David A. Ferrill is director of the Department of Earth Material and Planetary Sciences at Southwest Research Institute. He received his B.S. degree in geology from Georgia State University in 1984, his M.S. degree in geology from West Virginia University in 1987, and his Ph.D. in geology from the University of Alabama in 1991, and he is a licensed professional geoscientist (geology) in the state of Texas. Dr. Ferrill is a structural geologist with international research experience in contractional, extensional, and strike-slip tectonic regimes, and international oil and gas exploration and production experience. He has analyzed geometric and kinematic folding and faulting processes, curvature of mountain belts, regional tectonics, hydrocarbon trap integrity, and induced hydraulic fracturing in unconventional reservoirs. He has characterized reservoirs and aquifers, and interpreted tectonic stress fields, rock deformation, and fracture mechanisms and has published extensively on these topics. Study areas have included the French Alps, the Appalachians, the Basin and Range Province and Colorado Plateau of the western United States, the Gulf of Mexico, Trinidad, Iceland, offshore Vietnam, offshore Turkey, the Persian Gulf, plus other planetary bodies including Mars and Ganymede. Dr. Ferrill works with staff to develop execute projects for a wide range of clients related to oil and gas exploration and production, groundwater resource analysis, natural hazard assessment, and planetary research. He leads SwRI's Eagle Ford structural geology and geomechanics joint industry project, and performs contract consulting and structural geology training for the oil industry that includes regularly teaching structural geology and geomechanics field seminars. Dr. Ferrill led development of the award winning 3DStress® computer program for interactive analyses of the effects of stresses on faults and fractures, which received an R&D 100 award from R&D Magazine, designating it as one of the world's 100 most significant technical accomplishments. Before joining Southwest Research Institute in 1993, he was an exploration geologist at Shell Offshore Incorporated, and prior to that an assistant professor at Georgia Southern University. He is editorial board member and former editor of Journal of Structural Geology, and current Chairman of Petroleum Structure and Geomechanics Division of American Association of Petroleum Geologists.