A lecture in a sequestered off party room in the back of Dave and Buster’s enthralled both geology college students and industry professionals alike this past Monday, with the noise of screaming children, loud music, and arcade machines only a door away.
Long Beach City College Geology Club students had the opportunity to attend a meeting of the South Coast Geological Society hosted at Long Beach Dave and Buster’s.
With ambient disco lighting, a nacho station and a small drinks bar in the corner, the venue provided a comfortable scene to network and meet people before the lecture began.
“I feel like the physical sciences are often overlooked over the biological sciences. So, I wanted to learn more about them. I kind of believe in intersectional science,”said Story Daly, a biology major and Geology Club member at LBCC.
Daly spent the meeting hours seated at a table, sketching in a small notebook, until Steve Zigan, a retired geologist, sat in the open seat next to her and they began chatting about her drawings. Zigan asked about her interest in professional field sketching.
Their conversation illuminates the intent behind the South Coast Geological Society’s meetings: to foster networks between those already established in the field and those just starting out, in a fun, semi-professional setting.
Based out of Santa Ana, SCGS usually holds meetings in Orange, but had a change of location for March’s monthly meeting.
In recent years, the society has tried to extend their reach to college students and professors in geology fields, emphasizing the need for connection to span across all members of the industry.
“Yes, you come in and don’t know anybody, but I don’t want students to feel intimidated by the environment, it’s a really invaluable resource.” Taylor Bogdanovich, current board member and previous SCGS president said.
“A lot of the people here are in the middle of their career or retired or just starting out and we wanted to create a space where people could just meet,” said Bogdanovich, “younger people don’t realize how important networking is as college students.”
The society waives the $40 membership fee for college students as well as reducing the monthly meeting cost to $30, lowering a barrier of access that would have discouraged students from attending meetings.
Monthly meeting fees go toward covering the price of catering, as well as the space’s rental fee.
For LBCC Geology Club members, even this $30 charge has become nonexistent.
Since SCGS meetings are a Geology Club member event, adviser Otto Figueroa is able to have these monthly meeting fees paid for by ASB club funds. Students simply have to RSVP with Figueroa and fill out a school trip waiver.
“I like it for the networking, but also for the professionals presenting their research, it’s different from learning in a classroom,” Monet Pedrazzini, secretary for the geology club said.
The lecture portion of the event, presented by Jillian Pearse, was all about her research on the sinking land around volcanoes in South America and how that research could be used to predict the land shifts of coastal cities, Long Beach in particular.
These predictions could prove useful in helping city and state governments establish preventative measures, according to Pearse.
Referred to as “the sinking city” by Pearse, she discussed how excess oil drilling in Long Beach has led to subsidence, the excessive sinking of land, caused by the space left in the earth’s crust after the oil is removed.
She explained that it can be mitigated by pumping water into the space left by the oil, but that it does not stop the city’s sinking completely.