AAPG’s annual celebration of geoscience AAPG’s annual celebration of geoscience excellence is shining its spotlight on 20 outstanding members who have been chosen the recipients of the Association’s honors and awards for 2025.
Leading the 2025 awards list are two individuals who have excelled throughout their careers in leadership and in advancing the science of petroleum geology – John Kaldi, this year’s recipient of the Sidney Powers Memorial Award, and Edward “Ted” Beaumont, selected for the Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award.
Both will be among the award recipients recognized and honored during a special event held during the IMAGE ’24 conference, set Aug. 26-29 in Houston.
The event will be even more “special” than usual this year, as it honors the awardees for both 2024 and 2025. (See accompanying story for 2024 honorees.)
All of the Association’s honors and awards, approved by the Executive Committee, are presented to recognize superior achievements to the profession, the science, the Association and the public.
Of course, awards do more than honor individuals who excel at what they do – they define the presenter’s legacy, values and ideals of both its past as well as its current standing in the world.
That’s why AAPG award recipients represent more than a list of impressive names – they are the face of AAPG in the profession, the industry and the world.
“It never ceases to amaze me about the depth of talent – from leadership to science – that AAPG acknowledges every year in the recipients for Honors and Awards,” said AAPG President Deborah Sacrey, “and this year is no exception.
“It is important that the organization recognizes it volunteers for their efforts in keeping AAPG moving forward, and to sincerely appreciate those who bring the science to the public and their peers,” she said.
“This is truly one of the best parts of being the AAPG president,” she added, “to personally thank each and every one of the honorees for their contribution to the profession and the Association.”
Technical award winners are yet to be announced. Complete biographical information for all recipients will be published online later this year in the AAPG BULLETIN.
The 2025 AAPG honors and award recipients, as approved by the Executive Committee, are:
Sidney Powers Memorial Award
Presented in recognition of distinguished and outstanding contributions to, or achievements in, petroleum geology.
- John Kaldi, Graywacke Geoscience, Glen Osmond, Australia; also chief scientist for CO2CRC (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage Research Organization), and professor and chair of geosequestration at the University of Adelaide, Australia. He is a renowned author, past AAPG vice president-Regions, and the organizer-chair-creative force behind a plethora of AAPG international activities, including conferences, technical sessions, VGP visits and Distinguished Lecture initiatives.
(Past AAPG honors include the DEG best paper award, the Vlastimila Dvorakova International Ambassador Service Award, two AAPG Distinguished Service Awards – the only person ever so honored – and AAPG Honorary membership.)
Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award
Presented in recognition of outstanding and exceptional leadership in the petroleum geosciences.
- Edward A. “Ted” Beaumont, independent, Tulsa – A past president and elected secretary of AAPG, and an Honorary Member, Beaumont is a former AAPG science editor who is credited with creating and developing innovative approaches for professional training. He has presented numerous papers and led organization of geoscience meetings around the world, and served on (and often chaired) dozens of committees, but he is perhaps best remembered for developing (with the late Norm Foster) AAPG’s mammoth and hugely influential “Treatise of Petroleum Geology.”
(Past AAPG honors, in addition to Honorary membership, include a Certificate of Merit, Harrison Schmitt Award and the Distinguished Service Award.)
Honorary Member
Presented to those who have distinguished themselves by their service and devotion to AAPG as well as the science and profession.
- Denise Cox, Storm Energy, Panama City, Fla.
(Past president and elected secretary; previous AAPG honors include four Certificates of Merit and the Distinguished Service Award.)
- Frank R. Ettensohn, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.
(Previous AAPG honors include two A.I. Levorsen Memorial Awards and the Grover E. Murray Memorial Distinguished Educator Award.)
- Stephen E. Laubach, Jackson School of Geosciences, Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, Texas.
(Past AAPG elected editor; previous AAPG honors include an AAPG Certificate of Merit, three EMD awards for “excellence in presentation,” the Jules Braunstein Memorial Award and the Distinguished Service Award.)
- Robert K. “Bob” Merrill, Catheart Energy, Sugar Land, Texas.
(Past AAPG elected editor and ACE technical program chair, and founding chair of the Geoscientists without Borders Committee; previous AAPG honors include an AAPG Certificate of Merit.)
- Mark G. Rowan, Rowan Consulting Inc., Boulder, Colo.
(A two-time AAPG Distinguished Lecturer; previous AAPG honors include an AAPG Certificate of Merit and the Robert J. Berg Outstanding Research Award.)
Norman H. Foster Explorer Award
Presented in recognition of distinguished and outstanding achievement in exploration.
