Famed 3-D modeling researcher Dietrich Welte and past AAPG president Stephen Sonnenberg lead the list of 45 people who have been named to received AAPG honors and awards.
Dietrich Welte, a leader in the research and development of the concept and software used in 3-D numerical basin and petroleum system modeling, and author of the first comprehensive textbook used in the field of geochemistry, has been named the 2013 recipient of the Sidney Powers Memorial Award – AAPG’s highest honor.
Welte is a retired Professor Emeritus from Technical University RWTH, Aachen, Germany, and adjunct professor from Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany – a university he helped initiate.
Joining Welte at the top of this year’s AAPG awardees list is Stephen A. Sonnenberg, Boettcher Distinguished Chair of Petroleum Geology at Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo., who has been named the winner of this year’s Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award.
Welte and Sonnenberg are among the 45 award winners who have been announced by AAPG and who will be recognized at the opening session of the 2013 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, set May 19-22 in Pittsburgh, Pa.
AAPG awards, approved by the Executive Committee, are presented annually to recognize individuals for service to the profession, the science, the Association and the public.
Welte began his career with Shell International as a research geochemist in 1959. Three years later he returned to his alma mater, University of Würzburg, Germany, where he worked four years.
In 1967 he returned to the industry as a senior research geochemist for Chevron Oil Field Research (USA).
Welte’s textbook, “Petroleum Formation and Occurrence,” first published in 1978 and expanded in 1984, is still used today in teaching petroleum geochemistry.
He founded the Institute of Petroleum and Organic Geochemistry at the then Kernforschungsanlage, now Forschungszentrum Jülich, in Germany in 1979, and later founded and was director of Integrated Exploration Systems in 1985.
Welte’s list of AAPG accolades include recipient of the President’s Award (1966), International Special Commendation Award (2000), Special Award (2004) and Distinguished Service Award (2006).
Sonnenberg, who is the seventh recipient of the Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award, given in recognition of outstanding and exceptional leadership in the petroleum geosciences, received AAPG Honorary membership in 2008.
He has been actively involved in AAPG leadership roles over the last three decades, serving four times on the AAPG Executive Committee – as vice president in 1995-96, and as president-elect/president from 2002-04 and as House of Delegates chair 2009-10 – as well as serving on various committees.
Interviews with both Welte and Sonnenberg will be published in a future EXPLORER. Biographies and citations of all award winners will be included in a future BULLETIN.
Award winners announced by AAPG and who will be honored along with Welte and Sonnenberg in Pittsburgh are:
Honorary Member Award
Presented to members who have distinguished themselves by their accomplishments and through their service to the profession of petroleum geology and to AAPG.
♦ Abdulla A. Al Naim, Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
♦ Jeanne E. Harris, G&H Production, Denver.
♦ Kenneth E. Peters, Schlumberger Information Systems, Mill Valley, Calif.
♦ Daniel J. Tearpock, Subsurface Consultants, Houston.
Norman H. Foster Outstanding Explorer Award
Presented to members in recognition of distinguished and outstanding achievement in exploration for petroleum or mineral resources, with an intended emphasis on recent discovery.
♦ William A. Zagorski, Range Resources, Caraopolis, Pa.
Robert R. Berg Outstanding Research Award
Presented to honor a singular achievement in petroleum geoscience research.
♦ Ronald A. Nelson, Broken N Consulting, Cat Spring, Texas.
♦ J. Frederick Sarg, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo.
Distinguished Service Award
Presented to those who have distinguished themselves in singular and beneficial long-term service to AAPG.
♦ Eugene L. Ames III, Ames Energy Advisors, San Antonio.
♦ Mark J. Gallagher, Encana USA, Plano, Texas.
♦ Frances J. Hein, Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board, Calgary, Canada.
♦ Joseph J. Lambiase, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
♦ Stephen D. Levine, SK E&P, Houston.
♦ Brian E. Lock, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, La.
♦ Richard A. Lorentz Jr., KrisEnergy, Singapore.
♦ William C. Stephens Jr., Mid-Con Energy Group, Dallas.
♦ Linda R. Sternbach, Star Creek Energy, Houston.
♦ Laura C. Zahm, Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, Texas.
Grover E. Murray Distinguished Educator Award
Presented for distinguished and outstanding contributions to geological education, both at the university level and toward education of the general public.
