AAPG
EXPLORER
EXPLORER
AAPG’s Distinguished Lecture program is reloaded and already off to a fast start for a season that will send speakers around the world, in some cases, to places never before traveled by the program.
One international speaker already has started the 2009-10 season with a successful tour of central Asia that attracted large crowds, but that’s just the start.
This year’s DL program, funded largely by the AAPG Foundation, will feature nine domestic and six international speakers.
The program is the Association’s flagship initiative for spreading the latest in science, technology and professional information.
This year’s roster will offer talks that vary widely in subject content, from such traditional topics as petroleum systems, carbonate platforms and deepwater sedimentary processes to more unusual fare such as paleoclimate change, ethics and human evolution.
Two domestic tours – for Gail Ashley and Harris Cander – begin in September.
Last year’s speakers (both domestic and international) appeared at 107 events, reaching more than 6,300 people.
This year’s program, as in past years, offers speakers from both industry and academia.
It also features the return of the intersociety lecturer focus – the eighth year for the cooperative program that presents an opportunity for cross-discipline lectures.
This year’s AAPG-SEG Intersociety Lecturer is Bruce Hart, director of the Shale, Seal and Pressure Group at ConocoPhillips in Houston Related Story.
Hart is offering two talks:
Hart will tour eastern North America from Nov. 9-20, and western North America from Jan. 25-Feb. 5.
Other specially designated lecturers this year include:
Steve Cumella, geologist with Bill Barrett Corp., in Denver, who is this year’s Haas-Pratt Distinguished Lecturer.
The Haas-Pratt lecture is a domestic tour provided by contributions from the late Merrill W. Haas, in honor of famed geologist (and Haas’ mentor) Wallace Pratt. The funding is granted for a lecture of an applied nature dealing with the exploration and discovery history of a field, or a subject having economic implications.
His lecture will be “Geology of the Giant Continuous Gas Accumulation in the Mesaverde Group, Piceance Basin, Colorado.”
Cumella will tour eastern North America Oct. 26-Nov. 6, and western North America Feb. 22-March 5.
John Howell, professor at the University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, this year’s Allan P. Bennison Distinguished Lecturer.
The Bennison DL is an international lecturer who makes a U.S. tour, funded by contributions from the late Allan Bennison, a long-time Tulsa geologist.
Howell will be offering two talks:
Howell will tour western North America Nov. 30-Dec. 11, and eastern North America Jan. 25-Feb. 5.
Lynn N. Hughes, a U.S. District Court judge serving in Houston, who returns for a second consecutive season as the year’s AAPG Distinguished Lecturer on Ethics.
Hughes will be available by request throughout the season. His lecture topic is “Dilemmas of Trust.”
Ole J. Martinsen, vice president, exploration research, StatoilHydro Research, Bergen, Norway, this year’s Roy M. Huffington lecturer.
The Huffington lecture is an international tour provided by contributions from the Huffington family to honor the late oilman-geologist.
Martinsen will be available for Asia-Pacific tours, offering two talks:
Toni Simo, research associate for ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co., this year’s J. Ben Carsey lecturer.
The Carsey lecture is an annual domestic tour provided by contributions from J. Ben Carsey Jr. of Houston, to establish a named lecturer in memory of his father, who served as AAPG president in 1967-68.
Simo’s talk will be “Isolated Carbonate Platforms and Mounds (ICPM): Initiation, Growth and Demise.”
He will tour western North America Jan. 11-22, and eastern North America Feb. 15-26.
Frans S. Van Buchem, lead geologist for Maersk Oil Qatar, this year’s Dean A. McGee lecturer.
The McGee tour, provided through a gift from Kerr-McGee Corp., features a North American lecturer speaking to an international audience on a topic directly applicable to petroleum geology. The endowment was made to honor the company’s founder, who was also a Sidney Powers medalist.
Buchem will offer two talks:
He is available to the Middle East Region.
This year’s list of domestic Distinguished Lecturers also includes:
Gail Ashley, geological sciences professor at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
Her first tour, of western North America, is Sept. 28-Oct. 7. She’ll tour eastern North America March 1-5.
She’ll offer two talks:
Harris Cander, exploration and technology group, BP America, Houston.
He will make four tours this season, visiting western North America Sept. 21-26 and April 12-17, and eastern North America Oct. 12-16 and March 29-April 2.
His talk is “Granite to Grass Roots: Understanding the Geologic History of Unconventional Resource Basins from Bottom to Top.”
Martin Perimutter, team leader and research scientist, Chevron, Houston.
He will tour western North America Oct. 26-Nov. 6, and eastern North America April 5-16.
He offers two talks:
Guy Plint, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
He will tour eastern North America Feb. 8-12, and western North America April 5-10.
He will offer two talks:
This year’s list of international Distinguished Lecturers also includes:
Christian J. Heine, senior geological consultant, upstream ventures, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Heine is available for central Asia and European Region lectures, offering two talks:
Dale R. Issler, research scientist, Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary, Canada.
Issler is available for Asia-Pacific tours, offering two talks:
John G. Kaldi, professor, Australian School of Petroleum, University of Adelaide, Australia, continues his season on the international DL roster, and is available for European Region talks.
He offers five talks:
Kenneth E. Peters, business development manager-integrated services for exploration, Schlumberger, Mill Valley, Calif., and consulting professor, Stanford University.
Peters will be available for European Region tours, offering two talks:
