Program
Lectures

Lectures & Addresses

Signature talks and presentations at GSA Connects 2025.

A man presents at a podium in front of a crowd.

Lectures & Addresses at a Glance

Attend these lectures and engage with big ideas in geoscience.

Presidential Address & Awards Ceremony

Sunday, 19 October, noon–1:30 p.m.
Stars at Night Ballroom 2 & 3

Presented by GSA President Nathan A. Niemi and Executive Director and CEO Melanie Brandt.

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2025 Michel T. Halbouty Distinguished Lecture

Comparing Life-Cycle Environmental Impacts and Costs of Electricity Generation Systems with Michael Young

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Special Lectures

  • GSA James B. Thompson, Jr. Distinguished International Lectureship | Kathy Benison
  • GSA James B. Thompson, Jr. Distinguished International Lectureship | Maria Rose Petrizzo

More details below.

Noontime Lectures

All lectures start at 12:15 p.m. in Stars at Night Ballroom 2 & 3.

  • Monday: Ron Nirenberg
  • Tuesday: Michel T. Halbouty Distinguished Lecture | Michael H. Young
  • Wednesday: Elizabeth Rampe


Special Lectures

Connect with leading voices shaping the future of geoscience.

Thompson Lecture (outgoing) | Kathy Benison

The outgoing GSA James B. Thompson, Jr. Distinguished International Lecturer, Kathy Benison, is a dynamic speaker of established scientific stature living within North America who can present stimulating and cutting edge geoscience research through lectures outside of North America on topics that are at the forefront of research to raise visibility for The Geological Society of America within the international geoscience community.

Thompson Lecture (incoming) | Maria Rose Petrizzo

The incoming GSA James B. Thompson, Jr. Distinguished International Lecturer, Maria Rose Petrizzo, is a dynamic speaker of established scientific stature living outside of North America who can present stimulating and cutting edge geoscience research through lectures in North America on topics that are at the forefront of research to raise visibility for The Geological Society of America within the U.S. geoscience community.

Special Event

Presidential Address & Awards Ceremony

Sunday, 19 October, noon–1:30 p.m.
Stars at Night Ballroom 2 & 3

Beyond the Compass: Redefining Field Education in Geoscience
Address by GSA President Nathan A. Niemi
At Connects 2025, GSA highlights themes of transition, dissolving borders, and reaching for the stars—mirroring the shifting landscape of geoscience field education. Changing student interests, rapid technology, and ongoing barriers are reshaping what field training must become. Inspiring the next generation to tackle society’s geoscience challenges has never been more urgent.

Emcee: Executive Director and CEO Melanie Brandt
At GSA Connects 2025, we honor the people and ideas moving the geosciences forward. This is more than a ceremony—it’s a celebration of vision, achievement, and community. Join us as we honor individuals whose contributions have advanced the geosciences.

Stream the Address
Nathan A. Niemi
Halbouty Distinguished Lecture

Michael Young

Comparing Life-Cycle Environmental Impacts and Costs of Electricity Generation Systems

What are the all-in costs—environmental and economic—of expanding and operating an electrical grid for Texas, and how might these costs change over the next 30 years?

In this talk, we’ll show how environmental impacts manifest along global supply chains for materials (e.g., lithium, cobalt, etc.) at different times during the 30-year lifespan of facilities that support energy development. We connect every operating facility, using different generation mixes, in a nodal-scale, grid dispatch model that allows us to track grid reliability, improvements in environmental performance, and differences in consumer cost of electricity. The results show the complicated nature of impacts along the global supply chain of materials needed for energy development and electricity generation, and they point to areas where impacts can be mitigated through innovation and action.

Michael Young headshot

Contact

Have questions? Contact us below!

GSA Meetings Department

meetings@geosociety.org
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