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A. Bruce Rogers, PG, Chair The AEG Nashville Chapter has been staying the course this spring, having combined our monthly meetings/webinars on Zoom. We have yet to have in-person meetings, but we can see this happening in August, after summer vacations are over and (hopefully) everyone has been vaccinated. Our student presentation competition in February was well attended and we awarded cash prizes to all our contestants—they were all too good to pick just one winner! We appreciate Professor Andrew Wulff of Western Kentucky University and Professor Arpita Nandi of East Tennessee State University for taking the time to encourage participation from their students. Developing student membership from our regional university geology departments will be the hallmark of my tenure as Chair of the Nashville Chapter. Students stand to benefit more from an AEG membership than any other segment of our profession, and I am making sure that all geology department chairs are aware of the benefits that AEG offers to student members.

In March, two of our officers, Katherine Clifton and Caitlan Howard, provided a career day seminar at the geology department of Western Kentucky University that was both well attended and well received. Students were given expert advice on how to network, identify prospective employers, develop interview skills, prepare a resume, and what to expect in today’s field and professional working environment. The seminar was a huge success due to the friendly organization provided by Professor Wulff of WKU and the ability of the students to talk to our younger officers who understand the challenges of beginning a career today.

Approximately half of the student geologists we are seeing at all universities are women. I think this is a great endorsement of our profession! In fact, when my term as Chair of AEG Nashville is over in October of this year, all our officers will be women—a fact that I am very proud of. From starting the Chapter in 2017 with only 8 members, we are now at 52 members and still growing. This fall when the new officers take over the reins, it will mark a changing of the guard in that none of the original founders of the Chapter—Mike Arles, Mark Elson, Tom Ballard and myself—will be an officer. From the onset, we set up a structure where the Secretary moves up to Vice Chair and then Chair in successive years to keep experienced officers in the Chapter. This is exactly the way Chapters should evolve, to allow new ideas to develop, to provide opportunity for our membership to become more involved, while at the same time maintaining continuity and focus in our leadership. It has served us well.

We continue our efforts to recruit members, pursue grants for our students and provide presentations from throughout the professional geologic community. In March we hosted the 2021 Jahns Lecturer, Cheryl Hapke, PhD, and were grateful for her presentation on landslides along the Big Sur Coast of California. We also hosted American Engineers, Inc., for a webinar on

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geotechnical drilling techniques that was well presented, thanks to Brad High and Dusty Barrett of AEI. In May we had Robert S. Wilkinson of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation provide a presentation on An Update on the State of Coal Ash in TN. This was probably the best environmental presentation we have ever had and on a very relevant topic in consulting geology. I have resumed talks with two K–12 schools in rural Kentucky to provide “Careers in Geology” presentations once the school year begins this August. I think everyone is getting tired of Zoom and ready to get back to some sort of normalcy! After the summer break, we will resume monthly meetings in August and have two field trips tentatively planned in the fall. The first, at Onyx Cave in Kentucky, and the second, at the Gray Fossil site in East Tennessee, to be hosted by our student members at Western Kentucky University and East Tennessee State University, respectively. I will be presenting at the AEG Annual Meeting in September at San Antonio and hope to see all of you there. Mark Elson, Jessica Hinton, and I are also presenting at the Association of State Dam Safety Officials annual conference, also in September, at the Music City Center here in Nashville. Lastly, it has been requested that I run for AEG Director of the Southeast Region. I welcome the challenge, ask for your endorsement and hope that I can be as successful serving AEG in that capacity as I have been here in Nashville. I am a high-energy person, not shy about asking folks to support and join AEG and always try my best to be an advocate for our profession. Have a Great Summer! Editors’ Note: A big Thank You to Bruce for his service as Chair of the Nashville Chapter and good luck in his run for AEG Director of the Southeast Region.

Did You Know?

There are a total of 26 Local Chapters and 47 college and university Chapters within the AEG. We would like to remind our Chapter Chairs that your articles in the HOMEFRONT section of AEG News are a great way to promote your Chapter, encourage participation, and boost membership. What activities does your local Chapter have planned as we begin to reconvene for meetings and field trips, recreation and picnics, student nights, etc.? The Homefront is also a place to promote professional and academic research being carried out by local Chapter members, as well as legislative initiatives, lobbying activities, and licensure news. Please keep your community and colleagues updated by sending your articles and photographs to the Homefront (news@aegweb.org). The deadline for the Winter edition is October 26. You can connect to each Chapter’s page by visiting https://www.aegweb.org/regions-chapters. If you are interested in starting a new Chapter, visit https://www.aegweb.org/start-a-chapter.