Barney’s academic work at the University of Arizona emphasized hard-rock (mineral) geophysics, planetary science, and tectonophysics, so he entered the oil industry with few preconceptions beyond the Wave Equation. In 3+ decades with Chevron, he has witnessed and helped to nurture the emergence of 3D seismic data, depth imaging (first post-stack, then pre-stack), earth modeling, and visualization.
Barney actually does play a geophysicist on TV, appearing in the Chevron “We Agree” ad campaign, as well as representing Chevron (and, by extension, our industry) in interviews with NBC Today, ABC 20/20, PBS Nightly Business Report, CNN, Fox News, NPR All Things Considered, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Houston Chronicle, Contra Costa Times, Newsweek, Forbes, Wired, and MIT Technology Review.