Congratulations to Paul Weimer, Martha Lou Broussard, Fred Schroeder, Margot and Ned Timbel and the many other AAPG Award Winners who will be recognized at the 2020 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in Houston, June 7-10.
Paul Weimer is the recipient of the Association’s highest honor, the AAPG Sidney Powers Memorial Award.
Weimer is an Honorary Member, an AAPG past president and holds the Paul M. Rady Endowed Chair in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado and serves as the director of the Energy and Minerals Applied Research Center.
He is widely regarded as the leading expert on deepwater petroleum systems, and in addition to his distinguished record in both research and operations in industry, he also has an even more distinguished career in academia, for both teaching and research, and has and continues to make significant contributions in the use of animation in public outreach.
Weimer has also been a tireless and prolific leader and volunteer within AAPG, having served as president, Distinguished Lecturer, and co-chaired the AAPG 100th Anniversary Committee, among a host of other offices and volunteer roles that space would not allow to be listed here.
AAPG Honorary Member Martha Lou Broussard joins him at the top of the awardees list as this year’s Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award recipient.
Broussard holds the distinction of being the first female geology graduate of Rice University, and she was a technical assistant to M. King Hubbert prior to going on to a successful career in the oil industry with Shell Development Company and ERICO. She returned to Rice to work as the Department of Earth Science coordinator, and now volunteers as the department’s alumni coordinator.
She is a recipient of AAPG’s Distinguished Service Award and is a past vice president and chair of the AAPG House of Delegates, but is perhaps best known for helping to start the AAPG/Society of Exploration Geoscientists Student Expo program, which today forms a key role in the recruiting program of as many as 40 exploration and production companies.
Gabor Tari is the recipient of the Vlastimila “Vlasta” Dvořáková International Ambassador Service Award. This award is given to those who have promoted growth and awareness of the AAPG organization internationally, outside the United States, and created opportunities for the Association to reach a wider audience of geoscientists worldwide. Tari is being honored for exception role in being the main driver of catalysts for many international events in the Europe Region.
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.
Biographies and citations of all award winners will be included in a future AAPG BULLETIN.
The rest of this year’s AAPG awardees 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.
- Sa’id Al-Hajri of Saudi Aramco
- Donna Anderson of the Colorado School of Mines
- John Robinson of North Ranch Resources
- Linda Sternbach of Star Creek Energy
- Peter Wigley, consultant from Cullompton, UK
Norman H. Foster 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.
- William D. Armstrong and Jesse V. Sommer of Armstrong Energy in Denver, Colo., honored for their discovery of one of the most significant oil discoveries on the North Slope of Alaska, the Pikka-Horseshoe Prospect.
Robert R. Berg Outstanding Research Award
Presented to honor a singular achievement in petroleum geoscience research.
- Daniele Colombo of Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, honored for his research in surface to borehole electromagnetic methods for waterfront monitoring.
Distinguished Service Award
Presented to those who have distinguished themselves in singular and beneficial long-term service to AAPG.
This year there are six recipients of the honor:
- Jonathan Allen of Chevron in Houston
- Jon Blickwede of Teyra GeoConsulting in Houston
- Jonathan Craig of Eni Upstream and Technical Services in San Donato Milanese, Italy
- Stephen Graham of Stanford University in Stanford, Calif.
- Ademola Lanisa of Total in Pau, France
- Robert “Bob” Webster of Webster Geoscience in Irving, Texas
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.
- Abel Idowu Olayinka of the University of Ibadan in Ibadan, Nigeria,
- Paul Mann of the University of Houston
Harrison Schmitt Award
Presented to recognize individuals or organizations that, for a variety of reasons, do not qualify for other Association honors or awards.
- Fred Schroeder of Tomball, Texas, for his webinar teachings through AAPG.
- Margot and Ned Timbel of Denver, Colo., for their demonstration of AAPG’s commitment to public outreach to military veterans through their Comeback Yoga program.
