Maurice Nessim, president of WesternGeco, is a member of the SEG Foundation Board of Directors and board member of IAGC. He has a BS and an MS in physics, nuclear physics, and geophysics and has won several prestigious awards and patents including the Schlumberger Chairman’s Award.

He has authored and coauthored more than 25 technical papers that have been presented at various international conferences. He has been an SEG Active member since 1991 and is a member of EAGE, SPE, and AAPG.

Nessim served as an SEG director at large from 2015–2016 and was elected board member of the SEG Foundation and chairman of IAGC in 2017. In 2018, he was appointed as a 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 where he served as area vice president for the 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 and founder of the Schlumberger Area Geophysicists program. He was named to his current position as WesternGeco president in 2015.

With Schlumberger’s foundation of Geoscientists Without Borders® (GWB), Nessim has been one of the key drivers over the past decade, championing GWB’s mission to support the humanitarian applications of geoscience around the world through promoting the message as well as through funding at both the personal and corporate levels. GWB supports academia with more than 500 undergraduate, graduate, and continuing-education students in countries around the world participating in global projects.

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 is not only about reacting; it is also about predicting future shifts and the impact they may have. The ability to combine a vision obtained from working within a corporate environment and a technology background has served me well in my career, and I believe that my leadership and business skills, geophysical expertise, and international experience will enable me to contribute significantly toward the strategic direction of SEG.

I see several areas of focus for us:

• Improve the global image of geophysics in order to attract next-generation geophysicists
• Expand the role of geophysics in meeting humanitarian and environmental challenges
• Improve our international reach not just for presence but to actively access local talent everywhere
• Improve our message, reach, and impact through digital communication vehicles
• Modernize the impact of geophysics on exploration through digital transformation
• Continue our focus on editorials, specifically our technical publications
• Strengthen the relationship and collaboration between academic institutions, humanitarian organizations, and business through SEG
• Ensure that service companies, academia, and oil and gas operators see SEG not only as a technical forum but as a valuable business and technical innovation partner.

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

James Rector has been a professor of Applied Seismology at the University of California at Berkeley for more than 25 years. However, he is not the typical academic. He has always kept one foot firmly planted in industry. His principal work has been in upstream exploration and production, but he has also worked with industry in mining, natural gas storage, defense, the environment, and Wall Street. His perspective and experience is far reaching. He has:

• Served as a technical consultant to majors, service companies, and national oil companies
• Served as the CEO of a small independent oil company, on publicly traded boards of directors, and as an energy fund advisor for Wall Street
• Founded or participated in several startups in seismic technology, mining, nuclear waste disposal, drilling, and well logging
• Advised dozens of PhD and MS students
• Served in numerous roles at SEG. While on the Board of Directors in 2008, he was instrumental in pushing major growth and investment in SEG Online.

Position Statement

I am humbled to be nominated for President-Elect. I am not shy, and I promise to make an impact. I understand how the Board of Directors governance works, and I recognize the tendency of scientists to micromanage. I will ensure that the Board of Directors allows SEG executives to do their job. They are the ones who should make tactical decisions.

The Board’s focus is strategy. While petroleum is still our lifeblood, it will be negatively impacted by climate change. If our Society is to continue to be relevant, we need new collaboration with mining, environmental, and geotechnical societies. We should continue to embrace the developing world and diversity.

I am concerned that many young geophysicists do not appreciate our past and often reinvent the wheel. I’d like to see more review articles and important earlier papers in our journals.

SEG finances were hurt by the downturn in oil prices. This could have been avoided with a different investment strategy. Oil companies soften the blow of declining oil prices with hedges. SEG should do the same.

We have a rich history of innovation/entrepreneurship as well as major contributions to the world at large. We should embrace this heritage and cultivate the next generation of geophysicists who will carry on this tradition.

