Rick Miller received a BA in physics from Benedictine College, an MS in physics (emphasis geophysics) from University of Kansas (KU), and a PhD in geophysics from University of Leoben, Austria. Since 1983, he has been at the Kansas Geological Survey, a research and service division of KU, where he is senior scientist and courtesy associate professor of geology. His scientific interests focus on applying shallow-seismic methods to a wide assortment of problems from energy to engineering to the environment.

SEG is Miller’s professional home, and the Society has recognized his contributions advancing the science and serving the profession with the inaugural SEG Near Surface Harold Mooney Award (1995), SEG Distinguished Achievement Award (2002) to Miller’s research group, and Life Membership Award (2014). His service to SEG includes terms as second vice president (2011–2012), first vice president (2012–2013), treasurer and chairman for the SEG Global Inc. Board of Directors (2014–18), and representative to the SEG Council nine times since 1989. An SEG member since 1984, Miller has served on several boards, most notably The Leading Edge (TLE) Editorial Board (chair, 2009), a half-dozen committees, and task force appointments (Inter-Society, Near Surface, IDC, and China). He served SEG twice as Technical Program cochair for the International Conference on Engineering Geophysics (2015, 2017) in the United Arab Emirates, four times a workshop convener, and three times continuing education instructor. In 2012, he was selected inaugural Near-Surface Honorary Lecturer.

 Miller was guest editor on 17 TLE special sections and an author on 33 TLE articles. He has edited or co-edited two SEG books and been author on more than 135 Annual Meeting expanded abstracts, 113 refereed articles (24 in Geophysics, two in Interpretation), and eight SEG book chapters.

Position Statement

For more than 85 years, SEG has been a leader and more importantly instrumental in globally advancing the science of exploration geophysics. With SEG’s 2003 global membership milestone (majority of members living outside the United States) has come a sharpened vision and challenge to connect the world of applied geophysics. Woven into SEG’s institutional fabric and essential to its mission is understanding and meeting member needs across the globe.

SEG’s future is bright as the home society for a diverse set of applied geophysics professionals, advancing traditional applications and pioneering emerging and exciting focus areas.

• Presidential goals must be obtainable and sustainable. My focus:
  
• Publications, number one member benefit — continue enhancing publication products
  
• Annual meeting is our Super Bowl/World Cup and is attended by more nonmembers than members — increase attendance and flip that ratio
  
• Partnerships with sister societies have benefited SEG — strengthen and grow relationships that make sense for SEG members
  
• SEG’s regional offices are unique resources — increase reach of offices consistent with mission, member needs, and economics

As a member-driven society, meeting the needs and expectations of the members is the principal measure of success. SEG’s president must be engaged with and counseled by the members

Maurice Nessim, president of WesternGeco, is a member of the SEG Foundation Board of Directors and chairman of the International Association of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC). He has a BSc and MSc in physics, nuclear physics, and geophysics, and has won several prestigious awards and patents, including the Schlumberger Chairman’s award. He authored and coauthored more than 25 papers that have been presented in various international conferences. He has been an SEG Active Member since 1991 and is a member of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, Society of Petroleum Engineers, and American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Nessim served as 2015–2016 SEG director at large and, in 2017, was elected board member of the SEG Foundation and chairman of the IAGC.

Nessim was recently appointed board member of the Houston-based Technology Collaboration Center, an organization that fosters collaboration across technology sectors — including space, medical, and energy — to address real-world problems.

Nessim has more than 30 years of oil and gas industry experience in various technical and management positions. He joined WesternGeco as a geophysicist in 1981 and has served as area vice president for Middle East and Asia, area vice president for North and South America, and global vice president of operations. He was vice president of marketing and technology for the Schlumberger Reservoir Management group and president of Schlumberger PetroTechnical Services.

He was also a cofounder of the Sea Exploration Association (SEA) and founder of the Schlumberger Area Geophysicists program to develop petrotechnical expertise. He was named to his current position as WesternGeco president in 2015.

Position Statement

SEG has been a pivotal force in the geophysical industry since its founding, and I am honored to be nominated for president of an organization so committed to its mission and its people.

SEG maintains its influence through a willingness and ability to change. But it’s not only about reacting; it’s also about predicting where future shifts may occur and what impact they may have. The ability to combine vision with business and technology has served me well in my career, and I believe that my leadership skills, geophysical expertise, and international experience would enable me to contribute to the direction of SEG.

I see several areas of focus for us: (1) improve the global image of geophysics in order to attract next-generation geophysicists, (2) expand the role of geophysics in meeting humanitarian and environmental challenges, (3) improve our international reach, not just for presence, but to actively access local talent everywhere, (4) modernize the impact of geophysics on exploration through a digital transformation, and (5) ensure that both service companies and oil and gas operators see SEG not only as a technical forum, but as a partner — a way for them to change the game in their businesses.

The combination of science, education, and transformation ensures SEG’s continued relevance in an ever-changing industry.

