hgs

What hgs does

Houston Geological Society (HGS) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit professional society founded in 1923 and headquartered in Houston, Texas. It serves petroleum, energy, and environmental geoscientists in the Houston area and is self-described as the largest local geological society in the country, celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023. The society's core offerings center on a tiered membership program (Active, Associate, Emeritus, Honorary Life, and Student categories), a monthly technical Bulletin with Wise Reports, continuing education programs, field trips, annual conferences including GeoGulf, student scholarships (Calvert Memorial, Undergraduate, Paul M. Basinski Memorial, and the HGS Foundation), young-professional programming through the NeoGeos committee, and recurring social/networking events such as sporting clays and golf tournaments.

Underlying the program is a content and community platform rather than a software product: HGS maintains a publication library (including reprinted volumes on delta geology, coastal salt basin structures, the Directory of Oil Company Name Changes 22nd edition, and Houston Area Environmental Geology), a network of seven Texas university partnerships for student awards, a joint-publication relationship with the New Orleans Geological Society, and a recently migrated member-facing website handling membership, event registration, sponsorship, and donations. The technology stack is conventional web/email infrastructure with no disclosed API or AI capability.

HGS generates revenue through four streams: recurring annual membership dues ($40 Active/Associate, $20 Emeritus, waived for Student and Honorary Life), donations across multiple named scholarship funds, event sponsorships and bulletin/website advertising, and event registration and meal fees. Governance is by an elected Board of Directors and officer slate on a July-to-June administrative year; the 2026-2027 leadership team includes Bryan Guzman (President), Troy Meinen (President-Elect), Jonathan Rotzien (Vice President), Carl Steffensen (Secretary), Andrea Reynolds (Treasurer), John Bishop (Treasurer-Elect), Sharma Dronmaraju (Editor), and Matthew Cowan (Editor-Elect), with Patty Walker serving as Past President through June 2026. HGS is operated primarily by volunteers, has no parent company or external investors, and does not publicly disclose financial figures.

Name

hgs

Legal name

Houston Geological Society

Website

https://hgs.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1923

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Houston Geological Society is a 501(c)(6) non-profit professional society founded in 1923, serving petroleum, energy, and environmental geoscientists in the Houston area through tiered memberships, a monthly Bulletin, continuing education, field trips, scholarships, and networking events. It is self-described as the largest local geological society in the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Geological Society Services

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136), Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Earth Science & Geoscience Programs (EDAMABAI)

Keywords

• Geoscience professional association
• Continuing geoscience education
• Geological publications
• Geoscience scholarship programs
• Technical geoscience events

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Others, Personnel, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership dues from Active ($40), Associate ($40), Emeritus ($20), and Honorary Life (waived) members. Administrative year runs July 1 through June 30.
2. Donations: Donations supporting students, technical programs, outreach, and partnerships. Donation categories include HGS Foundation Scholarship, Calvert Memorial Scholarship, Student Memberships, HGS General Fund, and Paul M. Basinski Memorial Scholarship.
3. Event Sponsorships and Advertising: Event sponsorship opportunities, website sponsorship, bulletin advertising, and business card advertisements generate revenue while supporting scholarships and educational programs.
4. Event Registration and Meal Fees: Revenue from technical meeting registrations and meal purchases at HGS events including dinner meetings, luncheons, conferences, field trips, and annual events.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Houston Geological Society (HGS) operates a nonprofit professional membership society for petroleum, energy, and environmental geoscientists. It provides annual membership, technical meetings, a monthly HGS Bulletin, continuing education, field trips, annual events, and student scholarship and outreach programs in the Houston area.

