Historical Notes

First Exec Council

The first Executive Council in 1953 included Stuart A. Levinson, President; Grover E. Murray, Vice President; William H. Akers, Secretary; and Frank V. Stevenson, Treasurer.

Membership Trends

In 2003, the 50th anniversary of the GCSSEPM, membership was at 487, and was at its peak in the early 1980s with 600 members. Our current membership is approximately 300 and geographically draws from across the United States and abroad.

About the GCSSEPM Section

GCSSEPM was founded in 1953 with the mission of fostering the science of stratigraphy in the Gulf Coast states (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida) through research in paleontology and sedimentary petrology, especially as it relates to petroleum geology. Not surprisingly, the area of interest has increasingly been exploration of the offshore Gulf of Mexico.

The Section is closely associated with the The Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies (GCAGS) and its member geological societies. As part of this cooperative effort, both groups jointly hold an annual meeting and publish the meeting's Transactions, which has become widely recognized as the leading source of geological information for the Gulf Coast basin.

In 1980, the GCSSEPM initiated research conferences for the purpose of communicating research results on the Gulf Coast region, encouraging the exchange of information and ideas, and stimulating further research in the discovery and development of hydrocarbons and other natural resources of the Gulf Coast region. The responsibility for conducting these conferences was shifted to The GCSSEPM Foundation in 1982.

The worldwide distribution of our membership is testament that the Section has earned recognition for service to scientific excellence from a global community of petroleum industry geoscientists, university faculty and students.

In addition to our scientific publications, the GCSSEPM produces a newsletter that is published three times a year (February, July, and October).