David Bartel is a geophysical consultant with Chevron in Houston, Texas. He earned his BSc and MSc in geophysics from the University of Utah, and a PhD in engineering geoscience from the University of California at Berkeley. Since then, he has enjoyed a 30-year career with Chevron in exploration and technical geophysics. For the last 16 years, Bartel has worked for Chevron’s Energy Technology Co. on worldwide projects with an emphasis on velocity modeling, anisotropy, prestack depth migration, vertical seismic profiles, electromagnetics, reservoir properties from seismic, and fiber-optic data acquisition — most recently in project management and team leader positions. For the past three years, Bartel has been involved with the SEG/Chevron Student Leadership Symposium, helping the next generation of leaders in the profession.

An SEG member since 1979, Bartel has been active with the Reviews Committee (chair 2005–08 and 2011–14), reviewing published books in The Leading Edge. He has volunteered as an associate editor and reviewer for Geophysics and Interpretation, and has several publications in Geophysics and The Leading Edge. Bartel worked on the Technical Program Committee for two SEG Annual Meetings. He is a registered geophysicist in California and Texas and is a member of SEG, the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists, the Geophysical Society of Houston, and the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Since 2015, Bartel has served on the SEG Foundation Board of Directors, including as chair of the Audit Committee for 2017–18.

Position Statement

SEG is in a time of transition, both financially and in how the Society connects with its members. SEG has always been a source of technical information for all facets of applied geophysics. Our global community of geophysicists needs to work together to be a trusted source of information as our membership profile changes. Membership is changing to be more global and younger. How these members relate to SEG and its programs may be different from how members did in the past.

Throughout my 39 years of SEG membership, I can honestly say I have enjoyed it tremendously. I look to SEG as a great source of technical information. But it has also been a gathering place of geophysicists. At Annual Meetings, we see new technology, meet new people, and reconnect with old friends from past years. I want others to feel as I have and make connections through SEG to the global community of geophysicists.

I am honored to have been nominated to run for the SEG Second Vice President position. I commit to working with SEG leadership, members, and staff to make SEG even better in the future.

Manika Prasad graduated from University of Bombay, India, with a BSc (Honors) in geology. She then got an MSc (Diplom) in geology and geophysics and a PhD in geophysics from Kiel University, Germany. Prasad has worked at various university and government institutions. She was a research fellow at the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, a postdoctoral associate at the Mineral Physics Laboratory at University of Hawaii, a research associate at Stanford University, and, most recently, faculty at Colorado School of Mines. She has also consulted for major oil companies and on rock physics and petrophysics solutions in various parts of the world.

At Colorado School of Mines, Prasad directs the Center for Rock Abuse, which consists of about 20 people. She plays with experimental setups in the laboratory and is happiest when developing novel ways to analyze rocks and having her graduate and undergraduate students explain complicated phenomena, such as entropy of deadlines. She has published on a variety of topics, including rock physics, near-surface geophysics, medical and nondestructive imaging, signal processing, and petrophysics.

Prasad’s work in acoustical imaging required her to explain rocks to nongeoscientists by recasting rocks as complex organisms with blood (fluid) transport via arteries (pores, channels) that can suffer blockage (restriction, pore throats) and fractures. With this comes the realization that scientific and technological breakthroughs happen when we find a common scientific language.

Prasad serves as an associate editor for Geophysics and was technical editor for SPE Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering – Formation Evaluation. She is a member of the SEG Women’s Network Committee and other SEG and Society of Petroleum Engineers committees. Prasad was the Fall 2012 SEG-AAPG Distinguished Lecturer and was recognized by SEG in 2015 as an Outstanding Educator and in 2017 with the Virgil Kauffman Gold Medal.  

Position Statement

Geophysics is a fascinating field where physicists, geologists, chemists and chemical engineers, software programmers, and all types of engineers find their home. A society that serves and caters to such a variety of disciplines must speak a common language that is understood by all members. At a time when many of us are thinking of reinventing our careers, SEG must provide that spark and passion to keep everyone engaged and to include every branch and every member of our field. Having been an SEG member since my student days, I am honored to give back to the society in any way I can. I would like to:

• Promote diversity in our nomination of deserving candidates for SEG Honors and Awards
  
• Involve more early-career professionals and students in SEG governance
  
• Work toward serving the interests of every branch and members from in all parts of the world
  
• Promote engagement at regional levels and in SEG regional and sister societies
  
• Establish a higher involvement with student societies so that students are inspired and vested to become full members after graduation
  
• Strengthen ties between exploration geophysicists from various parts of the world
  
• Promote more joint society programs on exploration, solid earth, space, and environmental geophysics topics
  

Dan Ebrom received his MS and PhD in geophysics from the University of Houston (UH), after having received his SB from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Upon receiving his PhD, Ebrom spent six years as a researcher with UH, including two years as interim director of the UH Allied Geophysical Labs. Following UH, he joined Texaco to work on Teal South, the world’s first 4C, 4D permanently emplaced oilfield seismic system. From Texaco, he moved to BP to oversee multicomponent acquisition and processing projects in Trinidad and Azerbaijan. While at BP, Ebrom extended technology that predicted pore pressure from P-wave velocities to quantitatively utilize S-wave velocities (AAPG Ziad Beydoun prize, 2002; co-awardees Heppard, Thomsen, Harrold, and Mueller) and V_P/V_S ratios (Helios prize for Innovation, 2005; co-awardees Albertin, Heppard, Hornby, and Viceer). Since transitioning to Statoil 10 years ago, his work has focused on the use of seismic-derived pore pressure to characterize hydrocarbon seals for exploration seal identification and risking.

