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Candidate for Editor (2022-25)

Matthew Pranter

Victor E. Monnett Endowed Chair in Energy Resources, Professor of Geosciences

University of Oklahoma

Meet the Candidate
Acceptance Statement

A Conversation with AAPG Editor Candidates Matt Pranter and John Breyer

Join AAPG Executive Director David Curtiss for a roundtable discussion with elected editor candidates John Breyer and Matt Pranter about challenges and priorities in geoscience publishing, emerging trends in the publishing technology, AAPG’s relevance in today’s fast-changing energy arena, and much more.

I am honored to be a candidate for AAPG editor, and I thank those involved in the nomination and selection process. As a 35-year member, I have greatly benefited from AAPG and have enjoyed participating in and contributing to a range of AAPG activities. I have attended and presented at conferences and regional meetings, published in the AAPG Bulletin, Explorer, and Memoirs, instructed and participated in short courses and field trips, served on AAPG committees and networked with colleagues. I accepted the invitation to be a candidate for editor because it would be a privilege to give back to the organization that has served me enormously throughout my career.

Professional service is important, especially during this time of change and challenges within our industry. The editor’s responsibility is to ensure that a variety of sound science and related information is documented, shared and preserved. The AAPG Bulletin and special publications provide avenues to showcase our high level of research, professional integrity and standards. At this point in my career I have the experience and greater flexibility and support to take on the significant role of editor. With a possible merger between AAPG and SPE, this is an important time to be part of the leadership that will potentially guide and impact the structure and direction of a combined organization, especially regarding publications.

My diverse experience in both industry and academia has prepared me for the important responsibilities of editor. I experienced the practical aspects of the ever-changing petroleum industry as a geologist with Conoco and as a senior research geologist with ExxonMobil. As a geology professor for the past 21 years at the University of Oklahoma and previously with the University of Colorado, Boulder, both R1 research universities, I regularly collaborate with multiple disciplines in academia and industry, and believe these relationships are important as our organization expands into new aspects of energy.

As a professor, I enjoy conducting research and instructing undergraduate and graduate courses in petroleum geology and geophysics, sedimentology and stratigraphy, and reservoir characterization and modeling. I also instruct professional short courses in petroleum reservoir characterization and modeling. I have directly supervised more than 50 graduate students and have mentored numerous undergraduate students. A significant and rewarding aspect of my responsibilities is mentoring geoscience students in technical writing and preparation of manuscripts that effectively document our research and are at a level to be considered for publication in peer-reviewed journals, such as the AAPG Bulletin.

I have benefited significantly by serving and contributing to AAPG and other professional organizations. Related to publications, I have served as senior associate editor and associate editor for the AAPG Bulletin multiple times; reviewer for the AAPG Bulletin, Interpretation, Marine and Petroleum Geology and several other peer-reviewed journals; and served as co-editor for AAPG Memoir 122, Mississippian Reservoirs of the Mid-Continent.

It would be a tremendous privilege to serve AAPG as editor and to represent and contribute to our organization in this way.

Career
AAPG Activity
Publications

Academic Degrees

1999 – Ph.D., Geology, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo.
1989 – M.S., Geology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
1996 – B.S., Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo.
1987 – B.S., Geology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Okla.

Experience

2013-Present – Victor E. Monnett Endowed Chair in Energy Resources and Professor of Geosciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla.
2001-13 – Assistant and Associate Professor of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.
1999-2001 – Senior Research Geologist, ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co., Houston
1989-94 – Geologist-Geophysicist, Conoco, Midland, Texas

AAPG Activities

Joined AAPG 1986
2021-present – AAPG Bulletin, Senior Associate Editor
2021 – Session Co-Chair, SEG-AAPG IMAGE
2017 – Short Course Instructor, AAPG Mid-Continent Section Meeting
2017-19 – Short Course Instructor, AAPG Student Expo
2016-17 – Short Course Co-Instructor, AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition
2015-19 – Co-Editor, AAPG Memoir 122, “Mississippian Geology of the U.S. Midcontinent”
2007-09 – Session Co-Chair, AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition
2005 – Short Course Instructor, AAPG Eastern Section Meeting
2004-07 – AAPG Reservoir Development Committee
2004-05 – Vice Chair, AAPG Future of Earth Scientists Committee
2004; ’10; ’15; ’17 – Short Course Instructor, AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition
2001-05 – AAPG Distinguished Lecture Committee
2000-03; ’09-16; ’21 – AAPG Bulletin, Associate Editor
2000-present – AAPG Bulletin Reviewer
1999-2002 – AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid Committee

