Paul Weimer, Biography
Paul
Weimer, a candidate for AAPG treasurer, is the University of
Colorado Bruce D. Benson Endowed Chair in Petroleum Geology, director
of the Energy and Minerals Applied Research Center, associate chair
for graduate studies, and a consulting geologist.
A native of Colorado, Weimer earned his bachelor's degree in geology
at Pomona College, his master's at the University of Colorado and
a doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin.
Weimer began his career as an exploration geologist at Sohio Petroleum
in San Francisco from 1980-84, and British Petroleum (merged with
Sohio) from 1984-88. He joined Mobil in 1988 as exploration and
research geologist before assuming his present position at CU in
1990.
He joined AAPG in 1978 and is a Certified Petroleum Geologist.
AAPG activities include serving on the Distinguished Lecture Committee
from 1991-94, 1996 and 1998 to present and is presently chairman.
He was a Distinguished Lecturer in 1998-99. He also has served on
the Membership, Research, Geophysical Integration, Technical Program
and Convention Coordination (two terms) committees. He also served
as AAPG Student Chapter sponsor in 1998. He served as an associate
editor for the BULLETIN from 1997-2000.
The author of over 100 technical papers, Weimer has conducted
and convened AAPG symposia, annual meeting sessions and short courses.
He was awarded the J.C. "Cam" Sproule Best Paper Award in 1992 and
has co-edited eight books, including AAPG Studies 42, Applications
of 3-D Seismic Data to Exploration and Production; and AAPG Memoir
58, Siliciclastic Sequence Stratigraphy -- Recent Developments and
Applications.
He is currently finishing writing a book for AAPG on petroleum
geology of deep-water deposits.
Other professional affiliations include the Rocky Mountain Association
of Geologists, Houston Geological Society, New Orleans Geological
Society, Geological Society of America, the Society of Exploration
Geophysicists, SEPM and the European Association of Exploration
Geophysicists.
Why I Accepted the Invitation To Be a Candidate
For AAPG Office
Candidates always say how fortunate and honored they are to be
asked to run for AAPG office. I understand that emotion; they are
quite right!
- Like all professional societies, AAPG faces many challenges
in these rapidly changing times. I see the main challenges as:
- Making sure that AAPG remains valuable to members, offering
the services members need at the lowest possible price.
- Making sure that AAPG's programs mirror the interdisciplinary
approaches that are the future of the petroleum industry.
- Addressing AAPG's membership decline, which decreases AAPG's
revenue and endangers our future as a vital professional society.
None of these challenges have simple solutions. Collectively,
the Executive Committee must continue to address these challenges
in creative and innovative ways.
I have been honored to serve AAPG in several technical aspects
that are relevant to these challenges. First, I worked on the technical
program committees for several conventions and conferences during
the past 16 years. Second, I have edited two AAPG books and served
as an associate editor for the BULLETIN. Third, I have served on
several strategy-related committees, including an ad hoc committee
in early 1999 to investigate the areas of overlap between different
professional societies. Finally, I am chairing the Distinguished
Lecture Committee from 2000 to 2003 -- one of AAPG's flagship programs
for disseminating state-of-the-art science.
As part of this effort, I helped initiate two new interdisciplinary
distinguished lecture programs with SEG (1999) and with SPE and
SEG (2002).
Throughout these AAPG activities, my goal as an applied academic
and consulting geoscientist is to keep pace with technical advances.
As a professor, I also need to prepare students for their careers
in industry.
If elected as treasurer, I will use all these experiences to address
the challenges we face. Specifically, I'll work with members and
officers to investigate:
- Using technology to disseminate technical information rapidly.
For example, we are placing many of the figures from AAPG Distinguished
Lectures on the Web. This will allow all members to access the
lectures' scientific insights -- even members who cannot attend
the lecture.
- Educating AAPG members about interdisciplinary approaches to
our profession. To do this, we should continue working with other
societies to expand our joint programs, such as Distinguished
Lecture tours. Other areas such as continuing education, publications,
scientific conferences and conventions are also ripe for cooperative
efforts.
- Rebuilding our membership through recruitment of young geoscientists.
This requires coordinated efforts through many committees. We
should focus our membership efforts not only on AAPG student chapters,
but also on young geoscientists who are already working in companies.
- Increasing the International membership is also essential to
AAPG's future success. AAPG has increasingly become an international
society during the past decade; engaging more potential international
members by providing the services (technical and business) that
they need will encourage their participation.
In conclusion, I am honored to be asked to run for AAPG treasurer,
and will work hard to represent members' interests. Thank you for
the privilege.