Cover Story
TROPICAL
GLACIERS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
President’s Message by Meg Harris
Geologic News of Interest Compiled by Nancy
Gensky
NYSDEC NEEDS VOLUNTEERS
UPDATE ON THE
PENN DIXIE QUARRY
LICENSING SYMPOSIUM:
A GREAT SUCCESS!
SILENCE OF THE LIMBS by Robert Titus, Hartwick College
Dr. Seltzer has been a member of the faculty in the Department of Earth Sciences at Syracuse University since 1994. He received his B.A. degree in geology from Carleton College and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Minnesota. He is a frequent reviewer for several journals including Science, Geology, the Journal of Quaternary Science and the Journal of Glaciology. Dr. Seltzer has received numerous research and travel grants for his work on climate change, and has published more than 20 papers on his research. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Seltzer to the Carousel Center Skydeck on Thursday, December 4, 1997.
The NYSDEC is looking for people who want to take an active role in reducing the release of chemicals to the environment. NYSDEC’s Comparative Risk Project seeks to identify and compare the damage being done by released chemicals and to develop strategies to reduce the damage through pollution prevention. Volunteers will review and comment on NYSDEC’s comparative risk reports. Some volunteers may be asked to participate in focus groups. No special training is needed. For more information, call the NYSDEC Pollution Prevention Unit at (518) 457-2553.
The Hamburg Natural History Society, Inc. is holding a capital fund drive to raise money to construct the outdoor education center, parking areas, handicap accessible nature trails, astronomy pad, etc for the Penn Dixie Quarry Site. Although the fund drive kick-off meeting was held prior to the distribution of this newsletter (November 18, 1997), donations will always be appreciated. Please contact Jerry Bastedo at (716) 627-4560 for additional information or write to the Hamburg Natural History Society, P.O. Box 772, Hamburg, New York 14075.
The Hamburg Natural History Society is scheduling field trips for schools
and groups for the 1998 filed season to collect fossils at the Penn Dixie
site. If you would like to schedule a school group, please contact
Peg Hermann at (716) 627 -6336. All other groups should call (716)
627 -4560. Society Members are free, non-member adults are $3, and
children are $2. Would CNYAPG members be interested in a spring field
trip to the Penn Dixie site?
LICENSING SYMPOSIUM:
A GREAT SUCCESS!
Geologists from all over the state gathered in Syracuse on November
5th at a symposium on licensing of geologists in New York. The symposium
was hosted by the New York State Council of Professional Geologists (NYSCPG),
who sponsored a similar event two years ago when efforts to create a state
licensing program first got underway. In the two years that have
passed, the Council has made great strides toward achieving its goal, which
was demonstrated by the success of the November symposium. Several speakers
addressed the gathering, including:
William Kelly, NYSCPG President, who gave an update on the status of
many of the Council's recent activities including fundraising, assembly
bill status, the hiring of a lobbying firm, and other issues;
Robert Mahoney, NYSCPG Vice President, who discussed proposed changes
to the Assembly Bill No. A6822, which was submitted in March and is expected
to see action in the 1998 legislative session;
Karen Moran, P.E., Past President of the New York State Society of
Professional Engineers (NYSSPE), with whom NYSCPG has worked closely in
developing the licensing bill. Ms. Moran gave an update on the NYSSPE's
perspective, and offered encouraging words regarding the potential for
support from her organization;
Donald A. Clary, President, Minerva Group, Albany, New York.
Mr. Clary's firm will serve as NYSCPG's lobbyist as the bill moves through
the legislative process. His experiences with other licensed professions
provided valuable insight into the critical elements of the process.
His presentation made it clear the NYSCPG will be well represented in Albany.
John Privatera, Esq., attorney with McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Williams,
Albany, NY. Mr. Privatera directs the environmental department of
his firm, which will work with the Minerva group in representing NYSCPG
from a legal standpoint. His long history of working with geologists
and engineers on environmental projects gives him a unique point of view
on the importance of licensing of geologists.
Representative Steven Englebright, Dem. 4th District (Long Island);
Assemblyman Englebright, a geology professor himself, is the sponsor of
A6822. He currently serves on the Higher Education, Energy, and Environmental
Conservation Committees, among others, and is Vice-chair of the Legislative
Commission on Toxic Substances and Hazardous Wastes. Mr. Englebright
spoke of the importance of the profession of geology and the viability
of this licensing bill. He also provided an excellent presentation on the
integration of science and public policy involved in the Jamaica Bay development
over the last few decades.