- Ed Zinni, Houston Energy L.P., Houston – A giant in Gulf of Mexico exploration for more than four decades, with a plethora of important discoveries to his credit as well as recognition for his creative and innovative approach to exploration. His career has encompassed shallow subsurface geological interpretations as well as deepwater geology and projects; he helped lead the successful projects that opened the Eastern Gulf and defined the region as a super-basin; and he has provided geology-based expertise to help ensure environmentally safe drilling practices. His ability to find “unique prospects of unique size and in unique locations” has been called “unparalleled and critical to the business.”
Robert R. Berg Outstanding Research Award
Presented in recognition of a singular achievement in petroleum geoscience research.
- Abdulraham Alsharhan, Middle East Geological Establishment, Dubai, UAE – Hailed as “the most published geoscientist in the region,” Alsharhan is regarded as among the most knowledgeable experts on Middle East geology. He’s also been called a charismatic trailblazer and pathfinder who is credited with conceiving, developing and delivering geosciences courses for the UAE’s College of Science. Author of more than 100 geoscience papers and nine books, including co-author of the comprehensive “Sedimentary Basin and Petroleum Geology of the Middle East.”
(Past president of the AAPG Middle East Region; previous AAPG honors include an AAPG Certificate of Merit and Honorary membership.)
- James “Joe” Macquaker, senior technical specialist, ExxonMobil, Spring, Texas – Honored for a his important research and advocacy of novel minute-scale petrographic techniques and interpretations, which his impact on evaluation of fine-grain rocks, source rocks and unconventional hydrocarbon-bearing mudstones. His ”novel approaches” for mudstone observation threw new light on processes within mudstone systems and led to industry-wide approaches today. (And he subsequently linked those steps to modern systems – research that has major implications in reducing uncertainty about fine-grained sediments in relation to source rocks, hydrocarbon reservoir and caprocks.)
(A past AAPG Distinguished Lecturer; previous AAPG honors include the Wallace Pratt Memorial Award and the Robert H. Dott Sr. Memorial Award.)
Distinguished Service Award
Presented to members who have distinguished themselves in singular and beneficial long-term service to AAPG.
- Jensen K. Angelloz, Energy Consulting, Lake Jackson, Texas.
- Daiane dos Santos Cardoso, Institute of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
- David C. Harris, Kentucky Geological Survey (retired), Lexington, Ky.
- Nicole Wagoner, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, Nev.
Grover E. Murray Memorial Distinguished Educator Award
This award annually recognizes and rewards superlative contributions to geological education.
- Khalid Al-Ramadan, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia – Honored for his unique teaching approach, which involves approaching “debatable issues in geology” by incorporating different schools of thought and insights from other fields “to engage and motivate students to critically question the geological concepts and models.” Has published more than 80 scientific papers dealing with petroleum sedimentology and diagenesis.
(As faculty advisor he helped the King Fahd IBA team win the Stoneley Medal in 2010.)
- Richard “Rick” Behl, California State University, Long Beach, Calif. – Honored for his nearly 30-year career at California State, during which time he founded the MARS Project (Monterey and Related Sediments), an industry consortium focused on the complicated Miocene stratigraphy that provides teaching, training and funding for geoscience students. He also has sponsored-mentored several IBA teams, and is the school’s AAPG student chapter faculty advisor.
Harrison Schmitt Award
This award annually recognizes individuals and organizations whose accomplishments fall beyond the parameters of other AAPG awards.
- Nikki Martin, EnerGeo Alliance, Houston – As president of EnerGeo Alliance, Martin has helped transform the alliance (formerly the International Association of Geophysical Contractors) from its identity as a trade association into a strategic-focused organization that works for the safe discovery, development and delivery of energy, while simultaneously working with the public for a greater understanding of energy.
Public Service Award
This award annually recognizes and encourages AAPG members to take a more active part in public affairs.
- Clemencia Gomez, National University of Colombia, Bogota, Colombia – Honored for her leadership and advocacy of the much-praised and impactful “A Geologist in Every Municipality” initiative, whose goal is just that: A geoscientist in each Colombian municipality, enhancing the influence of geosciences in public policy, overseeing environmental issues, studying natural hazards, assisting the management of local natural resources and providing counsel in emergency situations.
(Previous AAPG honors include the AAPG Foundation’s Inspirational Geosciences Educator Award.)
Young Professionals Exemplary Service Award
Presented in award members who have promoted growth, awareness and expanded opportunities withing AAPG for young professionals.
- Ricardo Alevato, ExxonMobil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Active leadership and participation through AAPG’s IBA, Student Chapters and Young Professionals programs in Brazil.
- Stefanie Hormaza Bacia, Axens, Rueil-Malmaison, Paris, France – Active leadership and participation, as co-founder of AAPG’s YP Ecuador Chapter; three years as IBA regional coordinator (Latin America and Caribbean Region); and current co-chair of the IBA Committee.