"I have always sought opportunity to share my industry experience with students of higher institutions and the AAPG Visiting Geology (VG) Program provided that platform. My experience as a VG thus far has been both exciting and rewarding. Late last year, I visited the University of Calabar and spent some four hours interacting with undergrads and post-graduates students of geology. The session was fun, educative, and was highly appreciated by both the students and members of staff. At the end of the lecture session, a section of staff opted to take me around the city of Calabar. We eventually stopped by a local restaurant where I was treated to a sumptuous dinner of indigenous delicacies – epic experience.

In January, 2016, I visited with University of Port Harcourt and what a home-coming it was. University of Port Harcourt is my Alma Mater so I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity to contribute to making the learning experience of current students even better. The departmental head was very supportive of the programme. I believe he was more so, as it was a former student that visited. We spent some time in his office catching up on old times and the radical changes that had followed. Also, the school authority was informed of my visit and conducted an interview with me which was published in their quarterly news bulletin for Q1, 2016.

In all, the VG experience has expanded my network – I currently know far more students and lecturers today – and improved my professional development. It has also provided me a platform to contribute to society in a very meaningful way. I'm truly looking forward to more visits in the coming months and years!" – Chima Chikezie (Shell, Nigeria)

So far in the Africa Region, Visiting Geoscientist (VG) lectures and workshops have been well received, with some VGs adding to the richness of their DL tours by including class exercise sessions on subsurface mapping map and sedimentary log interpretation. This year, VG tours have been held in universities in Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt.

In Egypt, VG tours are mostly held via the gracious support of Apache Corporation which hosts between 20-30 students from several universities at a time at their office complex in Cairo. AAPG Africa Region has been working towards improving the reach and coverage of the program for the benefit of the geoscience student bodies across the continent. Globally, more than 200 colleges and universities have participated in the program which continues to grow through the interest and efforts of AAPG and the geoscience industry. The program is fully funded through the generosity of the Visiting Geoscientists, their companies, the AAPG Foundation and the AAPG.

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