AAPG Honors & Awards

2021 – Co-Recipient, Best Student Paper Award, AAPG Mid-Continent Section Meeting
2019 – President’s Certificate for Excellence in Poster Presentation, AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition
2017 – Co-Recipient, Award of Excellence “Top 10” Poster Presentation, AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition
2017 – Co-Recipient, Roger N. Planalp Memorial Award, Best Poster, AAPG Mid-Continent Section Meeting
2012 – Co-Recipient, Steve Champlin Memorial Award, Best Poster, AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Meeting
2011 – Co-Recipient, SEPM Excellent Poster Presentation, AAPG-SEPM Annual Convention
2008 – Co-Recipient, A. I. Levorsen Memorial Award, Best Paper, AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Meeting
2006 – Co-Recipient, Steve Champlin Memorial Award, Best Poster, AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Meeting
2004 – Co-Recipient, John Runge Award, Best Student Paper, AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Meeting
1989 – 3rd Place, Student Paper Competition, AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition

More than 40 published articles and book chapters
More than 100 published abstracts for technical presentations
Numerous short-course notes and field-trip guidebooks
Selected peer-reviewed journal articles
2021 – Duarte, D., Benmadi, M., Elmore, R.D., Pranter, M.J., Slatt, R., “Diagenetic Controls on Reservoir Quality of a Mixed Carbonate-Siliciclastic System: Sycamore Formation, Sho-Vel-Tum Field, Oklahoma, USA,” Marine and Petroleum Geology, 134, 105375.
2021 – Miller, M., Pranter, M.J., Devegowda, D., Gupta, I., Marfurt, K.J., Sondergeld, C.H., Rai, C.S., McLain, C., Larese, R., Packwood, J., “Mississippian Meramec Lithologies and Petrophysical Property Variability, Stack Trend, Anadarko Basin, Oklahoma,” Interpretation, vol. 9, no. 2, p. SE1–SE21.
2020 – Tellez, J.J., Pranter, M.J., Cole, R.D., “Fluvial Architecture and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Burro Canyon Formation, Southwestern Piceance Basin, Colorado,” Interpretation, vol. 8, no. 4, p. T1037–T1055.
2019 – Turnini, A.M., Pranter, M.J., Marfurt, K.J., “Mississippian Limestone and Chert Reservoirs, Tonkawa Field, North-Central Oklahoma,” “Mississippian Reservoirs of the Midcontinent: AAPG Memoir 122,” p. 489–511.
2018 – Clark, S.A., M.J. Pranter, Z.A. Reza, R.D. Cole, “Fluvial Architecture of the Burro Canyon Formation Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-Based Photogrammetry and Outcrop-Based Modeling: Implications for Reservoir Performance, Escalante Canyon, Southwestern Piceance Basin, Colorado,” Interpretation, vol. 6, no. 4, p. T1117-1139.
2018 – Wethington, N., and Pranter, M.J., “Stratigraphic Architecture of the Mississippian Limestone Through Integrated Electrofacies Classification, Hardtner Field Area, Kansas and Oklahoma,” Interpretation, vol. 6, no. 4, p. T1095-T1115.
2016 – Allen, D.B., and Pranter, M.J., “Geologically Constrained Electrofacies Classification of Fluvial Deposits: An Example from the Cretaceous Mesaverde Group, Uinta and Piceance Basins,” AAPG Bulletin, vol. 100, no. 12, p. 1775-1801.
2016 – El Attar, A., and Pranter, M.J., “Regional Stratigraphy, Elemental Chemostratigraphy, and Organic Richness of the Niobrara Member of the Mancos Shale, Piceance Basin, Colorado,” AAPG Bulletin, v. 100, no. 3, p. 345–377.
2015 – Keeton, G.I., Pranter. M.J., Gustason, E.R. (Gus), Cole, R.D., “Stratigraphic Architecture of Fluvial Deposits from Borehole Images, Spectral-Gamma-Ray Response, and Outcrop Analogs, Piceance Basin, Colorado,” AAPG Bulletin, v. 99, no. 10, p. 1929-1956.
2011 – Pranter, M.J., and N.K. Sommer, “Static Connectivity of Fluvial Sandstones in a Lower Coastal-Plain Setting: An Example from the Upper Cretaceous Lower Williams Fork Formation, Piceance Basin, Colorado,” AAPG Bulletin, vol. 95, p. 899-923.
2009 – Pranter, M.J., Cole, R.D., H. Panjaitan, Sommer, N.K., “Sandstone-Body Dimensions in a Lower Coastal-Plain Depositional Setting: Lower Williams Fork Formation, Coal Canyon, Piceance Basin, Colorado, U.S.A.,” AAPG Bulletin, vol. 93, p. 1379-1401.
2007 – Pranter, M.J., Ellison, A.I., Cole, R.D., Patterson, P.E., “Modeling and Analysis of Intermediate-Scale Reservoir Heterogeneity Based on a Fluvial Point-Bar Outcrop Analog, Williams Fork Formation, Piceance Basin, Colorado, USA,” AAPG Bulletin, vol. 91, p. 1025-1051.

Other Candidate

John A. Breyer

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.