Ebrom has served as Geophysical Society of Houston (GSH) president, GSH first vice president, and chair of the GSH Continuing Education committee. He is currently on the SEAM Board of Directors and serves as the SEAM Corporation treasurer. He has also served as SEG secretary-treasurer, chair of the SEG Finance Board, chair of the SEG Continuing Education Committee, chair of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee, and editor of the SEG Reprint Series. He has organized the SEG sessions at the Offshore Technology Conference on multiple occasions. Recently, he was the technical chairman of the 2015 GSH Spring Symposium.

Position Statement

As treasurer, my main objective will be to get relevant financial information to the SEG officers and directors, which will enable them to make the best use of SEG funds.

Of course, the treasurer is an officer of the Society and so looks at the broader picture as well. Here are my priorities:

Putting more emphasis on exploration and geophysics than is currently the norm. Many of my exploration colleagues complain that SEG Annual Meeting technical programs are too computer-algorithm-centric with too little interpretive geophysics. While computational geophysics will remain a core competency of SEG, perhaps the Society should consider more joint programs with AAPG to better serve our interpretive members.

Encouraging the chair(s) of the Annual Meeting to find creative ways of including all of those abstracts that are useful to the membership, and not rejecting abstracts simply because of an insufficient number of similar abstracts.

Giving younger geophysicists more substantial roles in the Society. If we miss the opportunity to recruit and develop younger leaders now, we run the risk of having no leadership pool when the baby boomers start to disappear.

SEG is a society of “idea people.” We need to constantly tap into that resource.

Zhaobo (Joe) Meng joined the SEG Foundation Board of Directors recently and has brought a passion for the Foundation’s role in supporting the next generation of geophysicists. He has been an active SEG member since 1994 and most recently completed an eight-year term on the SEG Scholarship Committee, concluding as chair in 2017. He lectured at Shandong University, China, before receiving his PhD in applied mathematics from the Center for Wave Phenomena (CWP) at Colorado School of Mines. He began his professional geophysical career with Phillips in 1998 and later with ConocoPhillips in 2002, following the merger of Phillips and Conoco. He cofounded Nexus Geosciences Inc. (later acquired by WesternGeco) and served as a consultant at BHP Billiton. He returned to ConocoPhillips and was in charge of their velocity group. In 2010, Meng founded the advanced seismic technology and services company, In-Depth Geophysical Inc., and in 2017, he founded the compressive sensing technology and service company, In-Depth Compressive Seismic Inc.

Meng is an expert in velocity tomography, ray-tracing-based imaging, and inversion. He developed and promoted the concept of k-semblance, which enables accurate tomographic inversion in environments with large geologic dips. Meng has published numerous papers concerning his research interests.

Meng has keen interests and hands-on experience with finance and business in today’s challenging environment. He has made numerous presentations to young geoscientists, at SEG Annual Meetings, regional offices, and SEG affiliated organizations concerning technical, leadership, managerial, and entrepreneurial career-path options, and related risks and benefits.

Position statement

The primary mission of SEG is to promote the science of exploration geophysics and related fields. In today’s difficult market environment, SEG must remain practical and focus on not only pure science, but also applications and innovations. In addition, SEG must remain financially strong and disciplined.

My main focus areas are:

Monitoring the financial activities of SEG, focusing on the health and accountability of all sections including the regional offices

Getting deeply involved with students and young geophysicists in their career development, particularly to promote the development of skills and competency on practical geoscience applications in addition to theory

Working closely with SEG’s Beijing (and Asia) regional offices to promote SEG’s mission, membership, and activities

Working with the SEG Foundation for joint fundraising activities and promoting SEG in the circle of small businesses

I am deeply honored to be nominated for this position and to have the great opportunity to serve our Society and our members.

Maria Angela Capello is an award-wining leader and expert in reservoir management, leadership strategies, multiculturalism, training, and diversity for the energy sector. Her strength resides in a leadership capacity to advance large organizations toward strategic objectives, and in her insightful knowledge of national oil companies and service companies from her experience in the Middle East, United States, and Latin America.

Capello is currently an executive advisor at Kuwait Oil Company, championing the standardization of reservoir management practices across the company and other strategic initiatives. She is lead advisor of the Professional Women Network of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and its nine subsidiaries.

Capello was the first woman to supervise geophysical field operations in the jungles of Venezuela and progressed to general manager of an oil asset in PDVSA. Later, she was subsurface and operations manager for Latin America and the Northern Arabian Gulf for Halliburton Landmark. Recently, she authored the book “Learned in the Trenches — Insights on Leadership and Resilience.” She believes that improving an individual, team, or corporation starts with clear strategic goals, communicated in simple and appealing ways.

Initially a physicist, Capello also received an MS in geophysics from Colorado School of Mines. She has been an SEG vice president, Honorary Lecturer, and has received the Special Commendation and Lifetime Membership awards from SEG. She has chaired several SEG committees, and currently is a member of the SEG Advanced Modeling (SEAM) Board of Directors, the chair of the Women’s Network Committee, and an SEG Council member.

Capello is a Society of Petroleum Engineers Distinguished Member and Distinguished Lecturer. She received in 2017 the SPE Distinguished Service Award, is an associate editor for the Journal of Petroleum Technology, and “SPE Women in Energy” advisor.

