As President of SAGE and the General Chair of the Convention, it is my pleasure to welcome you to SAGE 2022 in Lafayette and Online. For the main event in Lafayette, we have a diversity of presentations including energy, CCUS, and legal, as well as additional applied geoscience and engineering topics, spread over 12 half-day oral sessions with multiple keynote presentations and 3 half-day poster sessions. Our All-Convention Luncheon features Jeff Landry, Attorney General for the State of Louisiana, and we are hosting two additional luncheons with support of our local affiliated societies, the Southwest Louisiana Geophysical Society (SWLGS) Luncheon with Rui Zhang discussing some interesting aspects of shear wave surveying and the Lafayette Geological Society (LGS) Luncheon with Sarah E. Stogner discussing aspects of Texas oil and gas independence.

In addition to the hybrid Lafayette-based event, SAGE 2022 includes a Virtual Special Symposium organized by Salah S. El-Ekhfifi, President of the SAGE Libya Chapter! Multiple presentations are organized over two half-day sessions on Libya geoscience and engineering and/or by Libyan geoscientists and engineers. Due to time difference and work week differences, these two sessions are early in the mornings of Wednesday, March 23, and Thursday, March 24. If you are unable to watch the presentations live, recordings will be provided post-convention on the SAGE website.

I’d like to thank members of the primary planning committee, Jill Willis, Travis Helms, and King Munson, with a special thanks to Mr. El-Ekhfifi. Additional thanks are extended to Joe Morris and other board members of the Lafayette Geological Society (LGS) for agreeing to serve as official co-host of SAGE 2022. Special thanks to Scott Granger and Christopher Gary for arranging AG Jeff Landry’s presentation. On-going efforts in editing papers for the SAGE Record, our conference proceedings volume to be released post-convention to allow for authors to modify works based on convention feedback and to accommodate later additions to the technical program, by Co-Editors Norman Rosen and Dorene West are greatly appreciated. Tim Bennett, Wayne Cook, and Brian Brennan deserve recognition in organizing our golf outing, with a special thanks to Infinity Energy Solutions for sponsoring the lunch.

Of course our speakers and sponsors are primary drivers for a successful convention. So if you see individuals walking around with speaker and/or sponsor ribbons, please be sure to thank them for helping make this event happen.

Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the food and drink at our Icebreaker, the complimentary lunches, and more at other food-oriented events, and maybe even catch a few presentations.