Officers
Direction of Our Science
As soon as the elections concluded in Long Beach, my two predecessors (David Cook and Patrick Gooding) in this position offered materials and advice to help smooth my position. It is gratifying to work in an organization with such enthusiastic volunteers, and my thanks to you both. My challenge now is to uphold the standards that have been set and continue to improve the relevance of The Delegates’ Voice. As Dave Cook wrote last year, contributions are welcome from the membership-at-large. This is your newsletter. Your editorial team for 2012-2013 includes Sarah Stanley, Gretchen Gillis and me. We look forward to hearing from you.
The Leadership Days 2012 meeting was held in Tulsa in August. AAPG President Ted Beaumont chose four technical topics for this year’s workshops: Fostering Scientific Breakthroughs, led by Steve Laubach; Pore Systems in Fine-Grained Rocks, led by Andrea Reynolds; Reducing Risk Using Seismic Attributes, led by Deborah Sacrey; and Economics of Resource Plays, led by Richard Nehring. Some of the results of the workshops are presented below.
HoD Leadership and Representatives at Leadership Days: (from left)Seated: Karen Glaser, Randy Ray and Larry Wickstrom. Standing: Margaret Anne Rogers, Dave Entzminger, Steve Goolsby, David Hawk, and Laura Zahm.
The team addressing Scientific Breakthroughs had four discussion points that involved looking at what AAPG does well now and how to involve more people. Action items included setting up integrated focus groups between our divisions and technical committees and running more topic-focused events such as Hedbergs, GTWs and similar events. They recommended fostering more information exchange between industry and research leaders, and concluded with a discussion of what role AAPG might play in funding research.
The Pore Systems in Fine-Grained Rocks topic was addressed by first describing the state of the science. The team then developed a list of potential products or programs that AAPG might consider, which included current offerings like Hedberg conferences, but also included a rock catalog to serve as a depository for industry data for fine-rocks. The group concluded with a list of action items with some members volunteering to follow up.
The report from the Delineating Prospects Using Seismic Attributes team discussed the evolution in the use of seismic attributes by geologists, and how today most students and young professional geologists use seismic data routinely in their work. Further discussion included how to obtain better quality surface seismic data without excessive cost, and the development of new AAPG offerings, such as training and webinars, to help geologists take advantage of new seismic applications as they emerge.
The discussions on the Economics of Resource Plays fell into three areas: the state of the science, how AAPG can advance the science, and product and service ideas that AAPG could develop. It was pointed out that the methodologies behind calculating the economics are well established, but poorly understood outside of a small community of experts. Action items included better educating our industry and the public through meetings, intersociety cooperation, and inclusion of reserves sessions at ACE and ICE meetings.
The workshop topics were chosen to focus on the technical needs of AAPG membership. Much of the discussion focused on topics that are not only being actively developed in North America today but are expanding rapidly worldwide. Standards and common ground for comparisons and discussion will be critical to our global membership for the foreseeable future.