In 2018, she received the international GRIT Award, for being a “Difference Maker in Energy.”

Position Statement 

Geophysics is in transition from focusing on exploration for hydrocarbons to other applications. As a director at large, I would like to steer specific initiatives and raise the necessary flags to ensure SEG remains a valuable society for members of all ages, cultures, and genders with different levels of experience around the world, by taking a wider range of interests and preferences. To advance SEG into the new energy ecosystem, I am convinced we need to do more specifically for younger geophysicists, for women in geophysics, and for nontraditional and new applications of geophysics.

I will leverage my understanding of our Society, acquired from decades of volunteering, and my multinational experience to

• Ensure mechanisms are in place at all levels for encouraging the active participation of younger geophysicists. We need to hear their voices (and Snapchats!) to rejuvenate SEG!
  
• Boost the participation (and leadership!) of women from all regions in our technical and organizational committees, and in SEG leadership roles
  
• Expand attention to new applications of geophysics, including monitoring of production in the oil industry, civil engineering, hydrogeology, and environmental engineering
  
• Empower SEG actions toward promoting geophysics at earlier ages in education, joining STEM initiatives in selected regions around the world
  

David Lumley is Professor, and Green Chair in Geophysics, at the University of Texas at Dallas. He holds a PhD Geophysics from Stanford University, and an MSc and BSc (Hons) Geophysics from the University of British Columbia.

Lumley’s professional industry experience includes research and operations roles in major energy and service companies (Chevron, ARCO, Mobil, Fugro, Western Geophysical); small business ownership as a founder, CEO and chief scientist of a start-up technology company (4th Wave Imaging, purchased by Fugro in 2007); and as a consultant for seismic imaging and inversion projects, especially time-lapse subsurface monitoring. Lumley’s professional academic experience includes professor and chair positions at UT Dallas and the University of Western Australia, plus adjunct professor positions at the University of Southern California and Stanford University. He has published more than 150 scientific articles in refereed journals and conference proceedings, receiving eight Best Paper awards and more than 2,500 journal citations. Lumley has served as an expert advisor to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and numerous other industry and government scientific organizations.

Lumley has been an SEG member for more than 30 years and has served variously as first vice president (2009–2010), Distinguished Lecturer (2000), chair or member on numerous committees, and faculty adviser for a university Student Chapter. He benefited from SEG scholarships as a student, and has since permanently endowed SEG and American Geophysical Union (AGU) scholarships in energy and environmental geophysics. Lumley was honored with SEG’s first J. Clarence Karcher Award in 1996 for his pioneering contributions to the development of 4D seismology.

Position Statement

Lists of the top 10 grand challenges facing humanity almost always include energy, environment, food, and water. Applied geophysics, and therefore SEG, has a critical role to play in helping to address these grand challenges. SEG is a strong contributor to the exploration and production of energy, minerals, and other natural resources, and societal demand for these likely will continue for multiple decades, until renewable energy and synthetic materials are available at scales necessary to supply global requirements. In parallel, SEG must continue diversifying its scientific portfolio in applied geophysics to ensure its future relevance and success. In addition to maintaining our core strengths in natural resources, we must continue to address a wider array of societal challenges such as access to clean water, protecting the environment, hardening infrastructure against climate change, and mitigating the risks of both natural and manmade geo-hazards. If elected to the SEG Board of Directors, I will be honored to work with SEG members to further implement this vision by increasing collaboration with the fundamental earth sciences (e.g., AGU) and engineering (e.g., National Academy of Engineering) and by developing new initiatives to enhance expertise, funding, and opportunities for our members in order to sustain SEG’s leadership role in applied geophysics.

Hitoshi Mikada is a professor in charge of applied geophysics in the Department of Civil and Earth Resources Engineering at Kyoto University. He received his BS, MS, and PhD in geophysics from the University of Tokyo in 1981, 1983, and 1994, respectively. His 35-year industry career began as an interpretation engineer with Schlumberger in Tokyo in 1983. Since then, he has held research positions with the University of Tokyo, Schlumberger, and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology before obtaining a professorship of geophysics at Kyoto University. He is now an editor in charge of applied geophysics for a SpringerOpen journal, Progress in Earth and Planetary Science. He has been an SEG Active member for more than 20 years and served as an SEG Council member for some years. He contributed in capacities ranging from a program committee member to an oversighting committee chair to nine SEG-cosponsored international geophysical symposia held in Asia from 1994 to 2018. His international activity includes services as a CTBTO committee member (2002–2003) and a cochair of interim Science Steering Committee of IODP (1999–2003). He now serves as the advisor to the SEG Student Chapter at Kyoto University. His main interest includes research on theories, simulations, and praxis in seismic scattering, wave propagation in attenuating and anisotropic media, seismic data processing, electromagnetic exploration, geophysical logging, rock failure, etc., for which he tries to accommodate particle-based methods in full-waveform inversion and in interdisciplinary areas of research between reservoir engineering and exploration geophysics.