David Bartel is a geophysical consultant for Chevron in Houston, Texas. He earned BS and MS degrees 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 31-year career with Chevron in exploration and technical geophysics. For the last 17 years, Bartel has worked for Chevron’s Energy Technology Company on worldwide projects with an emphasis on velocity modeling, anisotropy, prestack depth migration, vertical seismic profiling, electromagnetics, reservoir properties from seismic, and fiber optic data acquisition. Most recently, he held project management and team leader positions. Currently, Bartel leads a team that is responsible for seismic data analysis and velocity modeling research. For the past four years, he 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 on the Reviews Committee by reviewing published books in The Leading Edge (TLE). He was chair of the committee from 2005–2008 and 2011–2014. He has volunteered as an associate editor and reviewer for Geophysics and Interpretation and has several publications in Geophysics and TLE. Bartel worked on the Technical Program Committee for two SEG Annual Meetings. He is a member of SEG, ASEG, GSH, and SPE. And he is a registered geophysicist in California and Texas. Since 2015, Bartel has served on the SEG Foundation Board of Directors. He also served as chair of the Audit Committee from 2017–2018.

Position Statement

SEG has always been a source of technical information for all facets of applied geophysics. The challenges change and evolve, but the need to innovate and discover remains. Besides the technical nature of data exchange through meetings and publications, there is the connection between people. I have always felt that through my 40 years of membership in SEG. I want others to feel as I do and make connections through SEG to the global community of geophysicists.

Our global community of applied geophysicists needs to work together to be a trusted source of information in today’s world. SEG membership is changing to be more global and younger. How these members relate to SEG and its programs may be different from members in the past. Geophysics and how we connect to our fellow geologists and engineers are just as important in today’s resource exploration as they have been in the past.

I am honored to be 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.

Scott W. Singleton has a long and distinguished career with SEG and GSH. Between 2006 and 2014, he served as the GSH treasurer, first vice president, president-elect, president, past president, and prior past president. He was the SEG Council representative for GSH from 2011 to 2016. Since 2011, he has served on the GSH Journal editorial board and as the Journal technical article coordinator.

For SEG, Singleton is an associate editor for The Leading Edge and was responsible for compiling and editing the Unconventional Case Studies Special Section that was published in February 2019. In addition, he is the SEG technical cochair for the URTeC Conference where he represents SEG and attempts to elevate the profile of geophysicists in the unconventional arena. Associated with this quest, Singleton can be found each month at one of the two GSH Special Interest Groups (SIGs) he runs (the Unconventional SIG and the Microseismic SIG), promoting the integration of geophysics with geology and engineering.

In his spare time, Singleton is the geophysical and geomechanical technology advisor with Independence Resources Management, a private equity-funded operator with leaseholds in the Midland Basin of Texas. He has 35 years of experience in the oil industry, spanning from offshore acquisition as a doodlebugger to processing, interpretation, reservoir characterization, and geomechanics. He has a BS in geophysics from New Mexico Tech and an MS in geophysics from Texas A&M.

Position Statement

Most if not all of us were affected in some way by the recent industry downturn which was the worst collapse since the crash of 1986. Although the unconventional industry has come a long way toward recovery, geophysicists are still feeling the pain because shales are perceived to be a factory production play with little need for earth scientists. I feel this is a great disservice to our profession and every one of us should consider it our responsibility to change this perception. I feel it is my mission to promote the value of geophysics in this play specifically but also to the oil and gas industry at large. SEG is the optimal forum in which to do that given its national and international reach.

A specific example of this is that SEG is establishing a regional office in Houston so it can be responsive to the needs of its members in a metropolitan area with a large concentration of oil industry professionals. I believe I can help with collaboration between SEG and GSH so together we can serve our members better as well as build collaboration with other professional societies.

Baishali Roy is currently the manager of the Petrophysics and Seismic Analysis Team in the Subsurface group within the ConocoPhillips Exploration and Subsurface organization. She started her career with Conoco in 2000 in the Seismic Imaging Technology Center and has progressed through different technical and leadership roles within ConocoPhillips in the last 19 years. During this time, Roy has led a wide range of technology projects collaborating closely with both exploration and production business units. She and her team have also continued to collaborate with university and industry JIPs/consortium.

During the last four years, Roy has actively led a group of geophysicists and engineers to progress the utilization and understanding of fiber optics data (DAS/DTS) for a variety of unconventional and conventional reservoir applications. This work has led to impactful business decisions and to multiple recognitions both internally within ConocoPhillips and externally.  Roy’s other research interests have been in advanced areas of reservoir characterization and monitoring. She has worked on a variety of inversion/modeling/time-lapse projects for heavy oil, North Sea chalk, Alaska North Slope, Canadian heavy oil, L48 unconventionals, West Africa, Southeast Asia, and other assets. In these, her roles ranged from technology development of tools and workflows and application on real projects, seismic processing QA/QC, forward modeling, rock physics, AVO/inversion, and overall integration to tie into the business problem. She takes an active role in extending her geophysical expertise to promote and foster multidisciplinary integration including reservoir engineers, geologists, and other disciplines.

