REGION NEWS
Distinguished Lecturer Tour 2007-08
SASSI
Since October 2006, William Sassi works on software development projects for structural geology at the Glasgow office of Midland Valley Exploration Ltd. He is currently on sabbatical leave from Ifp (French Institute of Petroleum) in Rueil Malmaison, France where he has been working since 1990. After his Ph.D. in Geology, obtained in 1985 at the Orsay Paris Sud University, and after a short but unforgettable time spent at the Observatorio Vesuviano in Napoli, Italy, he joined, in 1986, the Shell Structural Team of Koninklijke/Shell Exploration and Production Laboratory, Rijswijk, The Netherlands. In 2005 he was aware the diploma of “Habilitation a Diriger des Recherches” from the University of Cergy-Pontoise, France. His research centers on mathematical and mechanical modeling applied to interpretation of structural geology. At Ifp, he designed the Thrustpack software for structural validation of seismic sections, a tool which was intensively applied to many petroleum provinces of fold and thrust areas. His current line of research is on the formulation of constitutive models to better quantify both, compaction and fracturing processes of sedimentary rocks. William is a member of the French Geological Society and he joined the AAPG as an associate member in 1996, then he joined the IDL West-European sub-committee in 2003. He became an AAPG active member in 2006 when he took the responsibility of chairing the merged European DL sub-committee.
by William Sassi
In the March 2007 issue of the Newsletter two columns were dedicated to the European sub-committee of the International Distinguish Lecturer Programme. This time we take the opportunity to announce the 2007-08 European Distinguished Lecturers who are: Larry Peterson from Miami University, Florida (USA) and John Walsh, from University College in Dublin (Ireland).
Larry Peterson will speak about the recent history of climate on earth from his studies of the sedimentary records in anoxic basins including the identifications of abrupt changes from high frequency climate information.
John Walsh will give a lecture on normal faults, from the characteristic time scales that prevail to their formation, growth and reactivation to the role they play in trapping or conducting large volume of fluids in the sub-surface.
These two outstanding speakers will promote scientific discussions of high quality and could probably trigger some links to the up-to-date debates around the emissions and the geological sequestration of industrial Carbon dioxide.
For the IDL European Tour of Larry Peterson and John Walsh, the AAPG European region would be grateful to all members who stand in close contact with affiliate societies to communicate their demand to host the DL for fall 2007 or spring 2008. Invitations should be addressed to Barbara Davis (Tulsa) and Steve Veal (London's AAPG office, UK) of the organizing committee of IDL Programme. Check the AAPG Distinguished Lecture Web pages for contacts and information at http://www.aapg.org/education/dist_lect/.