James
Lee Wilson, educator and retired research geologist for Shell
Oil, heads the list of those who will receive the Association's
highest honors and awards during the opening session at the AAPG
Annual Meeting in Houston
The session, which also will include a welcome and
remarks from meeting general chairman Jeff Lund and AAPG president
Robbie Gries, will begin at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 10, in the General
Assembly Hall of the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Last year's opening session attracted a standing
room only crowd, and this year's session promises to once again
use images and music to capture the excitement of the profession
and the triumphs of the industry.
Immediately following the awards ceremony will be
the Icebreaker reception in the exhibits hall.
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.
This year 31 people will be recognized during the
opening session, including three who will receive House of Delegates'
honors. Wilson heads the list as the recipient of the Sidney
Powers Memorial Award, AAPG's highest honor.
Wilson was noted by nominators as "a well known geologist
who has devoted most of his career to a passionate search for knowledge
in carbonate stratigraphy and sedimentation."
Grover Murray, also a Powers medalist, noted that
"it may be said that he has been the guiding light to figuratively
hundreds of graduate students."
Wilson is professor emeritus at the University of
Michigan and adjunct professor at Rice University, where he also
was previously a chaired professor. He also has taught at the University
of Texas at Austin, University of Houston, University of California,
Berkeley, University of Calgary and the Rosenthiel Institute for
Marine Sciences.
Also
this year, a new award will be unveiled as Richard W. Beardsley
is honored with the inaugural Outstanding Explorer Award, which
will be presented annually to members for achievement in exploration
for petroleum or mineral resources, with an intended emphasis on
recent discovery.
Those award winners who will be honored along with
Wilson in Houston are:
Honorary Membership Award
Presented to members who have distinguished themselves
by their accomplishments and through their service to the profession
of petroleum geology and to AAPG.
Michel T. Halbouty Human Needs Award
Honors
an individual for the outstanding application of geology to the
benefit of human needs, recognizing scientific excellence.
John A. Reinemund, retired, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Reinemund is being honored for his assistance to Third World countries
to develop their natural resources, including developing a thermal
power industry to replace hydropower in South Korea.
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.
Richard W. Beardsley, Columbia Natural Resources, Charleston,
W.Va., honored for recently discovering natural gas in the Trenton
and Black River basins.
Distinguished Service Award
Presented to those who have distinguished themselves
in singular and beneficial long-term service to AAPG.Distinguished Educator Award
Presented for distinguished and outstanding contributions
to geological education, both at the university level and toward
education of the general public.
Distinguished Educator Award
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.
Emmanuel Tamesis, advisor to the Philippine National Oil
Co. and former geosciences department advisor of the University
of the Philippines.
Public Service Award
Presented to recognize contributions of AAPG members
to public affairs — and intended to encourage such activities.
Pioneer Award
Presented to long-standing members who have contributed to the Association
and who have made meaningful contributions to the science of geology.
Craig Ferris, Gravimetrics, Tulsa.
Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award
Presented to honor and reward the author(s) of the
best AAPG BULLETIN article published each calendar year.
John S.
Bridge
and Robert S. Tye, for "Interpreting the Dimensions of
Ancient Fluvial Channel Bars, Channels and Channel Belts From Wireline-Logs
and Cores," AAPG BULLETIN, Vol. 84, No. 8, August 2000, p. 1,205-1,228.
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.
Marcio Rocha Mello
and Barry J. Katz, editors of Memoir 73, Petroleum Systems
of South Atlantic Margins.
J.C. "Cam" Sproule Memorial Award
For
best paper published by AAPG or by an affiliated society, division
or Section in 2000, by a member 35 years of age or younger.
Lesli J. Wood, for "Chronostratigraphy and Tectonostratigraphy
of the Columbus Basin, Eastern Offshore Trinidad."
George C. Matson Memorial Award
Presented
to honor and reward the best oral presentation at the AAPG annual
meeting in Denver.
H.W. Posamentier, with Veritas Exploration Services, Calgary,
Canada, for the paper "Seismic Geomorphology and Depositional Systems
of Deep-Water Environments: Observations from Offshore Nigeria,
Gulf of Mexico and Indonesia."
Jules Braunstein Memorial Award
Presented to honor and reward the best poster presentation
at the AAPG annual meeting in Denver.
Martin
K. Dubois,
Alan P. Byrnes, and W. Lynn
Watney, all with the Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence,
Kan., for "Field Development and Renewed Reservoir Characterization
for CO2 Flooding of the Hall-Gurney Field, Central, Kansas."
House of Delegates Honorary Membership Award
The
House's highest honor, presented in recognition of consistent, dedicated
and exemplary service to the HoD.
Willard R. Green, with Green Energy Resources, Midland,
Texas.
House of Delegates Distinguished Member Award
Presented to honor unique or exemplary service to
the House through committee work.