Position Statement

It is a great honor to be nominated as a candidate for SEG director at large. In the industry, the downturn has repeatedly battered the exploration business, and a big shift is taking place toward an unclear direction in the community of seismic data acquisition players. As the improvement of signal-to-noise ratio was a breakthrough in the seismic data acquisition business, the role of SEG to assimilate cutting-edge technologies would be a key to the future. Among various SEG activities, the international and interdisciplinary technology interchange among engineers and the education of young people should be highlighted to demonstrate that SEG places importance on global community and diversity. If elected, I will lead the Society to hold a clear vision to:

• Focus on passive seismics, big data, and related artificial intelligence as well as existing geophysical methodologies
  
• Expand the current efforts in the continuing education programs for young professionals
  
• Increase the awareness among geoscientific communities of SEG, focusing on the development of technologies toward the broader use of geophysics
  
• Promote intersociety activity among geoscience-related communities through the student chapters and associated societies
  
• Disseminate knowledge SEG has been cultivating through a variety of networking activities
  

Huasheng Zheng is executive vice president of BGP. He received an MBA from the University of Calgary, Canada, along with prior study in finance from Sichuan Petroleum Finance Institute, China. He is a member of SEG, the SEG China Advisory Committee, the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, the steering committee of the International Association of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC), and director of IAGC. He began his career with BGP in 1986. As one of the pioneers in BGP’s inaugural international business development, circa 1994, he has been deeply engaged in the overall laborious adventure. In June 2005, Zheng was promoted to president of BGP International. Since then, he has shepherded BGP’s international business growth from a relatively small company to being the top geophysical service contractor in the world, resulting in unprecedented growth into the international market and accumulating a client base in excess of 200 oil and gas companies comprising all the major international oil companies, OPEC members, and non-OPEC national oil companies. He has ascended in his career from operations to executive management. Additionally, he has set up two new BGP businesses — the marine operation and seismic equipment manufacturing company INOVA.

Zheng has been actively involved in the social activities of the industry for his entire career while building a superb personal and working relationship with BGP’s clients, partners, suppliers, and professionals in the global energy industry through frequent and extensive interface.

Position Statement

If elected, I will make the best use of 30 years of experience in management to engage in at least the following four areas of activities and/or programs for SEG:

• Review current criteria and strategies for assessing and approving all expenditures, and provide advice to prioritize SEG spending to get the most “bang for the buck” to enhance efficiency
  
• Initiate workable plan to expand corporation between IAGC and SEG beyond the current areas of HSSE and regulatory affairs to achieve win-win for oil companies and seismic contractors that will also benefit the global oil and gas industry
  
• Recommend practical plan to make SEG a more well-known organization, especially in Asia-Pacific, Middle East and African regions
  
• Offer insights in drafting feasible plans and strategies for the next five to ten years to advance SEG to become not only a prominent organization for the global energy community but also a robust professional entity with perennial increase in membership
  

Barry J. Rava has over 37 years of oil and gas industry experience. He has a BS cum laude with high honors in geology from Hofstra University, and an MS in planetary geology and geophysics from the University of Pittsburgh. Rava is an exploration consultant to international companies and the independent community, a licensed geologist and geophysicist in Texas, and president and founder of Icarus Oil and Gas Inc.

 He is the vice president of national energy for the Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists (SIPES) and president-elect of SIPES (Houston). He has previously served as the treasurer of the Geophysical Society of Houston, vice president and president of the Coastal Bend Geophysical Society, president of the Gulf Coast Geological Library, treasurer of the Corpus Christi Geological Library, and chairman of the Continuing Education Committee for both Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies and SIPES (Houston).

 He has coauthored two articles in the field of planetary physics and given guest lectures about the oil and gas industry.

 Other memberships include SEG, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, and the Houston Geological Society.

Connie J. VanSchuyver is a technical training and development manager at TGS. She received her BS in mathematics from Texas A&M University in 1977 and began working as a seismic processor at Seiscom Delta in January 1978. She also worked at Champlin Petroleum, BKW, Conoco, and GDC. She began her MS in geophysics at the University of Houston (UH), attending class at night while at GDC and completing it in 2004. She was a full-time student at UH from 2004 to 2006 while working on a PhD, completing both written and oral exams, but not a dissertation. In 2006, she began working at Paradigm in customer support, supporting processing and imaging, plus reservoir characterization before moving to training development. In 2013, she moved to TGS to organize and develop a global training program and has managed that since. In addition, she has taken on many other tasks including documentation, internal website management, and external website organization and material. She is an active member of SEG, the Geophysical Society of Houston, and the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers. VanSchuyver has been a reviewer for papers submitted for the SEG Annual Meeting in AVO for several years, and has served as a session chairman several times.

Kathryn “Kathy” Hardy is a retired exploration geophysicist. She graduated from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Hardy started her career in Houston, working for Gulf Oil and Marathon Oil. Houston traffic drove her to Corpus Christi where she worked for Texas Oil & Gas, along with numerous independents. She served the Coastal Bend Geophysical Society in almost every office and received life membership for her service. When she returned to Houston, she served as secretary and president of the Geophysical Society of Houston and also received life membership. In Houston, she worked as a consultant for numerous companies and finished out her career as an exploration advisor for EPL/Energy XXI. Hardy has been a member of SEG for 40 years. She served as a District 2 representative in 2014–2015. As District 2 representative, she will strive to understand how SEG Council decisions will affect the membership and she will vote for those members’ best interests.