♦ Carlton E. Brett, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
♦ John R. Underhill, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Harrison Schmitt Award
Presented in recognition of outstanding accomplishment that is beyond the scope of other AAPG awards.
♦ George B. Asquith, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas.
♦ Martin G. Lockley, University of Colorado at Denver.
Public Service Award
Presented to recognize contributions of AAPG members to public affairs – and intended to encourage such activities.
♦ Alex S. Broun, retired Exxon, Dripping Springs, Texas.
♦ Jerome J. Cuzella, consultant, Lakewood, Colo.
♦ Donald S. Van Nieuwenhuise, University of Houston, Houston.
Pioneer Award
Presented to long-standing members who have contributed to the Association and who have made meaningful contributions to the science of geology.
♦ Robert E. Fox, Term Energy, Lexington, Ky.
♦ Paul R. Lamerson, consultant, Lakewood, Colo.
Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award
Presented to honor and reward the author(s) of the best AAPG BULLETIN article published each calendar year.
♦ Andrew C. Aplin and Joe H.S. Macquaker, for “Mudstone Diversity: Origin and Implications for Source, Seal and Reservoir Properties in Petroleum Systems,” which appeared in the December 2011 BULLETIN.
Aplin is with NRG, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, United Kingdom; Macquaker is with ExxonMobil, Spring, Texas.
Robert H. Dott Sr. Memorial Award
Presented to honor and reward the author/editor of the best special publication dealing with geology published by the Association.
♦ Ken McClay, John Shaw and J. Suppe for “AAPG Memior 94: Thrust Fault-Related Folding.”
McClay is with University of London, Surrey, England; and Shaw is with Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
J.C. “Cam” Sproule Memorial Award
Presented to recognize and reward younger authors of papers applicable to petroleum geology.
♦ Peter E.K. Deveugle (co-author), for the AAPG BULLETIN paper “Characterization of Stratigraphic Architecture and Its Impact on Fluid Flow in a Fluvial-Dominated Deltaic Reservoir Analog: Upper Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone Member, Utah.”
♦ Klaas Verwer (co-author), for the AAPG BULLETIN paper “Effect of Pore Structure on Electrical Resistivity in Cabonates.”
Deveugle is with Chevron ETC, Perth, Australia; Verwer is with Statoil ASA, Bergen, Norway.
John W. Shelton Search and Discovery Award
Presented in recognition of the best contribution to the “Search and Discovery” website in the past year.
♦ Anne Grau and Robert Sterling for the paper “Characterization of the Bakken System of the Williston Basin From Pores to Production; The Power of a Source Rock/Unconventional Reservoir Couplet.”
Grau is with Fidelity Exploration Co., Denver, and Sterling is with Cirque Resources, Denver.
George C. Matson Award
Presented to honor and reward the best oral presentation at the 2012 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in Long Beach, Calif.
♦ Jonathan Allen, for the paper “Improved Reservoir Characterization at Kern River Field, California, USA: New Insights Into an Old Field Using 4-D Saturation Modeling.” Allen is with Chevron, Bakersfield, Calif.
Allen’s co-authors are Dave Larue, with Chevron, Newport Beach, Calif.; and Dale Beeson, with Chevron Perth, San Ramon, Calif.
Jules Braunstein Memorial Award
Presented to honor and reward the best poster presentation at the 2012 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in Long Beach, Calif.
♦ Simon Campbell, Stanislaw Mazur, Nicola Henshaw, Ahmed Salem, Adriano Sebastiao, Jane Saweka and Artur Oliveira, for the poster “Kwanza Basin: Sub-Salt Basin Structure and Sediment Thickness from Integrated Analysis of High Resolution Aeromagnetic Data.”
Geosciences in the Media Award
Presented for notable journalistic achievement in any medium, which contributes to public understanding of geology, energy resources or the technology of oil and gas exploration. Granting of this award in any year is discretionary.
♦ Kirk Johnson and Ray Troll for “Cruisin’ The Fossil Freeway – An Epoch Tale of a Scientist and an Artist on the Ultimate 5,000-Mile Paleo Road Trip.” The book, written and illustrated by the pair, describes their 5,000-mile journey throughout the American West.
Johnson is with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver, and Troll is a “fin” artist living in Ketchikan, Alaska.