Here is the first VGP newsletter of 2002.  Look for further issues in May, August, and November.  All issues are archived at the VGP website http://VGP.AGU.org/.  Please direct enquiries and contributions for future issues to fagents@asu.edu.

In this issue:

(1) 2002 Spring Meeting Update

(2) Fall Meeting Special Sessions

(3) 2002 VGP Fellows

(4) 2002 VGP Macelwane Medalist

(5) VGP Executive Committee Changes

(6) Daly Lecture at Spring AGU Meeting

(7) EGS/AGU/EUG Joint Assembly, April 2003
 

(1) 2002 AGU SPRING MEETING, WASHINGTON DC, MAY 28-31
The VGP section is the best represented of the Solid Earth community at Spring AGU with a good session or two every day. Sessions that will be of interest include:
       Element Partitioning and Diffusion in the Earth's Interior
       Education on Volcanology at the Graduate and Undergraduate Levels
       Minerals, Solutions and Microbial Life
       Hydrothermal Environments: Coupling Experimental, Field and Analytical Techniques
       Determining Diamond Provenance
       Volatiles and Light Elements in Magmatic Systems
       Multidisciplinary Constraints on Volcanic Volatile Budgets

Other activities include Chris Hawkesworth's Daly Lecture entitled "Timescales of Magmatic Processes" (see item 5 below), Stephen Haggerty's Union Tutorial on "The Geopolitical Setting of Conflict Diamonds" and our joint reception with the Planetary Sciences Section.

There are also other sessions sponsored by other sections such that will be of interest such as:
       Earth's Core: New Insights and Challenges
       Geophysics in the 20th Century: Contributions from Washington
       GPS Navigation as a Tool for Earth Science
       Application of trace Metals to Paleoenvironmental Change
       Mineral Structures and Stabilities
       Transformations in Earth Materials: Electronic, Magnetic, and Structural Transitions
       Advances in Mineral Physics with Synchrotron Applications
       Deciphering Seismic Observations through the Lens of Mineral Physics
       New Views of Venus: Recent Results from Mapping and Data Analysis
       Mars Sample Return: Science Implementation, Issues, and Plans
       Understanding the Heterogeneity of the Lower Mantle
       Dynamics of the Oceanic Mantle
       Hotspots: Observations and Theoretical Models
       Monitoring Deformation in Mountain Belts
       A Memorial Session for Ronald W. Girdler: Rifts, Ridges, Reversals, and Regional
      Studies
       The Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure: Results from New Core Holes and Geophysical
      Surveys

Check the meeting out on the AGU website at: http://www.agu.org/meetings/sm02top.html. Travel Grants to the Spring Meeting are available from AGU for students and/or scientists from Lend-a-Hand countries. See this URL: http://agu.org/meetings/meetings.html#stg.

I hope to see you there,

Steve Shirey
VGP Spring Program Chair
(202) 478-8473
shirey@dtm.ciw.edu
 

(2) CALL FOR FALL MEETING SPECIAL SESSION PROPOSALS
The 2002 Fall meeting will once again be the main meeting point for the AGU in general and especially so for the Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology (VGP) section members. Considering the steady growth in quality contributions to the Fall AGU meeting from our section we have every reason to expect great things in December. In the past a large number of excellent special sessions initiated by VGP members has enhanced the Fall AGU meeting considerably, filling a vital role in defining meeting themes. As VGP Secretary and Chair of the Fall Meeting committee I want to urge you to consider contributing a proposal for a special session, either at the Section, Inter-Section or Union level. You may submit your suggestions to the AGU via your section representative. Please do so soon.

D B Dingwell
VGP Secretary
AGU Fall Meeting Chair
 

(3) 2002 VGP FELLOWS
We are pleased to announce that the following VGP members became Fellows of the American Geophysical Union this year:

Francis Albarede, Ecole Normale Superiere
For innovative application of mathematics to geochemistry and for pioneering efforts in the use of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in isotopic analysis.

Michael J. Bickle, Univ. Cambridge
For fundamental studies in the fields of melt generation, fluid flow, and orogenic processes.

Bernard A. Chouet, USGS (joint nomination with Seismology)
For original contributions to volcano seismology and the understanding of active magmatic processes.

Michael J. Drake, Univ. Arizona (joint nomination with Planetary Science)
For outstanding contributions to geochemistry and experimental petrology as applied to the early development of the Earth, Moon, and Mars.

Herbert E. Huppert, Univ. Cambridge (joint nomination with Ocean Science)
For pioneering contributions to geological fluid mechanics through both elegant mathematical models and analogue laboratory experiments.

Malcolm T. McCulloch, Australian National Univ.
For major contributions to understanding the origin and evolution of the Earth's continental crust and mantle and environmental science and climate change.

Congratulations to all.

Al Hofmann
AGU VGP Fellows Chair
 

(4)  2002 MACELWANE MEDALIST
We are pleased to announce that John Eiler of CalTech is a recipient of the 2002 Macelwane Medal, which is awarded for significant contributions to the geophysical sciences by a young scientist under 36 years of age.  John will be honored in a ceremony at the 2002 Fall Meeting.

Another AGU member active in VGP, Michael Manga, also received a Macelwane medal, through a nomination by the Planetary Sciences section.
 

(5) VGP EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHANGES
From July 2002, Charles Bacon (USGS) will assume the role of VGP president-elect, taking over from Kathy Cashman.  At the same time Marc Hirschmann (Univ. Minnesota) will become the new VGP secretary.

(6) DALY LECTURE AT THE AGU SPRING MEETING
Chris Hawkesworth (Univ. Bristol) will deliver the Daly Lecture at the 2002 Spring AGU Meeting.  His talk is entitled “Timescales of Magmatic Processes”, and will take place at 4:15 pm on Tuesday May 28 in room 33 of the Washington Convention Center.
 

(7) 2003 EGS, AGU, AND EUG JOINT ASSEMBLY
The EGS/AGU/EUG Joint Assembly will be held in Nice, France, from 7 to 11 April, 2003.  There will undoubtedly be a wide variety of sessions of interest to VGP members.  Suggestions for session topics are invited at  http://www.copernicus.org/EGS/egs_info/suggestion.htm.
Although the 12 April 2002 deadline for suggestions has passed, the website is still active, and the conference conveners might still accept your ideas!  Further information can be found at http://www.copernicus.org/egsagueug.