The International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy, or IMAGE ’21, the integrated annual event of AAPG and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists in conjunction with the Society for Sedimentary Geology, is all set to be held online and in Denver, Colo., Sept. 26 to Oct. 1.
The event will bring together many of the greatest minds and leaders from multiple disciplines of the geosciences sector, which includes an impressive lineup of keynote speakers.
● Daniel Yergin and Kirsten Siebach will be the keynote speakers at the IMAGE ’21 Opening Session on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 4 p.m.
Yergin is vice chairman of IHS Markit, one of the leading information and advisory firms in the world, as well as the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of several best-selling books on the energy market, including “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil Money and Power,” “The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World,” and most recently, “The Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations.”
Siebach is an assistant professor for Rice University’s Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, as well as a member of the Science and Operations teams for Mars 2020 rover Perseverance and the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity, and previously worked on the science and engineering teams for the Phoenix Lander and the two Mars exploration rovers. She will present “Exploring Mars with Curiosity and Perseverance,” detailing the successful landing of the largest and most complex rover yet on the floor of Mars’ Jezero crater on Feb. 18, 2021, and its ongoing mission of seeking signs of ancient life and collecting samples for future return to Earth.
● Kirk Johnson, sant director of Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History will be the keynote speaker at the All-Convention Luncheon on Monday, Sept. 27 at 11:30 a.m. He will present, “Digging Snowmastodon: Discovering an Ice Age World in the Colorado Rockies.”
● “The Future of Oil and Gas” plenary session will be held Monday morning. The session will be moderated by Colorado School of Mines Professor Steve Sonnenberg and include panelists William Raatz, chief geologist of Oxy, Elizabeth Schwarze, Chevrons’ vice president of global exploration, IHS Markit’s chief upstream strategist Robert Fryklund, and Sinopec’s Executive Vice President Hongbin Liu. This panel will hear from a variety of industry leaders to discuss what they see as “seismic changes occurring in the oil and gas business.”
● The AAPG Women’s Network Luncheon on Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 11 a.m. will include a panel discussion and a screening of the documentary, “Picture a Scientist: The Story of Prejudice in the Workplace.” Stephanie Nwoko, lead reservoir geologist/geomodeler for Premier Oilfield Group and past AAPG executive secretary, will moderate the panel, which will include Jane Willenbring, associate professor of geological sciences at Stanford University, and Marsha Bourque, petroleum geologist for Marsha Bourque and Associates.
● Billy M. Williams, senior vice president for ethics, diversity and inclusion for the American Geophysical Union will present, “Cultivating Bravery and Redefining Expectations: The Role for Scientific Societies in Leading Change” at the Division of Professional Affairs Luncheon on Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 11:45 a.m.
● James F. Reilly, former director of the U.S. Geological Survey, will present, “Can Critical Thinking Survive in the 21st Century? Climate, Science, and the Energy Transition” at the Division of Environmental Geosciences and Energy Minerals Division Luncheon on Wednesday, Sept. 29 at 11:45 a.m.