TULSA, Okla., April 24 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
The Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) officially opened its first international office in Beijing China on 3 April 2008. Attending the gala ceremony were SEG President Fred Aminzadeh, three former SEG presidents, SEG Executive Director Mary Fleming, and more than 250 representatives from the Chinese geoscience community, major national and international oil companies, prominent geophysical contracting and service companies, and academia.
The opening of this office marks a major step forward in SEG's steady expansion of the scope and outreach of its programs and services to an increasingly global membership and business community. SEG, founded in 1930, now has over 30,000 members (an all-time high and representing a 100% increase in the past decade) who live and work in well over 100 countries. Well over 60% of SEG's membership resides outside the United States, a major demographic change from the Society's first 60 years.
The opening of the new regional office dramatically illustrates SEG's commitment to fulfilling its core mission of advancing the science and practice of applied geophysics wherever opportunity and local support present themselves. Several other regional offices are being planned and other openings are possible within the calendar year.
SEG has had close ties with Chinese geophysicists and their professional organizations for more than 30 years and has established very strong relations with the full spectrum of that nation's geophysically-oriented agencies, corporations, and universities. China has made a deep commitment to strengthening its resource exploration and production capabilities and local officials strongly supported SEG's plan to establish operations in the country in order to play a more direct role in such key areas as student and continuing education programs, publications, conferences, and member services.
The Beijing office, headed by chief representative Franco Yu, is at Suite 1121, 11/F Block A, Gateway No. 18 Xiaguangli, North Road East Third Ring, Beijing, China, 100027.
For more information please contact Mr. Yu (francoyu@segbeijing.com.cn), Bastiaan Bouma, Director Global Relations (bbouma@seg.org), or the new SEG Extra China eNewsletter (www.seg.org/newsletters) which is specifically oriented to geophysical news related to China.
