served as judges for several undergraduate and graduate student poster and oral presentations in the fields of geology and marine science.

Flannery and Doyle participated in a “Conversation with Scientists” mentoring/guidance event to speak with undergraduate and graduate students, post-docs, and early-career scientists looking at careers with the USGS. All representatives from the USGS spent time at the USGS exhibit booth talking to people with various scientific backgrounds and academic levels about the cutting-edge research performed by various groups within the USGS.

Presenters in the USGS-sponsored session titled, “Clocks in the Rocks, Coral, and Wood: Dating Techniques That Keep Time For Earth History and Ecosystem Change,” included from left to right: Thomas Doyle, Jennifer Flannery, Christopher Smith, and Debra Willard.