Due South, August 2021
Howdy, y’all. It’s already mid-August, and, here in South Texas, it’s a bit cooler than usual—no 38°C days (yet!).
I hope you’re keeping well in these strange times. I also hope things will open back up soon; I’ve gone almost two years without a Timmy’s!
Health Physics Society State of Texas Chapter
Student Meeting
The State of Texas Chapter (STC) of the Health Physics Society (HPS), which is my home chapter, conducted its second Zoom meeting on April 24. Attendance was down a bit, and there were only 10 student presentations.
As usual, cash prizes were awarded in two divisions: graduate and undergraduate. A high school student also presented; hopefully he will be presenting again at the national level. In addition, there were two hours of talks in the afternoon about Fukushima, seeing as this is the 10th anniversary already.
Affiliate Fair
STC was planning to host an affiliate fair in September, but it’s looking like the COVID-19 Delta variant is going to cause us to postpone, again.
Health Physics Society Annual Meeting
The HPS tried something new this year—a hybrid meeting, both in-person meetings in Phoenix, AZ, and online. HPS kicked off the meeting with virtual sessions on July 20 and 22, then switched to hybrid mode, with both in-person and live-streamed virtual sessions from July 25 to 29. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend, so I don’t know how that worked out.
I do hope to attend the next HPS annual meeting in person. It will be held July 16 to 21, 2022, in Spokane, WA, about 171 km south of the Canadian border. Hopefully the wait at the border crossing will be much shorter than it is today for the Canadians who will be joining us. Find out more on the HPS website.
2022 IRPA North American Regional Conference
The 2022 International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA) North American Regional Congress will be sponsored by HPS and IRPA. It is currently scheduled for February 20 to 24, 2022, in St. Louis, MO. Find out more on the the website.
Sasky Pack Update
Perhaps you heard about the great Texas winter storm in February that almost knocked out our power grid. In my 25+ years of living here, this was the first snowfall that stayed on the ground for more than a day and the first (and hopefully the last) time I have seen −14°C in the tropics. At my house, we were very fortunate and did not experience any power loss.
Here is Scott’s Sasky Pack lying in the snow in front of his house on the last day there was snow was on the ground. “Sasky” is what Scott affectionately calls the backpack he received when he attended the CRPA annual conference in Saskatoon in 2017.
Here is a bonus photo of Scott’s futile attempt to clear his driveway with a broom. (He doesn’t own a snow shovel!) He says those Air Force–issued boots that he hadn’t worn in 30+ years sure came in handy.
Sasky didn’t get to do too much travelling this year, but it did manage to break out of the Continental US to the island of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands to enjoy some downtime in July.
Résumé : Direction sud, août 2021
Scott M. Nichelson, membre autoproclamé de l’ACRP comme étant le plus au sud de l’Amérique du Nord, nous écrit pour la première fois depuis un bon moment. Bien qu’il s’ennuie de ses amis canadiens (et des restaurants Tim Horton’s), il a tout de même pu goûter au climat nordique cet hiver dans sa localité du Texas ! En lisant sa rubrique, ne manquez pas la photo où il essaie bien futilement de pelleter son entrée avec un balai. (Il ne possède pas de pelle !)
Scott Nichelson
Scott NichelsonScott Nichelson, a certified health physicist and industrial hygienist, began his career in health and safety with the United States Air Force in the mid-1980s. He retired after 28 years on active duty and is currently serving as a civilian instructor for the United States Army Medical Department Center and School in San Antonio, TX. Scott discovered CRPA in 2002. He is a diehard fan of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.
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