Tracy J. Stark can best be described as a “consultant with a research habit.” He prefers to take on projects that require, at least in part, the creation of a new approach or technique to solve. He started his career with a 10-year stint at Exxon Production Research Lab in Houston. He received a BS (1979) and PhD (1986) in geological sciences (geophysics option) from the University of Texas at Austin, under the guidance of Milo Backus. At Exxon, Stark first worked on the direct hydrocarbon detection team before creating the “surface slice” method for 3D seismic interpretation. He was one of three founding members of Exxon’s self-directed visualization team that constructed a “blue room” for visualization. In 1996, he moved to ARCO’s research lab in Plano, Texas, helping design and program their two generations of immersive visualization environments prior to the lab’s closing due to the acquisition by BP. In 2000 he founded STARK Research, where he created techniques to build “age volumes” and associated “wheeler volumes” as well as new spectral decomposition, frequency enhancement, and other interpretation techniques. Stark has volunteered for SEG in a variety of positions throughout his career. He has served as a past editorial board member of The Leading Edge, was the technical program chairperson of the 2008 Annual Meeting, and was a coorganizer of many postconvention and summer research workshops. He is currently on the editorial board of Interpretation. In addition, Stark is an honorary life member and past president of the Dallas Geophysical Society.

Biondo Biondi is the Barney and Estelle Morris Professor of Geophysics at Stanford University. He graduated from Politecnico di Milano in 1984, and received an MS (1988) and a PhD (1990) in geophysics from Stanford. He is director of the Stanford Exploration Project (SEP). SEP is an academic consortium with a mission to develop innovative seismic imaging methodologies and to educate the next generation of leaders in applied seismology. SEP’s activities are supported by about 20 companies involved in oil and gas exploration and production. He is also codirector of Stanford’s Center for Computational Earth and Environmental Science (CEES). CEES leads the Stanford School of Earth Sciences’ computational-oriented research and educational programs.

 Biondi has made contributions to several aspects of seismic imaging, ranging from velocity estimation to parallel algorithms for seismic migration. Since the early 1990s, he has been at the forefront of the development of wave-equation imaging and inversion methods. In 2004, SEG honored him with the Reginald Fessenden Award. In 2006, Biondi published 3D Seismic Imaging, which was the first book to introduce the theory of seismic imaging from the 3D perspective. In 2007, he was the SEG/EAGE Distinguished Short Course Instructor, for which he gave a one-day course in more than 30 cities around the world.

Stuart Wright received a BS in geology/geophysics from Northern Arizona University in 1980. From 1980 to 1987, he worked in Denver for Cities Service/OXY as an exploration geophysicist. Wright then worked for Western Geophysical from 1987 to 2003 as a data processor and as a design geophysicist. In 2003, he joined Dawson Geophysical as manager of geophysics, where he was responsible for 3D survey design, parameter testing, and other acquisition issues. He currently holds the title of chief geophysicist.

 Wright is the author/coauthor of several papers including “Fundamental 3-D seismic survey design,” “Seismic data acquisition in mountainous terrain,” and “Lodgepole 3-D seismic: Design, acquisition, and processing.” He is a member of SEG, where he has served numerous years as session chair, “key contact,” abstract reviewer, and volunteer chairman. Wright is also a member of the Denver Geophysical Society (president in 2012), the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the 3D Seismic Symposium Committee, and RCP. He has been invited to speak about 3D topics across the country, including as a guest lecturer at the Colorado School of Mines since 2003.

William Harbert is a professor of geophysics at the University of Pittsburgh. His undergraduate degrees are from Western Washington University and were completed in mathematics, geology, and geophysics. He holds an MS in exploration geophysics and a PhD in geophysics from Stanford University. Harbert was given SEG’s Life Membership Award, is a registered professional petroleum geophysicist, and a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He has served as a full voting member on the Governor of Pennsylvania’s Commission on Mine Voids and Mine Safety. He has been a research associate for the United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, and has also been a Resident Institute Fellow of the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Institute for Advanced Energy Solution. He was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the In Salah CO₂ Injection Project, which is facilitated by British Petroleum. In addition, Harbert is presently on the Altarock Review Board, which focuses on an enhanced geothermal power project funded by DOE. Harbert works to accurately image surface geometry using geophysical techniques and advanced geophysical processing. The goal of this research is to better understand subsurface structures, subsurface pore-filling phases, and topologies and dynamic processes at a variety of scales.  

Debra Phillips has over 36 years of experience working as a petroleum geophysicist. She started her career at Amoco, continuing with BP, and retiring from that company in 2011. During that time, she worked exploration, production, and development in the Permian Basin, Rocky Mountains, Anadarko Basin, Gulf of Mexico, and offshore California in the United States. Her overseas projects were in Somalia, Norway, Russia, Venezuela, and Trinidad. Phillips then worked for Hyperdynamics from 2011 to 2013 on Guinea exploration. She worked for BHP on exploration projects in Australia, Brazil, and Africa from 2014 to 2017. She is currently retired. She was the Geophysical Society of Houston (GSH) board secretary for 2015–2016. She served on the Colorado School of Mines RCP Advisory Council for many years. Phillips earned a BS in geology from Baylor University and an MS in geophysics from Colorado School of Mines, where she worked under Tom Davis. She is a member of SEG, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, GSH, and the Houston Geological Society.

