Welcome Letter – AEG 2022 Co-chairs, Jerry King and Nick Saines

to Las Vegas! Welcome… The 64th

AEG Annual Meeting

In 2005, before “pandemic” was a household word, Las Vegas hosted a very successful Annual Meeting. The co-chairs, Jim Werle and Barbara Luke, prepared an excellent welcome. What they said in 2005 holds true today: “Where else can over four hundred geoscientists, engineers, and environmental scientists converge for a week of 24-hour non-stop action? You bet, only in Las Vegas!” The Southern Nevada Chapter is placing bets that through the combined talents of our Steering Committee and the AEG Meeting Manager we will hit the jackpot again in holding a fabulous Annual Meeting. The odds are pretty good that you will agree. After all, it is happening in the Entertainment Capital of the World!

And what about the field? What about outside Las Vegas? Las Vegas, at an elevation of 2,000 ft, is in the middle of the Mojave Desert, with nearby Red Rock Canyon and the Spring Mountains to the northwest rising to almost 12,000 ft. To the east is Lake Mead, and farther east is the Grand Canyon. All these places will be visited on field courses and guest tours where you will enjoy great geology and wild Southwestern scenery.

For those of you concerned about damaging or destroying valuable brain cells because of too much Vegas nightlife, we have planned an outstanding technical program and field courses guaranteed to stimulate your intellect, advance your professional capabilities, and increase your technical knowledge. The technical sessions cover the full range of disciplines including asbestos, tunneling, seismology, water management, landslides, geophysics, dams and levees, hydrogeology, groundwater recharge, geologic hazards, subsidence, and more.

Our hotel, Planet Hollywood, is in the best location imaginable—on Las Vegas Boulevard just south of Flamingo Road, across the street from the Bellagio Fountains. In the hotel and within easy walking distance are dozens of great restaurants, shops, and tourist attractions. Our Special Event is a trip on the High Roller Ferris Wheel.

Our Keynote Speaker, Colby Pellegrino of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), will give us an update on the response to the devastating drought that is plaguing the West on the one hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Colorado Compact that divided up the water of the Colorado River. And we will give an award to the SNWA for the construction of the “Third Straw” beneath Lake Mead.

Special thanks to our Steering Committee, especially John Peck (Field Courses), Ann Backstrom (Guest Tours), and Barbara Luke (Outstanding Environmental and Engineering Geologic Project award). We also want to thank our superb and indefatigable AEG Meeting Manager, Heather Clark, and Marty Goff who organized the meeting and put together the technical programs. Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world and is surrounded by amazing, exposed geology. If you have never been here, or have been here a dozen times, we could not be happier that you will be here to enjoy Geology in the Wild with us this September 12–17!

Jerry King and Nick Saines General Co-Chairs