I enrolled in the Department of Geological Sciences of Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh, back in 2005 without knowing much about geology and its applications. In a developing country like Bangladesh, where many of the affiliated sciences are not well recognized and popular among students, I had no clue about the petroleum industry and its link with geology.
In 2006, one of my professors introduced us to AAPG and I became a member of the AAPG Student Chapter. Under the umbrella of AAPG, I started attending different seminars and conferences held in the country where I came to know about the petroleum industry in detail. I was always excited to participate in these meetings and interact with experienced professionals in the oil and gas industry. The free Bulletins and magazines I got from AAPG as a student member also help me stay updated on the global petroleum industries and the latest technologies. I started dreaming about becoming an oil and gas professional in my future career.
I became the president of my university’s AAPG Student Chapter in 2009. During this time, I had the unique opportunity to arrange a seminar at my university with Dr. Joseph Lambiase, who at the time was president of AAPG’s Asia Pacific Region. I became acquainted with some officials from different international oil companies working for Bangladesh, specifically Dr. A.H.M Shamsuddin (Shams), chief exploration geologist of Chevron Bangladesh and sponsor of Bangladesh’s AAPG Student Chapters.
Through my interaction with Dr. Lambiase, I learned about a scholarship in petroleum geosciences in Thailand. After completing my master’s in geophysics and securing the highest CGPA in both bachelor and masters’ studies from my department, I applied to the scholarship program. I received a scholarship to Chulalongkorn University and started my classes there in August 2011.
Later, when I was planning to do my thesis work, I was contacted by Dr. Shams who proposed to have my research work sponsored by Chevron Bangladesh.
After successfully completing the research work, I got a job offer from Chevron. I joined the company as an earth scientist in October 2012. To date, I have planned development wells, worked operations in an over-pressured zone and generated a 3-D earth model – the first in the country.
Despite my busy schedule, I continue to stay involved with AAPG. In 2014, I became the country representative for the AAPG Young Professionals.
Looking back on my education and professional career, I found that having a close relationship with a big association like AAPG was very helpful. It inspired me to become a professional in the petroleum industry and is now helping me build a professional network, which will certainly help grow my future career too.
(Editor's note: This was the winning non-technical article from the AAPG Middle East Region Young Professionals 2016 Article Contest.)