Rachel Newrick is an exploration geophysicist working and teaching internationally with a focus on seismic interpretation. She completed a BSc in geology (1992) and a BSc honors in geophysics (1993) at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. She earned a PhD in exploration seismology (2004) from the University of Calgary.

 During her career, Newrick has worked as a summer student/researcher for BHP (Melbourne), Occidental (Houston), ExxonMobil (Houston), and Veritas (Calgary). She worked full time for Nexen (Calgary and London) and Cairn Energy (Edinburgh). She is now based in Alberta, Canada with Racian Ventures. In addition, she is an instructor with RPS-Nautilus and teaches a variety of seismic interpretation courses internationally.

 Newrick is the coauthor of the SEG Geophysical Monograph Series no. 13, Fundamentals of Geophysical Interpretation, a contributor to two 52 Things… books, and has presented at a variety of conferences and technical luncheons.

 She has been a member of SEG since 1999 where she has volunteered as a conference session chairperson, presented numerous papers, reviewed Interpretation papers, and served on the Field Camps Committee for four years (chair 2011–2013).

 Newrick is also a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, and the Canadian SEG (where she recently served as vice president, president, and past president from 2014–2017).

Currently lead geophysicist at SAExploration, Keith Millis has as a distinct passion for our society, profession, and energy industry. He is an active member of SEG, the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG), and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA). Millis is also a member of the CSEG Chief Geophysicists Forum and New Initiatives Committee. He serves as an SEG Council member for District 5 and is a part of the APEGA Authentication Subject Matter Expert Panel. He has recently been on the CSEG Executive as director of communications, the APEGA Executive as chair of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Honorary Address, and was a member of the GeoConvention Technical Committee. Throughout his career at Anderson Exploration, Devon Canada, BJV, with leadership roles at OptiSeis and SAExploration, he has pursued imaging improvements through innovative acquisition design, modeling, processing, and IFQC on seismic programs around the world. He has presented several times at GeoConvention, SEG Annual Meetings, and has published papers in the CSEG Recorder. In addition to industry and volunteer positions, he is an avid musician who enjoys raising his two daughters and son.

José R. Arce obtained a BS from the University of Missouri-Rolla in geology and geophysics (1991) and an MS in geophysical engineering from the University of Arizona (1993). He has been working as a geophysicist at Arce Geofísicos in Peru since 1993 and currently heads the company, with more than 880 surveys completed with his active involvement to date. He presided the organizing committee for the XIII Latin American Geological Congress and XIV Peruvian Geological Congress in 2008. He was elected as president of the Peruvian Geological Society for the 2012–2013 period. Arce was also regional vice president for South America for the Society of Economic Geologists during the 2015–2016 period, where he also served as part of the Nominations Committee. As a member of SEG, Arce was chair of the Mining Committee for the 2015–2016 period and is currently chair-elect of the Near-Surface Geophysics Technical Section. In addition, he serves as a Council member representing District 6. He also is a member of the SEG Latin America Advisory Committee and the Meetings and Review Planning Committee.

Ana Curcio simultaneously earned an MS in physics from the School of Sciences and an MS in geodesy-geophysical engineering from the School of Engineering at Buenos Aires University. She is currently obtaining a PhD from the same university. Curcio is an Active Member of SEG where she has served as a Council representative (2016), is involved with SEAM, is a member of the Latin America Regional Advisory Committee, and currently volunteers to help translate Sheriff’s Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Geophysics into Spanish. She is also a member of the board of directors of the Argentinean Association of Petroleum Geologists and Geophysicists. Her main area of interest is the integration of seismic and electromagnetics, in particular the applications for conventional/unconventional reservoir monitoring, and elastic and electrical anisotropy. She has developed a 3D anisotropic electromagnetic code for fracking electromagnetic monitoring purposes and its integration with microseismic. In the oil industry, Curcio worked for Schlumberger Brazil (hydraulic fracturing). Her exploration geophysicist position at Pan American Energy (60% British Petroleum), allowed her to develop skills on seismic interpretation (onshore, offshore, and deep targets) and microseismic for unconventional reservoirs. She also worked for Petrobras, where she focused on characterization of unconventional reservoirs, microseismic applications, anisotropy studies with VSP, pore-pressure studies and its integration with seismic and geomechanics. Her international consultancy activity is on electromagnetic methods (magnetotellurics), covering the entire scope of the technology spectrum; she reached leadership level and is proficient in operationally and technically supervising a field crew. Curcio is motivated on working with cultural and ethnic diversity. Apart from Spanish and English, she speaks Portuguese and communicates in Chinese. Her main objectives as a Council representative would be to: (1) connect the world of applied geophysics, promoting networking based on cultural and ethnic diversity; (2) translate SEG material and promote new material; (3) construct a bridge between the new generation of young and expert geophysicists, inspiring each other; (4) construct a bridge between academia and industry; and (5) integrate innovative technologies from shallow to deep targets.

Anton Bogrash is a senior geophysicist at Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS). He is also a geophysics PhD candidate at Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) in Russia. He received his BSc in hydrogeology and engineering geology in 2010 and an MSc in petroleum geoscience in 2012 from MSU. In 2011, he won the Schlumberger Scholarship Award.

