Edward B. Picou Jr. is a consultant biostratigrapher in New Orleans.
A native of Baton Rouge, La., he received his bachelor’s degree in geology from Louisiana State University in 1955 and served two years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Korea.
Picou began his career with Shell Oil in 1957 in its South Louisiana exploration division in Baton Rouge. In 1965 he became division paleontologist of its Southwest Louisiana exploration division in Lafayette and moved to Houston in 1969 as Houston exploration division paleontologist.
In mid-1969 he was appointed division paleontologist for Shell Offshore’s exploration division in New Orleans -- a position he held until 1989, when he was promoted to exploration consultant.
He retired from Shell in 1991 after more then 34 years of service, most of which focused on exploration and production activities in the Gulf of Mexico. He has been active as a consulting biostratigrapher since leaving Shell.
A member of AAPG since 1955, he has served on the Stratigraphic Correlation Committee (COSUNA) from 1976-1982, Committee on Conventions in 1984-1985, the Convention Coordinating Committee in 1975-1976 and 1984-1985 for annual meetings held in New Orleans.
He was a member of the AAPG House of Delegates in 1980-1983 and 1991-1994, and was recently elected to serve another term for 1999-2002. In 1993-1994 he was chairman of the House’s Rules and Procedures Committee.
In 1979-1980 he served the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) as vice president, after having been president of their Gulf Coast Section in 1973-1974, and president of their North American Micropaleontology Section in 1982-83. Since 1995 he has been chairman of an ad hoc committee of the Gulf Coast Section of SEPM known as the Taxonomic Equivalency Project. He currently is a trustee of the Gulf Coast Section SEPM Foundation.
For the past three years he has been the chairman of the AAPG Gulf Coast Section of an ad hoc committee in charge of digitizing the GCAGS Transactions volumes for CD-ROM, and the World Wide Web.
He received an Honorary Membership Award from the GCAGS in 1995.
Active in the New Orleans Geological Society and serving on many committees with NOGS, he served as the society’s president in 1992-1993, was awarded Honorary Membership in 1994 and received its Outstanding Service Award in 1996-1997. For the past three years he has been a director of the society. Picou also has served as editor of the society’s monthly newsletter (NOGS LOG) since 1994. He was vice chairman-technical for the 1997 GCAGS convention.
Picou has been a member of the Division of Professional Affairs since 1992, and a member of the AAPG Foundation Trustees Associates since 1994.
He received the AAPG Distinguished Service Award in 1999.