40 will be honored in Denver

Downey Tops AAPG Awards List

By SUSIE MOORE
Communications Project Specialist

Marlan W. Downey, a celebrated leader in the profession and the industry who has influenced generations of explorationists with his precision, successful administrative skills and creative vision of possibilities, leads the list of those who will receive AAPG honors and awards in Denver.

Downey, currently founder and CEO of Roxanna Oil, is the recipient of the Sidney Powers Award, the Association’s highest honor.

It’s the latest in a long line of honors given to Downey, who had led two major international oil companies, served as an administrator and professor in academe and is an AAPG past president.

Downey heads the list of 40 awardees who will be honored at the opening session.

The ceremony is part of the meeting’s opening session, which officially will begin at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 7, in the Colorado Convention Center’s Four Seasons Ballroom.

The session will include pre-show entertainment and music that begins at 3:30 p.m., featuring the award-winning Rocky Mountain Children’s Choir. The program also will feature welcoming remarks from General Chairman Randy Ray; the presidential address from Scott Tinker; and remarks from Downey.

AAPG awards, nominated by the Advisory Council and approved by the Executive Committee, are presented annually to recognize individuals for service to the profession, the science, the Association and the public. Also being recognized will be two award winners from the House of Delegates.

Joining Downey at the top of the awardees list is M. Ray Thomasson, with Thomasson Partner Associates in Denver and AAPG past president, who is this year’s recipient of the Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award – AAPG’s second highest honor.

Full biographies and citations of all award winners will be included in a future BULLETIN.

Those award winners who will be honored along with Downey and Thomasson in Denver 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.

Elizabeth B. Campen, Campen Consultants, Billings, Mont.
John G. Kaldi, Australian School of Petroleum, Adelaide, Australia.
J. Michael Party, Wagner & Brown, Midland, Texas.
Peter A. Ziegler, Petroleum Exploration Consulting Services, Binningen, Switzerland.

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.

Michael S. Johnson, consultant, Denver, honored for his achievement in originating the concept that led to the Parshall Field discovery in North Dakota – and opening the current much publicized and highly successful Bakken Shale play.

Robert R. Berg Outstanding Research Award

AAPG’s newest award, presented to honor a singular achievement in petroleum geoscience research.

Bradford E. Prather, Shell International, Houston, honored for his work in deepwater siliciclastic systems, furthering our understanding of slope and base of slope systems.

Distinguished Service Award

Presented to those who have distinguished themselves in singular and beneficial long-term service to AAPG.

Alistair R. Brown, consultant, Allen, Texas.
Larry L. Jones, Spartan Petroleum, Houston.
Mike J. Lakin, Envoi, London, England.
Dalton F. Lockman, Plains Exploration & Production, Bakersfield, Calif.
Kenneth M. Mallon, consultant, Houston.
Randi S. Martinsen, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo.
Robert C. Mummery, Almandine Resources, Calgary, Canada.
John E. Ritter, Occidental Petroleum, Houston.
Stephen L. Shaw, Firstview Resources, Midland, Texas.
Jack H. West, consultant, Bakersfield, Calif.

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.

J. Frederick Read, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Va.
Finn Surlyk, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Special Award

Presented to individuals and organizations whose area of work may not qualify for one of the existing awards, but is worthy of Association recognition.

Alexei E. Kontorovich, Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Novosibirsk, Russia. One of the most influential, honored and recognized geologists living in Russia, Kontorovich has had a profound impact on the mapping and assessment of oil and gas reserves in most Russian basins.
Akif Ali Narimanov, Baku, Azerbaijan.

Public Service Award

Presented to recognize contributions of AAPG members to public affairs – and intended to encourage such activities.

Owen R. Hopkins, Suemar Exploration, Corpus Christi, Texas, for promoting geosciences in the public and at schools, including his efforts to have a U.S. Geological Survey Time and Terrain Map of the United States mounted prominently in south Texas schools.

Pioneer Award

Presented to long-standing members who have contributed to the Association and who have made meaningful contributions to the science of geology.

James D. Lowell, consultant, Denver. A 52-year member of AAPG, Lowell has specialized as an expert in structural geology on domestic and international projects that include the North Sea, South America, Southeast Asia, Trinidad, Somalia, the Middle East, Europe and Alaska.

Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award

Presented to honor and reward the author(s) of the best AAPG BULLETIN article published each calendar year.

Joe Cartwright, Mads Huuse and Andrew Aplin, for “Seal Bypass Systems,” which appeared in the August 2007 BULLETIN. Cartwright and Huuse are with 3DLab, School of Earth, Ocean and Planetary Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom, and Aplin is with NRG, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, United Kingdom.

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.

Tor H. Nilsen, Roger D. Shew, Gary S. Steffens and Joseph R.J. Studlick, for Studies 56, Atlas of Deepwater Outcrops. The late Tor Nilsen was a consultant, former U.S. Geological Survey geologist and a legendary instructor for AAPG; Shew is with the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and consulting geologist, Wilmington, N.C.; Steffens is with Shell International E&P Inc., Houston; and Studlick is with Maersk Oil America Inc., Houston.

J.C. “Cam” Sproule Memorial Award

Presented to recognize and reward younger authors of papers applicable to petroleum geology.

David R. Pyles, for the paper “Multiscale Stratigraphic Analysis of a Structurally Confined Submarine Fan: Carboniferous Ross Sandstone, Ireland.” Pyles is with the Chevron Center of Research Excellence, Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo.

George C. Matson Award

Presented to honor and reward the best oral presentation at the AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in San Antonio.

Mark Knackstedt, for the paper “Carbonate Petrophysical Parameters Derived from 3-D Images.” Knackstedt is with the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

Knackstedt’s co-authors are Mahyar Madadi, Christoph Arns, Gregor Baechle, Gregor Eberli and Ralf Weger.

Jules Braunstein Memorial Award

Presented to honor and reward the best poster presentation at the 2008 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in San Antonio.

Tim Dooley, Michael Hudec and Martin Jackson, for the poster “Dismembered Sutures Formed During Asymmetric Salt-Sheet Collision.” All are with Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin.

Gabriel Dengo Memorial Award

Presented to honor and reward the best international paper at the 2008 AAPG International Convention and Exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa.

Charles Kerans, for the paper “Carbonate Grainstone Geobody Occurrence and Organizations.” Kerans is with the Department of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin.

Ziad Beydoun Memorial Award

Presented to honor and reward the best international poster presentation at the 2008 AAPG International Convention and Exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa.

George Pemberton for the poster “The Role of Bioturbation in Low Permeability Gas-Charged Reservoirs.”

His co-authors are Murray Gingras and James MacEachern.

Pemberton and Gingras are with the University of Alberta’s department of earth and atmospheric sciences, Edmonton, Canada, and MacEachern is with the earth sciences department at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada.

Pemberton was a 2008 AAPG Grover E. Murray Memorial Distinguished Educator award winner.

House of Delegates Honorary Member Award

Presented “in recognition of a record of consistent, dedicated, and exemplary service to the HoD through committee work and officer service.”

Terry L. Hollrah, Hollrah Exploration Co., Oklahoma City.

House of Delegates Distinguished Member Award

Presented to those who have distinguished themselves in singular and beneficial long-term service to the House of Delegates.

Susan M. Landon, independent, Golden, Colo.