An invitation was sent in November to most of the AAPG members who have not yet joined the Division of Professional Affairs. The response has been very good and thank you to those who have applied to join us.
We believe most of you over the age of 30 are very likely qualified to become a member of the DPA. Joining the DPA means becoming certified in your practice by our certification committee.
As a gift from us to you, now through June 30, 2024, the application fee for joining will be waived.
The DPA was founded in 1968 as the next logical stage in one’s career when a practicing geoscientist advances to be considered a professional among their peers.
DPA dues support education opportunities made available to all AAPG members on topics many of you are already familiar with and enjoy. These include Discovery Thinking, Playmakers, Moneymakers Business Forums, Ethics, Reserves and Resource Estimation and career transitions. Yes, the DPA sponsors these!
The benefit to you is that you are helping us continue to provide educational services to your profession and to expand that effort. You will also become part of an elite network of AAPG leaders who can mentor and guide other DPA members.
Membership in the DPA and your professional certification are open to all petroleum geologists, petroleum geophysicists and coal geologists of good character. This is simplified by canceling the application fee until the end of June 2024!
The application process is very simple. The process just requires a resume and evidence of a geoscience degree, and three current DPA members as your sponsors.
Eligibility conditions are:
- Must be an active AAPG member in good standing.
- Hold a geoscience degree from a recognized institution.
- Eight years of work experience, but can include credit for advanced degrees (master’s counts for one year and a doctorate counts for two)
Please contact us if you need more information or wish assistance in applying. Please send your email inquiry to [email protected].
Thank you for taking the time to consider DPA membership. I look forward to having you join us this year.
Election Results
I would like to congratulate and welcome the addition of Judy Schulenberg and Steve Shirley to the DPA Council. Judy joins us as DPA vice president for the term of 2023-24. Steve joins us as DPA treasurer for the term of 2023-25. They will thus also join the Executive Committee to take on their respective roles.
The Nominating Committee is working diligently to provide for competitive elections for all vacant positions. This work takes time. Elections for DPA councilor positions are currently under way as I write this column. More timely results will be published in the monthly DPA Correlator.
Time for Giving and Receiving Thanks
I am writing to you just after Thanksgiving, and thus I am sincerely thankful for all the volunteers in the DPA who set aside time in their busy days for the DPA and the AAPG, even if it has been just for a couple hours. Some of you – and you know who you are – set aside hours in the evenings, weekends, holidays and within their busy workdays to contribute to keeping the DPA running. I am grateful for all your energy. Thank you!
So, it is an opportune time to announce to the AAPG membership the names of those recognized by the DPA for their significant contributions to the Division, and in turn to the AAPG and the wide community of geoscientists. Some of these recipients were decided upon years ago and, because of the pandemic, we failed to complete the recognition process. So, consider this a catchup from as far back as 2019.
Margo J. Liss is the recipient of the 2021 DPA Life Member Award, the highest and most prestigious award to be given by the DPA.
The DPA Distinguished Service Award are for those who have demonstrated distinguished service for the Division of Professional Affairs. Recipients of this award are:
- Peggy Williams - 2020 DPA Distinguished Service Award
- Jim Hill – 2020 DPA Distinguished Service Award
- Janet Brenizer – 2021 DPA Distinguished Service Award
- Cat Campbell – 2021 DPA Distinguished Service Award
The DPA Heritage Award is awarded to an individual that has excelled in the field of petroleum geology and through their endeavors, has inspired and mentored others in their quest. Recipients of this award are:
- David Wavrek – 2019 DPA Heritage Award was joined this year by another 2019 recipient:
- Flavio Feijo – 2019 DPA Heritage Award
- Charles Sternbach - 2020 DPA Heritage Award
- Chandler Wilhelm - 2023 DPA Heritage Award
The DPA Certificate of Merit is awarded to recognize members for participating in special DPA leadership activities that completed a special service to the members. Recipients of this award are:
- Janet Brenizer – 2020 DPA Certificate of Merit
- Robert Shoup – 2021 DPA Certificate of Merit
- William Houston - 2021 DPA Certificate of Merit
Mike Canich is the recipient of the 2020 DPA Recognition of Distinction Award, which is given for special services to the DPA.
The DPA Past President’s Award Initiated to recognize a year of dedicated, energetic service to the Division by its past presidents, for those who have served unfailingly, to the best of their abilities during their three years of service to the DPA and ensured the smooth transition between terms to the successor president. Recipients of this award are:
- Jim Hill – 2019 DPA Past President’s Award
- Mark Gallagher – 2020 DPA Past President’s Award
- John Jordan - 2021 DPA Past President’s Award
- Meredith Faber - 2022 DPA Past President’s Award
Mike Rains is the recipient of the 2020 DPA President’s Award, which is granted upon the discretion of the DPA president to an individual for recognition of outstanding service to the DPA and AAPG which falls outside of other award categories.
Please make some time to congratulate each of them for their well-earned recognition.
DPA Sponsored Resource and Reserves Forum
The AAPG/SPE Resource and Reserves Forum will be held at the Norris Convention Center in Houston, May 20-23, 2024. It is jointly sponsored by the DPA and the Society of Petroleum Engineers Oil an Gas Reserves Committee.
The tentative Forum schedule is as follows, and bear in mind there could be some changes in the future:
On Monday, there will be an optional short course on “Resource Estimation, the Geologic Perspective,” led by Bob Shoup, international training and consulting manager at Subsurface Consultants and Associates, LLC.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, there will be content covering five themes:
- Theme 1: U.S. and Global Resource Potential
- Theme 2: Unconventional Resource and Reserve Estimation
- Theme 3: Geologic Characterization and Risk Reduction
- Theme 4a: Resource Reporting, A Corporate Perspective
- Theme 4b: Resource Reporting, The Investment Perspective
- Theme 5: Reporting Qualifications and Standards
On Thursday, there will be an optional short course on the “Petroleum Resource Management System (PRMS),” led by John Lee, professor at Texas A&M University.
Plan to keep posted to hear updates on this Forum in the future and to begin to plan to attend.>