Candidates for AAPG office have been given the opportunity to respond briefly to the subject: "Why I Accepted the Invitation to be a Candidate for an AAPG Office."
Their responses and biographical information were provided by each candidate and edited only for grammar, spelling and format.
This information will also be provided as hard-copy in the January issue of the EXPLORER and available on the AAPG Web site through the election period. Ballots will be mailed, online in the first quarter of 2013. Results will be posted mid-May 2013.
Candidates were asked to limit their biographies to 350 words and responses to 500 words.
2012-13 President-Elect Candidate
Randi S. Martinsen Learn about Randi S. Martinsen
University of Wyoming - Laramie, Wyo.
Why I Accepted the Invitation to be a Candidate for an AAPG Office ...
We have the greatest jobs in the world! We are treasure hunters searching for the treasure that runs this world and provides us with an ever-improving standard of living.
My career prospects as a student were limited. My father, a banker, was aghast that I “studied stones.” “Couldn’t I study something more useful… like accounting?” One professor who was especially impressed with my budding geoscience talents suggested I become a Jacob Staff because of my five-foot eye height. But another professor, a treasure hunter for petroleum himself, shared stories of the hunt and set me on my path. He helped me discover something so addictive and satisfying that it guided my career for the past 40+ years. This professor inspired in me the goal of finding oil and gas, but AAPG and my colleagues showed me the skills I needed to fulfill this quest.
I want to be president of AAPG because applied geoscience is fundamentally important to society and AAPG is critically important to the advancement and distribution of applied geoscience. I want AAPG to continue to foster and educate young geoscientists so that our global societies can prosper and young people around the world can have the fulfilling experience I have had. This is a scientifically exciting time in the petroleum industry and high-quality continuing education is vital to maintaining our highly competent workforce. I believe AAPG’s number one function is to be the go-to-place for innovative technical information via publications, conferences and other continuing education activities, and most importantly, through the mentorship that abounds within AAPG. It is important that we “old geezers” mentor the next generation and share with them our scientific and treasure-hunting skills. I want to work toward providing young geoscientists everywhere with the opportunities I had. I believe AAPG will prosper from the infusion of a global population of younger geocientists while preserving our heritage “by standing on the shoulders of giants” who preceeded us. Successfully integrating our domestic U.S. heritage with our future global opportunities is critical to AAPG’s Big Audacious Goal of being “indispensable to all professionls in the energy-related geosciences worlwide.”
I’m also very proud of being a petroleum geoscientist and I want to promote awareness of our highly technical profession as well as our crucial role in providing the energy that fosters society’s well being. The public needs to better understand our energy problems/choices and the associated benefits/costs of various energy policy options. AAPG must play a stronger role in helping educate the public in these areas. AAPG also has a role to play ensuring that obtaining our global energy needs are met in an environmentally sustainable manner.
AAPG has been such an important “gift” to my education and my career as a professional petroleum geologist that I am compelled to continue volunteering my time and effort to enhance AAPG’s role in advancing the science and developing the careers of others. Simply put, I’m obliged and privileged for the opportunity to “pay it forward.”
About Randi S. Martinsen ...
Senior lecturer petroleum geology, University of Wyoming
Principal, HydrocarbonInSight, Laramie, Wyo.
Wyoming Certified Professional Geologist
Born 1950, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Academic Degrees
1975
M.S., geology, Northern Arizona University
1971
B.S., earth and space science, State University N.Y.-Stony Brook
Experience
1981-present
University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo.
1979-present
Consulting geologist, Laramie, Wyo.
1974-79
Geologist, Cities Service Co., Denver
AAPG Activities
Joined AAPG 1973
Member DPA
2011-present
Public Outreach Committee, co-chair
2010-present
AAPG Search & Discovery editorial board
2009-present
AAPG 100th Anniversary Committee
2004-present
HoD delegate
2002-present
Chair, Rocky Mountain Rendezvous of Geoscience Students and Employers (RMR) job fair
1993-present
University of Wyoming Student Chapter sponsor
2011
Imperial Barrel Award team adviser
2009-11
AAPG/SEG Geo Integration Ad Hoc Committee
2008-11
Group Insurance Committee
2008-09
Petroleum Technology Transfer Council board
2006-09
Professional Women in Earth Sciences Committee
2006-08
AAPG treasurer; Investment, Audit Review, Budget Review, Finance and Insurance committees
2005-08
Student Expo Committee
2007
Imperial Barrel Award team adviser
2005-06
Associate editor
2002-03
Geo Tours Ad Hoc Committee
2002
General chair, Rocky Mountain Section annual meeting
2001
AAPG ACE, technical sessions chair
1998-2001
Associate Editor
1987-99
Membership Committee
1997-98
Distinguished Lecture Committee
1994-95
Member National Research Council Panel on the Review of the Oil Demonstration Program of the DOE
1980-83
Publications Committee
1977-80
Public Outreach Committee
AAPG Honors and Awards
2009
Distinguished Service Award
2006
Certificate of Merit
2001
Certificate of Merit
1979
A.I. Levorsen Memorial Award, Rocky Mountain Section
Publications
Over 25 peer reviewed publications and presentations on critical controls on hydrocarbon accumulations including depositional system analysis, sequence stratigraphy, tectonics & sedimentation, anomalous pressures, tight gas sandstones, plus numerous short course notes and field trip guides.
- 2003, Depositional remnants, Part 1: Common components of the stratigraphic record with important implications for hydrocarbon exploration and production - AAPG Bulletin
- 2003, Depositional remnants, Part 2: Examples from the Western Interior Cretaceous basin of North America - AAPG Bulletin
- 1997, Stratigraphic Controls on the Development and Distribution of Fluid Pressure Compartments - AAPG Memoir 67
- 1995, Stratigraphic Compartmentalization of Reservoir Sandstones: Examples from the Muddy Sandstone Power River Basin, Wyoming and Montana, AAPG Memoir 61
AAPG President-Elect Responsibilities as defined by AAPG Bylaws, Article II, Section 5.
The President-Elect shall serve for one (1) year as such and in the following year shall assume the office of President. The President-Elect shall have no administrative authority except as a member of the Executive Committee; shall become acquainted with all the details of the office of President, and generally become prepared to serve as President. The President-Elect shall be responsible for the preparation of the budget for the ensuing fiscal year for approval by the Executive Committee.