Duluth's Aerial Lift Bridge seen against a pink sunrise.
Photo: Visit Duluth

North-Central Section

Thanks to all who attended this virtual meeting!

Oral and poster presentations can be viewed through 21 May as recorded webinars—just register and view.

Browse Meeting

Email Heather Clark (hclark@geosociety.org) to receive your CEU certificate. Get more info under "Continuing Education Credits" below.

View the Meeting Program

Program  

Use this web-based app to view technical sessions, abstracts, and events for this meeting, create a schedule for yourself, locate presenting authors, make notes for yourself, and more.

Virtual North-Central Meeting

Our virtual meeting will be held on 18–19 May, with technical sessions in the morning and student programming in the afternoon.

What does it cost?

The virtual meeting is open and available to everyone for free.

How are the presentations going to work?

Both oral and poster presenters will prepare their presentations ahead of time, record them, and upload them to GSA’s Confex system by 11 May. Oral presenters are asked to record themselves giving their presentation in a standard time format (17 minutes). Poster presenters are being given a poster template to use. This template is set up well for web viewing, with viewers able to open up boxes for better viewing. Poster presenters are asked to record a quick 3-minute lightning version of their posters.

If you are an oral or poster presenter, please check your spam for an email from GSA regarding instructions on how to upload your presentation for the virtual meeting.

All presentations that are uploaded by 11 May will be made available for all to view between the time they are uploaded and 22 May. If presenters choose, they can be made available in perpetuity, and will remain linked to the abstract online.

On the days of the meeting, all uploaded presentations will be shown through online webinars that anyone can watch in standard 20 minute slots, with a discussion time at the end of each technical session.

When will the schedule be available?

Before the meeting, we will condense down the technical sessions given the available presentations available, and set up a schedule for oral and poster presentations that will run on the mornings of 18–19 May. This new schedule will be available by the end of the day on 14 May.

What if I can’t attend on 18–19 May?

All uploaded presentations will be available between 11 May and 22 May for viewing. If presenters give permission, the presentations will be available on the website in perpetuity, linked to their abstracts.

What if I can’t attend all of the technical sessions, but I want to talk about the science?

Please try and view the presentations ahead of time, and then join the Webinar for the relevant technical sessions for the scheduled discussion time at the end of each session.

How will posters work?

Each poster presenter will be uploading a poster and a 3-minute lightning talk to accompany it. The goal here is to have the same kind of information you might get if you stopped by and said “Please tell me about your poster.”

On the day of the meeting, we will run a Webinar for each poster session, view the lightning talks, and then have time for Q&A. All posters will be available on-line, so people at home can follow along and look more in-depth at each poster. All poster presenters are encouraged to provide contact information to continue discussions after the poster session individually. Where possible, they may even set up a Zoom meeting where people can stop by for a designated time afterwards with questions.

Any field trips?

Alas, no field trips in person this year, but many of the field trip organizers have uploaded their field trip stops to Flyover Country, a mobile app created by Shane Loeffler and others at the University of Minnesota. It allows you to explore the geology and natural history below your flight, along a hike, or on a field trip. The app is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and available for free on both Android and iOS. GSA has also collaborated with Flyover to make former guidebooks available on this platform. You can learn more and download the app at FlyoverCountry.io.

Will student programming still be offered?

Yes! Both mentor meetings and three career workshops will be offered. All students are encouraged to attend. Student programming will be offered in the afternoon to now coincide with the technical sessions.

Continuing Education Credits

The North-Central Section Virtual Meeting offers an excellent opportunity to earn CEUs toward your continuing education requirements for your employer, K–12 school or professional registration. Please email Heather Clark (hclark@geosociety.org), GSA Abstracts Coordinator, after the meeting to receive your certificate. You will need to provide Heather with your total number of hours attended. The certificate will be emailed to you as a pdf. GSA will not be mailing a paper copy.

Student Poster and Oral Presentation Judging Form

Use this form to submit judging feedback for student poster and oral presentations.

About Duluth

Rock slabs on a lakeshore display glacial polishing and striations.
Glacial striations on mid-continent rift basalts along the shores of Lake Superior.

We are excited to bring the GSA 2020 North-Central Section Annual Meeting up north to Duluth, Minnesota, USA. Perched on the western tip of Lake Superior, Duluth offers unparalleled beauty and natural amenities. The meeting will be held at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center, within walking distance of the thriving Canal Park district and downtown Duluth. Field trip opportunities let you explore a range of geologic history: step back into the Precambrian to the Duluth complex or Mesabi Iron Range, trek up to the Gunflint Trail to see ejecta from the Sudbury impact, explore Quaternary history recorded in proglacial lake deposits, investigate modern processes ranging from landslides to peatlands to environmental remediation, or learn more about the depths of Lake Superior onboard the Research Vessel Blue Heron. Come north for a geologic adventure!

Meeting Sponsors

We are grateful to the entities and individuals who made substantial contributions to help underwrite the costs of the meeting. Their names will be prominently displayed at the meeting. Our sponsors as of press time are:

Silver
$1,000-$4,999

 
Barr Engineering
Northeast Technical Services
 
 
Talon Metals
Twin Metals Minnesota LLC
 

Iron
$500-$999

Iron Mining Association of Minnesota

Aggregate
$100-$499

 
Agate Lake Enterprises
Mesabi Range Geological Society
 

LOCAL COMMITTEE

Chair:
Karen Gran,

Vice-Chair:
Harry Jol

Technical Program Chair:
Chad Wittkop,

Field Trip Chair:
Carrie Jennings,

Sponsorship Chair:
Howard Mooers,

Exhibits Chair:
Erik Brown,

Student Programs/Student Volunteer Chair:
Juk Bhattacharyya,

Treasurer:
Doug Ricketts,

Short Course Chair:
Josh Feinberg,

Iconic rendition of Lake Superior with text: GSA North-Central, Duluth 2020, Superior Rocks.
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