Editor's note: Candidates for AAPG office have been given the opportunity to respond briefly to the subject: "Why I Accepted the Invitation to be a Candidate for AAPG Office." Their responses -- and biographical information provided by each candidate and edited only for grammar and spelling, including the biography -- will be published in the EXPLORER beginning here and continuing through the next two issues. Responses will be available throughout the election on the AAPG Web site. Ballots will be mailed in the spring.
Here are the responses from elected editor candidates James W. Handschy and Ernest A. Mancini. Candidates were asked to limit their responses to 500 words.
By James W. Handschy
AAPG
publications are second only to the professional integrity
of the AAPG membership as a measure of the scientific
excellence of the AAPG and the value of the organization
to the petroleum industry.
As we look to the future and contemplate the lessons
learned from the recent past, it is apparent that
the professional environment of the petroleum industry
is changing. The last decade has seen incredible consolidation
in the petroleum industry and dramatic technology
advances. These changes mean that everybody is expected
to do more work in less time, regardless of whether
you work for a super major or have your own small
business.
AAPG publications provide a fundamentally important
forum for knowledge sharing and help ensure that improvements
in the technical quality of petroleum geoscience can
keep pace with technology-driven productivity increases.
The petroleum industry generates some of the finest,
most data-intensive and most well-documented geologic
studies in our science. The scales of studies, types
of data and analytical techniques used in the petroleum
industry are also some of the most diverse used in
any geologic based industrial or academic group. This
diverse, data-intensive nature of petroleum geology
and geophysics, coupled with the high-tech, high productivity
environment in the petroleum industry today, presents
several publication challenges for the AAPG.
First, publications need to be up-to-date with both
modern concepts and modern technologies.
Second, they need to be high quality and consistent
with proven geological and geophysical fundamentals.
Third, they need to be concise, well written, easy
to read and delivered in a format that facilitates
rapid assimilation and integration by the reader.
Since 1917 the AAPG has set the standard for excellence
in petroleum geology and applied geology in general.
My vision is that the AAPG can lead the way among
all geoscience organizations for rigor and excellence
in petroleum geology publications and geoscience publications
in general.
To achieve this goal we need to continue the progress
John Lorenz has spearheaded to reduce cycle time between
manuscript submission and publication, we must continue
to increase the standards for technical rigor in AAPG
publications, we must continue to push the limit on
effective ways to deliver publications quickly and
effectively around the world and we must raise the
awareness about AAPG publication quality outside of
the petroleum industry.
By Ernest A. Mancini
I thank AAPG
for being selected as a candidate for editor and look
forward to serving the Association if elected. Since
joining AAPG in 1979, I have benefited greatly from
the Association through participating in AAPG activities
and interacting with the membership. In particular,
I have enjoyed attending and presenting papers at the
annual and international meetings, participating in
and organizing Hedberg Research conferences, serving
on various AAPG committees and as chair of the Research
Committee, and reading and publishing in the BULLETIN
and Special Publications. Serving as editor will afford
me an opportunity to give back to the Association and
share my talents as an educator with the membership.
I believe
my 27 years of experience as a professor of geology
at the University of Alabama has prepared me for the
challenges and responsibilities of editor. During my
years as a teacher and researcher, I have had the opportunity
to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in petroleum
geology and related fields, supervise M.S. theses and
Ph.D. dissertations, write research proposals in the
area of petroleum geology, serve as principal investigator
on petroleum geology research projects, organize and
conduct technology transfer workshops, lead field trips
to study Gulf Coastal Plain strata, publish papers on
petroleum geology and related topics and review manuscripts
and research proposals on petroleum geology and related
subjects. These activities have provided me with the
experience and needed observation base to determine
what constitutes a quality manuscript. That is, one
that is well written and has the potential to be a significant
contribution to the science of petroleum geology and
be of use to the membership in finding and producing
more oil and natural gas.
I have learned
much from my professional and educational experiences
with AAPG and as a university professor. These experiences,
in combination with my administrative assignments with
geoscientific organizations, have uniquely prepared
me to serve as editor and to continue the excellent
geoscientific and technical quality of the BULLETIN.
Read Elected Editor Candidate Biographies