 Bogrash joined PGS Reservoir in Moscow in 2011 as an intern and worked on seismic interpretation projects. In 2012, he transferred to onboard processing to work on seismic vessels across the globe. His efforts revolve around raw seismic data quality control, creation and validation of dual-sensor acquisition deliverables, as well as full-integrity processing stages and fast-track imaging.

At MSU, Bogrash is researching multiple-point geostatistical modeling for reservoir property estimation with a multidisciplinary approach employing seismic stratigraphy, inversion, and rock physics. His research interests also include broadband seismic and uncertainty quantification. He is a member of SEG and the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences.

Alexandre Belousov is an associate professor in the department of exploration geophysics at Gubkin University in Moscow, Russia. He received his PhD (Candidate of Science in technical sciences) in 2006 from Gubkin University. His fields of interest include 3D seismic data acquisition, quality control, and processing. He is an Active Member of SEG, and also a member of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, and the Euro-Asian Geophysical Society.

Sandra Tegtmeier-Last currently works as an experimental processing geophysicist for Shell Global Solutions International in the Netherlands. She holds an MSc (2001) in geophysics from Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany and a PhD in applied sciences (2007) from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. From 2006 to 2013, she worked as a research geophysicist for Chevron in San Ramon, California.

Aside from her interest in seismic processing and imaging, she is also keen on finding ways to promote and support STEM education in schools.

She is a member of SEG, the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE), and the German Geophysical Society. She has served one term as SEG District 8 representative and is a member of SEG’s Continuing Education Committee. She has also served two years as a member of EAGE’s Student Affairs Committee (2003–2005).

Alfredo Mazzotti is the chair of geophysics at the University of Pisa in Italy where he teaches reflection seismology and seismic data processing, and acts as the president of the Master of Science in Exploration and Applied Geophysics program. He graduated with honors from the University of Florence in 1981 with a dissertation on seismic tomography. A year later, he started his career in geophysics at ENI (hydrocarbon exploration), where he met the hardship of confronting real data problems in both processing and inversion of geophysical data. This peculiar trait has since permeated his research efforts in academia, which he joined in 1995. His current research interests include stochastic full-waveform inversion, seismic-petrophysical inversion, and 2D/3D seismic data processing. He has also acted as a consultant for many companies and international institutions. He has authored more than 170 publications between conference proceedings, peer-reviewed papers, and has received the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE) Loránd Eötvös Award in 1998 and again in 2006. Mazzotti joined SEG in 1991 and has served as a member of the Global Affairs Committee for several years. He is also a member of EAGE, and cofounder and first president of the Italian EAGE-SEG Section.

Tariq A. Alkhalifah is a professor in the Physical Sciences and Engineering Division of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). He joined KAUST in June 2009. Previously, Alkhalifah was a research professor and director of the Oil and Gas Research Institute at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). He also held the positions of associate research professor, assistant research professor, and research assistant at KACST. From 1996 to 1998, Alkhalifah served as a postdoctoral researcher for the Stanford Exploration Project at Stanford University. He received the J. Clarence Karcher Award from SEG and the Conrad Schlumberger Award from the European Association for Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE) in 2003. In addition, he served as an honorary lecturer for SEG in 2011. Alkhalifah is a member of SEG and EAGE. He received a PhD and an MS in geophysics from Colorado School of Mines. He holds a BS in geophysics from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia.

Abdulfattah Aldajani is currently the technical advisory group leader at Saudi Aramco’s Upstream Professional Development Center (UPDC). He holds a PhD in geophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2002), an MS in geophysics from the Colorado School of Mines (1997), and a BS in electrical engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Mines (1986). His expertise is in exploration and development geophysics for conventional and unconventional reservoirs. Specifically, he focuses on seismic anisotropy, fractures detection, characterization, and curricula development and training.

Aldajani began his career in 1987 as a geophysical applications systems analyst in the Exploration Computer Center. In 1992, he worked as a geophysicist in the geophysics department of the Exploration Organization. In 2003, he became a member of the reservoir characterization department and then joined the area exploration department. He then became involved with Exploration Unconventional Resources Assessment. During his tenure with the Exploration Organization, he initiated and successfully completed technology projects pertaining to fracture detection and seismic anisotropy for both conventional and unconventional reservoirs in exploration and development plays.

In 2011, Aldajani joined UPDC to develop training curricula and teach a variety of courses in geophysics. In 2012, he was given the added responsibility to cover unconventional resources as a lead subject-matter expert. He was later appointed as a technical advisor before moving into his current position.

Aldajani has published technical papers and organized/chaired a variety of international and local technical events pertaining to seismic anisotropy and its applications in oil and gas. He is an active member of SEG, the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, and DGS.

Yonghyun Chung is a research associate at Seoul National University in South Korea. He attended the same university, where he received a BS (1996) from the department of mineral and petroleum engineering, and an MS (1998) and PhD (2011) in geo­physics. He held postdoc­toral fellowship and research assistant professor positions at Hanyang University and was a visiting professor at Inha University before joining the Research Institute of Energy and Resources at Seoul National University in 2016. Besides his research experience, he has 10 years of experience as an exploration geophysicist and software engineer. His current research interests include moving beyond linear approximations in nonlinear geophysical inverse problems. He is an Active Member of SEG.