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Candidate for President-Elect (2025-26)

Elvira Gomez Hernandez

Senior Geologist Team Lead

CNOOC International, Bogotá, Colombia

Meet the Candidate
Acceptance Statement

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I accepted the invitation to be a vice president- Regions candidate because I see that there is a special era ahead for AAPG, and I would like to be part of it. I want to help lead the transition of AAPG into a modern, progressive and vibrant association player amid the changes the energy industry is undergoing on a global scale.

International membership has been growing steadily during the past few years, accounting for over 45 percent of total members in 2020, with 55 percent of that being students and young professionals who are the future of geoscience and the Association. For this reason, this office is evermore so important and entirely relevant, thus the positive impact that can be achieved is truly exciting.

I am passionate about holding office because to take part in this role is to serve others and create a constructive influence through taking action, motivating, mentoring, inspiring and aligning disparate visions to achieve our common goal: To advance the geosciences from service to career's members. Serving as Regions vice president would provide the opportunity to employ my strengths and to lead by example. Having benefitted personally from all that AAPG offers, I would like to have the opportunity to give back to the Association and to the AAPG community.

I have spent the past four years as part of the leadership team of the Latin America and Caribbean Region; a very young, vibrant, groundbreaking, and energetic Region. I am not quite sure if I could say exactly that the recent challenging times have tested all of us in our resilience, but something that I can say for sure is that we have learned a lot about reimagining the way we do things. Leading the LAC region with an upbeat and responsive attitude during this COVID-19 pandemic pushed me to adapt quickly, think creatively and build consensus on how we should take our approach as a region. Launching the Tuesday Talks LACR VGP webinar series, DL LACR Virtual Series, Virtual Executive Forums on Energy and the AAPG LACR Virtual Research Symposia, a series of technical conferences highlighting basins throughout the region, allowed the Region to be pertinent and thoughtful about any geoscientist that sought to develop their career during this tough time and at the same time generate the revenue to sustain the educational programs. The Association should always serve all the members as such.

For me, it is important to talk about the energy industry because consolidation of the sector is under way. Expanding AAPG’s reach beyond the oil and gas sector is imperative – we are part of the energy sector, one of the most important in the sustainable development goals, and our members are recognizing this value and therefore are moving toward it. The Association should be evolving with its members and providing support and resources.

Finally, I would like to conclude by emphasizing that the Association is each one of us, members, leadership and staff; a big family with the same objective, to grow together.

Career
AAPG Activity
Publications

Academic Degrees

2019 – MSc., Geophysics, National University of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
2000 – BSc., Geology, National University of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

Experience

2016-Present – Senior Geologist Team Lead, CNOOC International, Bogotá, Colombia.
2010-16 – Senior Geologist, Nexen Petroleum Colombia Limited, Bogotá, Colombia.
2003-10 – Geologist, Nexen Petroleum Colombia Limited, Bogotá, Colombia.
2002 – Development Geologist, Secondee, Nexen Petroleum Colombia Limited, Bogotá, Colombia.
2001-02 – Junior Geologist, Canadian Petroleum Colombia Limited, Bogota, Colombia.
2000 – Field Geologist, Geominesa, Colombia.

AAPG Activities

2021 – AAPG ACE Technical Session Co-Chair (Denver).
2021 – Energy Opportunities Virtual Experiences, Executive Committee.
2021 – General Co-Chair, Exploration & Development in Southern Caribbean Frontier Basins – Bogotá, Colombia.
2020-21 – AAPG Women’s Network SIG.
2019-21 – President, Latin America and Caribbean Region.
2019-21 – International Regions Committee.
2019-21 – Sustainable Development Committee.
2020 – AAPG Latin America and Caribbean Region Virtual Research Symposia Steering Committee.
2019-20 – AAPG Advisory Council (LACR Alternate Advisory Councilor).
2019-20 – AAPG Visiting Geoscientist Program SIG.
2019 – AAPG International Conference and Exhibition Committee (Buenos Aires, Argentina).
2019 – Convener, Unlocking Mexico's Offshore Potential Geosciences Technology Workshop, Mexico City, Mexico.
2018-2021 – Education Awards Committee.
2018-20 – Latin American and Caribbean Region Student & YP Chapter Leadership Summit Committee.
2018-19 – President-Elect, Latin America and Caribbean Region.
2018-19 – International Regions Committee.
2018 – Latin America and Caribbean Region Energy Opportunities Conference Committee, Cartagena, Colombia.
2018 – General Co-Chair, Optimizing Exploration and Development in Thrust Belts and Foreland Basins Geosciences Technology Workshop, Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
2016-18 – AAPG House of Delegates.

AAPG Honors & Awards

2008 – Best Poster for Unconventional Category, AAPG-SEG Conventional and Unconventional Hydrocarbon Resources International Congress, Colombia.
2006 – Co-author commendation, Gabriel Dengo Memorial Award for Best International Paper, AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Perth, Australia.

2014 – Gomez, E.P., De Armas, J. and Escobar, C., Is There a Potentiality in the Turonian Source Rocks of the Eastern Cordillera Basin to Name Them Unconventional Reservoir? How Can It Be Assessed? AAPG GTW Colombia – Expanding Unconventional Resources, Bogota, Colombia.
2008 – Gomez, E.P., De Armas, J., Guerrero, J. and Leyva, I., Reservoir Assessment of an Underexplored Distal Foreland Basin, Llanos Basin, Colombia, EGG Nexen Forum, Canmore, Canada.
2006 – Gomez, E.P., De Armas, J. & Leckie, D., Exploration of Non-Conventional Fractured Reservoirs for Caballos Formation, Girardot Subbasin, Upper Magdalena Basin, Colombia, EGG Nexen Forum, Kananaskis, Canada.

Other Candidate

John Casiano

General Info

Candidates for AAPG office have been given the opportunity to respond briefly to the subject: "Why I Accepted the Invitation to be a Candidate for an AAPG Office."

Their responses and biographical information were provided by each candidate and edited only for grammar, spelling and format.

This information will also be provided as hard-copy in an early issue of the EXPLORER and available on the AAPG website through the election period. Ballots will be mailed, online in the first quarter of each year. Results will be posted mid-May.

Candidates were asked to limit their biographies to 350 words and responses to 500 words.