Product overview

Houston Geological Society (HGS) is a professional society for petroleum, energy, and environmental geoscientists offering membership programs, publications, and educational services. The organization operates as a unified professional membership organization rather than a platform-plus-modules product architecture. Its core offerings include the HGS Membership program, the monthly HGS Bulletin publication, and Wise Reports for members. Educational products include Continuing Education courses, Field Trips, and Student Scholarships. Annual Events encompass Scholarship Night, Sporting Clay Shoot, Crawfish Boil, and Golf Tournament. The Society also supports young professionals through the NeoGeos Program and offers advertising opportunities through Website Sponsorship and Bulletin Advertising.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HGS Membership Annual professional society membership with Active, Associate, Student, Emeritus, and Honorary Life membership types for petroleum, energy, and environmental geoscientists.
• HGS Bulletin Monthly technical publication containing geological papers, featured articles, committee reports, and society news for members and the geological community.
• Continuing Education Technical education programs including lectures, courses, and professional development for geoscientists.
• Field Trips Geological field trips for both adults and students to provide hands-on learning experiences in geological sites.
• Annual Events Annual social and professional events including Scholarship Night, Crawfish Boil, Sporting Clay Shoot, Golf Tournament, and conferences.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• PattersonminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPatterson is a website sponsor of the Houston Geological Society, with their logo displayed on the HGS sponsored logos section of the website.
• Thunder ExplorationminorGTM or Marketing PartnerThunder Exploration is a website sponsor of the Houston Geological Society, with their logo displayed on the HGS sponsored logos section of the website.
• New Orleans Geological SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint publication effort with the New Orleans Geological Society on 'Exploration and Exploitation of Coastal Salt Basin Diapiric Structures in the Lower Pliocene through Eocene Trends: Geology and Techniques', a valuable addition to geological literature.
• Stephen F. Austin UniversitycoreOthersHGS gives outstanding geology Student Awards to Stephen F. Austin University as part of its student outreach and scholarship program.
• Lamar UniversitycoreOthersHGS gives outstanding geology Student Awards to Lamar University as part of its student outreach and scholarship program.
• Texas A&M UniversitycoreOthersHGS gives outstanding geology Student Awards to Texas A&M University as part of its student outreach and scholarship program.
• University of Texas at AustincoreOthersHGS gives outstanding geology Student Awards to the University of Texas at Austin as part of its student outreach and scholarship program.
• Rice UniversitycoreOthersHGS gives outstanding geology Student Awards to Rice University as part of its student outreach and scholarship program.
• University of HoustoncoreOthersHGS gives outstanding geology Student Awards to the University of Houston as part of its student outreach and scholarship program.
• Sam Houston State UniversitycoreOthersHGS gives outstanding geology Student Awards to Sam Houston State University as part of its student outreach and scholarship program.
• Houston Engineering and Science FairminorOthersHGS promotes participation in the Houston Engineering and Science Fair as part of its educational outreach.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• American Association of Petroleum Geologists: The American Association of Petroleum Geologists is a major professional association for petroleum geoscientists, offering memberships, technical publications, conferences, education, and networking. It is directly comparable to HGS's petroleum-geoscientist mission, although it operates at a national and international scale.

Regional players

• New Orleans Geological Society: The New Orleans Geological Society is a regional professional geological society serving the New Orleans geoscience community through meetings, publications, networking, and educational activities. It shares HGS's local-society structure and Gulf Coast petroleum and environmental focus, but serves a different regional market.
• Dallas Geological Society: The Dallas Geological Society is a regional geological society for Dallas-Fort Worth geoscientists, with technical meetings, publications, outreach, and professional networking. Its regional community-and-events model is closely comparable to HGS, despite serving a different Texas market.
• Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies: The Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies is a regional geological organization that supports meetings, technical exchange, publications, and networking among geological societies. It shares HGS's Gulf Coast focus and professional-society mission, while operating as a broader regional coordinating body.

Broad incumbents

• Geological Society of London: The Geological Society of London is a long-established international learned society providing membership, geological publications, conferences, education, and professional networking. It overlaps with HGS in technical information and community building, but has a much broader international remit.
• American Institute of Professional Geologists: The American Institute of Professional Geologists is a national professional association offering membership, certification, ethics programs, publications, conferences, and continuing education for geologists. It is comparable to HGS's professional-development and member-service role, with a broader national scope.
• Geological Society of America: The Geological Society of America is a large geoscience professional society with journals, conferences, education, outreach, and member communities. It shares HGS's combination of technical content, meetings, education, and networking, while covering a broader range of earth-science disciplines.
• Society of Petroleum Engineers: The Society of Petroleum Engineers is an international professional association for upstream oil and gas engineers and related practitioners, with events, technical publications, training, membership, and networking. It is comparable in the energy-sector professional-community model, although its primary discipline is engineering rather than geology.
• Society of Exploration Geophysicists: The Society of Exploration Geophysicists is an international applied-geoscience organization providing conferences, publications, education, and networking for geophysicists. It overlaps with HGS in technical publications, professional events, and geoscience audiences, but is more specialized in exploration geophysics.
• Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists: The Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists is a professional association focused on environmental and engineering geology, offering conferences, publications, education, and networking. It is comparable to HGS's environmental-geology programming and technical-community role, but has a narrower specialty and national scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/houston-geological-society

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about hgs