Public Service Award
Presented to recognize contributions of AAPG Members to public affairs – and intended to encourage such activities.
- William Dupré of the University of Houston, honored for his activities in educating the public on the application of geology to the general welfare, most notably his Houston-area workshops on “Flooding and Floodplains in Houston.”
Pioneer Award
Presented to long-standing Members who have contributed to the Association and who have made meaningful contributions to the science of geology.
- Roger “Pete” Matuszczak (posthumous) of Commerce City, Colo., honored for his instrumental role in the discovery of the giant Wattenberg field in the Denver Basin.
Geosciences in the Media Award
Presented for notable journalistic achievement in any medium, which contributes to public understanding of geology, energy resources or the technology of oil and gas exploration.
- Janine Krippner honored for her communication of the Agung volcanic eruption in Bali.
Young Professionals Exemplary Service Award
Presented to Members who have promoted growth, awareness and expanded opportunities within the organization for Young Professionals.
- Sean Kimiagar of Enverus in Houston, honored for his leadership and service for AAPG in the Gulf Coast Section.
- Flover Rodriguez-Portillo, of Bogota, Colombia, honored for his service and leadership within the AAPG Latin America and the Caribbean Region.
- Kristen Wooden of Chevron in Houston, honored for her service and leadership for the Imperial Barrel Award competition.
Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award
Presented to honor and reward the author(s) of the best AAPG BULLETIN article published each calendar year.
- T. O. Sømme, A. G. Doré, E. R. Lundin, and B. O. Tørudbakken, for “Triassic–Paleogene paleogeography of the Arctic: Implications for sediment routing and basin fill” (December 2018 AAPG Bulletin).
J.C. “Cam” Sproule Memorial Award
Presented to recognize and reward younger authors of papers applicable to petroleum geology.
- Lei Jiang for “Diagenesis of an evaporite-related carbonate reservoir in deeply buried Cambrian strata, Tarim Basin, northwest China” (AAPG BULLETIN, January 2018).
John W. Shelton Search and Discovery Award
Presented in recognition of the best contribution to the “Search and Discovery” website in the past year.
- John Dolson, Zhiyong He, and Brian W. Horn for their paper, “Advances and Perspectives on Stratigraphic Trap Exploration-Making the Subtle Trap Obvious” presented at the 2017 AAPG Middle East Region Geosciences Technology Workshop, Stratigraphic Traps of the Middle East, Muscat, Oman, Dec.11-13, 2017.
Robert H. Dott Memorial Award
Presented to honor and reward authors of original articles dealing with petroleum geology published by the Association.
- Terri Olson, for Memoir 112: “Imaging Unconventional Reservoir Pore System.”
George C. Matson Award
Presented to honor and reward the best oral presentation at the 2019 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in San Antonio.
- J.M. Holbrook for “Is Braided vs. Meandering a Valid Distinction?”
Jules Braunstein Memorial Award
Presented to honor and reward the best poster presentation at the 2019 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in San Antonio.
- J. A. Covault, Z. Sylvester, M. R. Hudec, C. Ceyhan, D. B. Dunlap for “Deep-Water Channels “Swept” Downstream After Bend Cutoff in Salt Basins.”
Gabriel Dengo Memorial Award
Presented in recognition of the best international paper.
- Tao Sun, Fabien Laugier, Brian Willis, Morgan Sullivan, Lisa Goggin and Bruce Power for “Integrated Computational Stratigraphy Reservoir Characterization and Seismic Validation,” presented by Maisha Amaru.
Ziad Beydoun Memorial Award
Presented in recognition of the best international poster.
- Juliana Marino, Muriel Liliana Miller, Pablo Giampaoli, Gladys Angelozzi, Diana Ronchi and Luciana Hiriart for “Regional Seismostratigraphic Model of the Tertiary Sedimentary Fill of the Austral-Magellan Fuegian Basin and its Potential Reservoirs,” presented by Pablos Barros Arroyo.