L. Frank Brown Jr., a [PFItemLinkShortcode|id:2831|type:standard|anchorText:leader in research and development|cssClass:|title:Powers Medalist a ‘Practical Researcher’|PFItemLinkShortcode] of the concept of depositional system tracks, seismic stratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy, will receive AAPG’s prestigious Sidney Powers Award at the AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in New Orleans.
Brown will be one of 47 people who will receive their honors during the meeting’s opening session, set for 4 p.m. Sunday, April 11, in the La Nouvelle Orleans Ballroom of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
This year’s multi-media structured opening session also will feature welcoming remarks by general chair Tom Hudson; the presidential address from AAPG President John Lorenz; exciting videos, both before and during the event; and pictures and live music entertainment that will give everyone a taste of New Orleans.
Joining Brown at the top of the 2010 awardees list is past AAPG president Patrick J.F. Gratton, independent geologist and president of Patrick J.F. Gratton Inc. of Dallas, who is this year’s recipient of the Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award.
Also during the ceremony the inaugural John W. Shelton Search and Discovery Award will be presented, to Paul M. “Mitch” Harris.
And David Pyles, technical research manager at the Chevron Center of Research Excellence in Golden, Colo., will become only the second person in AAPG history to receive two awards in the same year for papers that he prepared for AAPG publications.
AAPG awards, approved by the Executive Committee, are presented annually to recognize individuals for service to the profession, the science, the Association and the public.
Brown, professor emeritus at the Bureau of Economic Geology, began his career at the BEG in 1957, having faculty appointment at the University of Texas at Austin in 1966-89. He also taught at Baylor University in 1960-69 and worked as a full-time consultant in 1989-98.
Brown has served as a mentor to scientists and geoscientists at the BEG as well as leading industry companies all over the world and has contributed to many publications, including AAPG Studies in Geology 41 – an atlas of exploration for Cretaceous lowstand traps.
He is a past recipient of the AAPG Pioneer Award, and has served as AAPG BULLETIN associate editor, AAPG Distinguished Lecturer – both domestic and international – and the leader of short courses and many field trips.
Gratton is the fourth recipient of the Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award, given in recognition of outstanding and exceptional leadership in the petroleum geosciences.
Interviews with both Brown and Gratton can be found in this issue. Biographies and citations of all award winners will be included in a future BULLETIN.
Those award winners approved by the Executive Committee and who will be honored along with Brown and Gratton in New Orleans are:
Honorary Member Award
Presented to members who have distinguished themselves by their accomplishments and through their service to the profession of petroleum geology and to AAPG. (Video)
- Adebayo O. Akinpelu, Chevron, San Ramon, Calif.
- John R. Hogg, MGM Energy, Calgary, Canada.
- Pinar O. Yilmaz, ExxonMobil, Houston.
Outstanding Explorer Award
Presented to members in recognition of distinguished and outstanding achievement in exploration for petroleum or mineral resources, with an intended emphasis on recent discovery – in this case, the Amoruso Field in east Texas. (Video)
- John J. Amoruso, Legends Exploration, Houston.
- Denny Bartell, Legends Exploration, Houston.
- Larry Bartell, Legends Exploration, Houston.
Robert R. Berg for Outstanding Research Award
- Martin P.A. Jackson, Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, Texas. (Video)
Distinguished Service Award
Presented for those who have distinguished themselves in singular and beneficial long-term service to AAPG. (Video)
- Martin M. Cassidy, consultant, Cypress, Texas.
- Rebecca L. Dodge, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas.
- Bob A. Hardage, Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, Texas.
- Dwight “Clint” Moore, ION Geophysical, Spring, Texas.
- Terence G. O’Hare, Emerald Energy, Dallas.
- Craig W. Reynolds, Cobra Oil and Gas, Wichita Falls, Texas.
- John W. Robinson, North Ranch Resources, Littleton, Colo.
Grover E. Murray Distinguished Educator Award
Presented for distinguished and outstanding contributions to geological education, both at the university level and toward education of the general public. (Video)
- Wayne M. Ahr, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
- Eric A. Erslev, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo.
- Murray K. Gingras, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Special Award
Presented to individuals and organizations whose area of work may not qualify for one of the existing awards, but is worthy of Association recognition. (Video)
- Robert W. Allen, independent, Ardmore, Okla.
- George P. Mitchell, founder and former chairman and CEO of the Mitchell Energy and Development Corp., The Woodlands, Texas
Public Service Award
Presented to recognize contributions of AAPG members to public affairs – and intended to encourage such activities. (Video)
- Thomas C. Bergeon, Century Exploration, Metairie, La.
