Ten speakers have been announced for this year's Distinguished Lecture program, which will once again cover the world with talks that offer a broad variety of topics, ranging from deepwater exploration to heavy oil production to river deltas on Mars.
The DL program, funded in part by the AAPG Foundation, will offer seven domestic and three international speakers this season.
Last season's slate of eight domestic speakers visited 123 groups and a total audience of 9,166; the six international speakers made 25 visits to a total audience of 1,237, making the total attendance for the year 10,403.
AAPG's Distinguished Lecture program was developed to expose students, young geologists, college faculty members and members of geological societies to current information, research and thinking.
Remaining on track this year is the continuation of the intersociety lecturer effort — a cooperative program that presents an opportunity for cross-discipline lectures.
Latimer
The AAPG-SEG Joint Distinguished Lecture — fourth in the series — will be given by AAPG member Rebecca Latimer, geoscientist and team leader for stratigraphy and geostatistics services, Chevron Energy Technology, Houston. Her topic is "Uses, Abuses and Examples of Seismic-Derived Acoustic Impedance Data: What Does the Interpreter Need to Know."
In keeping with the alternating logistical responsibilities for the intersociety lecturer, Latimer's tour will be coordinated by AAPG.
And as also in past years, support for several specific tours comes directly from the AAPG Foundation's Distinguished Lecture Fund. They are:
Larter
The Allan P. Bennison Distinguished Lecturer — An international lecturer who makes a U.S. tour, is funded by contributions from the late Allan Bennison, a long-time Tulsa geologist.
This year's Bennison lecturer will be Steve Larter, professor of geology at the University of Newcastle, UK; Canada Research Chair at the University of Calgary, Canada; and co-director of the Alberta Ingenuity Center for Insitu Energy. His topic is "From Deepwater Exploration to Tar Sand Production: Bugs, Biodegradation and the Origin of Heavy Oil."
Milliken
The J. Ben Carsey Distinguished Lecturer — A domestic tour, provided by contributions from J. Ben Carsey Jr., of Houston, to establish a named lecturer in memory of his father, who served as president of AAPG in 1967-68.
This year's J. Ben Carsey lecturer is Kitty L. Milliken, senior research scientist at the Jackson School of Geosciences, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. Her topics will be:
- "Linked Mechanical and Chemical Processes in the Diagenesis of Sandstones."
- "Reservoir Quality Assessment: Petrography as a Tool for Deciphering Kinetically-Dominated Systems and the Need for Petrographic Education."
Markello
The Haas-Pratt Distinguished Lecturer — A domestic tour, provided by contributions from the late Merrill W. Haas, in honor of famed geologist (and Haas' mentor) Wallace Pratt. The funding is granted for emphasis on a specific case history application of geology in a discovery.
The Haas-Pratt lecture will be presented by James R. Markello, reservoir supervisor/reservoir adviser, ExxonMobil Research, Houston. His lectures are:
- "The Carbonate Analogs Through Time (CATT) Hypothesis — A Systematic and Predictive Look at Phanerozoic Carbonate Reservoirs."
- "Integrated Research for Carbonate Reservoirs — It is the Business Question That Mandates the Multi-Disciplinary Integration."
Esteban
The Roy M. Huffington Distinguished Lecturer — An international tour, provided by contributions from the Huffington family in honor of the oilman-geologist.
The Huffington speaker will be Mateu Esteban, external adviser-carbonate geology, Repsol-YPF, Madrid, Spain, whose third DL tour will visit western Europe this spring. His talk is "The Burial of Carbonate Reservoirs (The Rest of the Story.)"
The Dean A. McGee International Distinguished Lecturer — Provided by contributions from Kerr-McGee, which annually supports international speaking tours.
Doglioni
This year's McGee lecturer is Carlo Doglioni, professor at the University of Roma La Sapienza (Italy), who will tour central Asia and eastern Europe between Oct. 10-21. His topic is "Global Tectonic Asymmetries and Applications to Europe."
Bhattacharya
This year's list of domestic Distinguished Lecturers also includes:
Janok P. Bhattacharya, professor at the University of Houston. His topics are:
- "Applying Deltaic and Shallow Marine Outcrop Analogs to the Subsurface."
- "Martian River Deltas and the Origin of Life."
Flemings
Peter B. Flemings, professor of geosciences, the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa. His topic is:
- "Overpressure, Hydrocarbon Entrapment, Seafloor Venting and Slope Stability: The Dynamic Flow Regime Beneath the Seafloor."
Rowan
Mark G. Rowan, president, Rowan Consulting, Boulder, Colo. His topics are:
- "Collisional Fold-and-Thrust Belts Detached on Salt."
- "Salt-Sediment Interaction During Diapir Growth."
Al-Qassab
This year's other international Distinguished Lecturer is:
Hisham M. Al-Qassab, chief geologist-reserves assessment division, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He will tour in the Middle East region this fall, and his tour will be subsidized by Saudi Aramco. His topic is:
- "Developments in Geological Reservoir Modeling; Status, Challenges and the Road Ahead."
For more information on the tours or the program contact Barbara Davis in the education department at AAPG headquarters. Go to the AAPG Distinguished Lecturer Web pages and watch for monthly updates in the EXPLORER.