The symposium served as a valuable kickoff for the Council's next level of activity as it seeks to achieve licensing for geologists in New York. The large number of attendees was a testament to the legitimacy of the Council's efforts, and demonstrated the keen interest that geologists statewide have in licensing. With continued support from all geologists, both individually and as members of other geo-related organizations, New York State should be the next in a long list of states to license geologists.
SILENCE OF THE LIMBS
by Robert Titus,
Hartwick College
It's November and the hiking season is pretty much over. There are still a few relatively mild days, but there are so many fewer reasons to get out now. The foliage, with its green, is gone and the landscape is, for the most part, just a dull gray. Darkness comes so early now. Later the snow may draw some of us out on skis or snow shoes, but that is yet to come. For the time being the scenery is uninspiring.
But I have found that there is one outdoors experience which is pretty much confined to this time of year, and it is something that does sometimes draw me out for one last end of the season Catskill hike. It's not something that I can go and see, nor something that I can hear or feel. Instead it is the very silence of the woods at this time of year.
Each November brings a few days when the skies are a uniform gray, and the gloomy weather patterns seem to settle into complete doldrums. Pick one of those days and hike high up into the Catskills , or your own local hills, so that you are far away from any road noise. There are usually no planes above our mountains, but if so just wait until they have passed by. Pick a good spot and sit and listen. Not a breath of air stirs, and even if it did a little, there are no leaves to rustle at this time of the year. Once in a while a twig or limb will fall, but these events are scarce and momentary. The forest becomes so completely silent that it is almost unnerving.
In this season of the year there are few animals stirring. The insects are seasonal and this year's generation has all died; the next generation sleeps in its egg cases, silently awaiting the spring thaws. The song birds have departed, and most of the ground animals have settled into some burrow for the winter. In short it is mighty quiet up in the mountains at this time of year.
To a paleontologist there is a special experience here. Silence is unusual in our world, but that is only our world that I am talking about. Today we expect the woods to be noisy with insects, birds and furry animals, but that has not always been the case. Long ago these noise-making creatures did not exist. I am thinking of the Gilboa Forest which long ago presided over our Catskill landscape.
The Gilboa Forest was a very different sort of woods. There were no furry animals, neither were there birds. There were insects, but they were so primitive that they had not yet evolved the ability to make noise. Noise making is something we take for granted, and probably regard mostly as a nuisance. But we should not forget that it is a relatively complex form of animal behavior and that was something far beyond the abilities of Gilboa's primitive creatures.
Neither were the trees of Gilboa very noisy. They lacked true leaves and so it is not likely that they would have been able to make much of a rustle. Even on a windy day, the forest of Gilboa must have been a remarkably quiet place. All this silence ended, maybe 300 million years ago, when more advanced insects appeared and began their songs. Eventually birds and other animals followed suit and the world's forests and jungles became noisy.
So that is what draws me into the mountain at this time of year. It's
a chance to go and experience a form of nature that has been gone for all
those 300 million years. I like the western slopes of Hunter Mountain.
These face the interior of the Catskills and are shielded from the cacophony
of the Hudson Valley. Try it, it's this year's one last good excuse for
a hike into the mountains.
=============================================================
Adapted from an article published in the Woodstock Times.
Dr. Geoffrey O. Seltzer, Syracuse University, "Tropical Glaciers and Climate Changes. CNYAPG/ASCE/NYSSPE Joint Meeting, Carousel Skydeck. See below.
The Thursday, December 4 meeting will be held at the Carousel Skydeck. A cash bar will open at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30. Our guest, Dr. Seltzer, will speak at 7:30. Dinner is $25 or $15 for students.
Make your reservations today by calling O’Brien & Gere Engineers at (315) 437-6100 ext. 2656.See you there!
March 19-21, 1998
Northeastern GSA Section Meeting, Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland, Maine,Call for Papers, Abstract Deadline: November 14, 1997, Submit Abstracts to: Marc C. Loiselle, Maine Geological Survey, 22 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0022, (207) 287-2801
If you have events that you would like to include in the CNYAPG calendar,
please contact Bill Gabriel of O’Brien & Gere Engineers at (315) 437-6100.