- Ahmed N. El Barkooky, Shell Egypt and adjunct professor at Cairo University, Egypt.
- William B. Harrison III, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich.
- Tako Koning, Chevron Angola, Bellaire, Texas.
Pioneer Award
Presented to long-standing members who have contributed to the Association and who have made meaningful contributions to the science of geology.
- Thomas D. Barrow, Houston.
Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award
J.C. “Cam” Sproule Memorial Award
This year, for only the second time in AAPG history, the awards go to the same person. The Pratt award is presented to honor the author(s) of the best AAPG BULLETIN article published each calendar year; the Sproule award honors younger author(s) of papers applicable to petroleum geology. (Video)
David R. Pyles, for “Multiscale Stratigraphic Analysis of a Structurally Confined Submarine Fan: Carboniferous Ross Sandstone, Ireland,” which appeared in the May 2008 BULLETIN (volume 92, number 5). Pyles is with the Chevron Center of Research Excellence, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo.
Pyles also won the 2009 Sproule award, giving him three technical AAPG awards in a one-year period.
Robert H. Dott Sr. Memorial Award
Presented to honor and reward the author/editor of the best special publication dealing with geology published by the Association. (Video)
Stephen P. Cumella, Keith W. Shanley and Wayne K. Camp for editing “Understanding, Exploring and Developing Tight-Gas Sands: 2005 Vail Hedberg Conference.” Cumella is with Bill Barrett Corp., Evergreen, Colo., Shanley is a consultant in Littleton, Colo., and Camp is with Anadarko Petroleum, Houston.
John W. Shelton Search and Discovery Award
Presented in recognition of the best contribution to the “Search and Discovery” Web site. (Video)
Paul M. “Mitch” Harris, senior research consultant with Chevron Energy Technology Co., San Ramon, Calif. Harris is being honored for the excellence of his total contribution of 53 papers, a number with co-authors, to the site. He previously won the Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award and twice won the Robert H. Dott Memorial Award.
George C. Matson Award
Presented to honor and reward the best oral presentation at the AAPG Annual Convention in Denver. (Video)
Barbara Tilley, with the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, for the paper “Isotopic Evidence for Fault-Induced Gas Mixing in Sweet Spots of the Sukunka Gas Field, Western Canadian Foothills.” Her co-authors were Pradeep Bhatnagar, Scott McLellan, Bob Quartero and Byron Veilleux, all with Talisman Energy, Calgary; and Karlis Muehlenbachs, with the University of Alberta.
Jules Braunstein Memorial Award
Presented to honor and reward the best poster presentation at the AAPG Annual Convention in Denver. (Video)
Nikki Hemmesch and Nicholas Harris, for the poster “Sequence Stratigraphic Architecture for the Late Devonian Woodford Shale, Southern Permian Basin, West Texas.” Hemmesch will be honored posthumously in New Orleans (see August EXPLORER). she was a graduate student and Harris her professor and adviser at the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo.
Gabriel Dengo Memorial Award
Presented to honor and reward the best oral presentation at the AAPG International Conference and Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Video)
Pedro V. Zalán, with Petrobras in Rio de Janeiro, for the paper “Stretching and Thinning of the Upper Lithosphere and Continental-Oceanic Crustal Transition in Southeastern Brazil.”
His co-authors are Maria do Carmo G. Severino, João Alberto B. Oliveira, Luciano P. Magnavita, Webster U. Mohriak, Rogério C. Gontijo, Adriano R. Viana and Peter Szatmari, all with Petrobras.
Ziad Beydoun Memorial Award
Presented to honor and reward the best poster presentation at the AAPG International Conference and Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Video)
Paul Markwick, Mohamed Raddadi, Lauren Raynham, Steve Tomlinson, Emma Edgecombe, Dennis Rowland, Robert Bailiff, Amanda Galsworthy and Neil Wrobel, for the poster “The Evolution of the SouthAtlantic Hinterlands from the Late Jurassic to Recent: Mapping Stage Level Changes in Source-to-Sink Relationships.”
All authors are with Getech Group, Leeds, England.
House of Delegates Honorary Membership
- Martin D. Hewitt, Nexen Petroleum USA, Plano, Texas.
House of Delegates Distinguished Service
- Donald D. Clarke, consultant, Lakewood, Calif.
- Robert G. Lindblom, consultant, Menlo Park, Calif.