Roy is an active member of SEG, SPE, EAGE, and GSH (honorary member). She served as the SEG Distinguished Instructor Short Course Committee chairperson from 2009 to 2013 and has been a member of the SEG Continuing Education Committee and the Meetings Review and Planning Committee. Currently, Roy is chair of The Leading Edge editorial board, and through her four-year tenure on the editorial board, she has coordinated many special sections. She also served as an associate editor for Interpretation and is a part of the SPE Fiber Optics Committee, responsible for organizing workshops.

Roy received a BS and an MS in geophysics from the Indian Institute of Technology, a PhD in geophysics from the University of Western Ontario, and a postdoctoral fellowship from the University of British Columbia.

Position Statement

SEG, like any other professional society, plays a significant role in fostering and promoting innovation in the domain of applied geophysics. Publications, workshops, Annual Meetings, the SEG Wiki, SEG Library, and lecture tours are the greatest vehicles for disseminating such knowledge across the globe. Upholding the quality of publications that are at the leading edge of innovation as well as providing value proposition to the upstream business and ensuring-efficient cost-optimized global access of the great wealth of information is critical. With emerging modernization of computing, digital data storage and management, and interactive access (improved mobile apps) and social media, we should continue to push boundaries and partner effectively with tech companies to make the best utilization of available tools.

As SEG continues its journey to expand its trusted legacy of sustaining and advancing the science of applied geophysics in resource extraction and management, I would like to support ongoing and new initiatives aligned with key SEG strategies and knowledge-management plans. These include and are not limited to:

• Understanding the current challenges in promoting global access of publications or information and how we motivate more international participation via local chapters and regional workshops
• Continue to support and look for opportunities to improve our participation in GeoScienceWorld, the SEG Wiki, and research data sharing
• Promote utilization of adequate data analytics tools to increase efficiency in the area of publications and determine the linkages and possible collaboration to advance the science and applications
• Improve partnering with other sister societies by connecting the disciplines of geology and engineering to geophysics (SPE, AAPG, EAGE, and others)
• Actively promote diversity and inclusion throughout the community and in scientific areas of research and representation of research groups worldwide
• Engage and motivate participation of early- and mid-career professionals in the Society
• Focus on quality of publications rather than quantity
• Support Board efforts to improve business-planning processes

Mauricio Sacchi received a geophysics diploma from the Universidad Nacional de La Plata in 1988 and a PhD from the University of British Columbia in 1996. He joined the Department of Physics at the University of Alberta in 1997. His research interests are in the areas of geophysical signal analysis and seismic imaging methods. Sacchi directs the Signal Analysis and Imaging Group, an initiative for advanced research for geophysical signal processing and imaging. He also developed and taught short courses for industry and professional associations. Sacchi is the recipient of the 2012 Medal of CSEG. He was the Central and South America Honorary Lecturer for SEG in 2014 and the 2015–2016 CSEG Distinguished Lecturer. From 2015 to 2017, he was the editor-in-chief for Geophysics. In addition, he has served as chair of the Department of Physics at the University of Alberta since 2010.

Position Statement

SEG’s publications portfolio is a central part of our organization and undoubtedly a significant asset for SEG to deliver its primary mission of promoting the science of exploration geophysics. I believe it is essential for the vice president, publications, to work closely with editors-in-chief, editorial board members of our journals, and SEG’s publication staff to ensure that appropriate resources are in place for coping with the increased pressure from a growing number of submissions. I also believe it is essential to continue to support the SEG Wiki and to work closely with SEG’s Research Committee and IT staff to develop a sustainable repository of research data that, on some occasions, will permit the reproduction of results presented in SEG publications. Disruptive times are ahead with demand from national funding agencies for open-access publishing. It is my opinion that having open-access policies at a cost that does not discourage researchers from publishing with SEG is essential to sustain high-quality submissions. Supporting the publication of high-quality books that cover different areas of applied geophysics, including books that are appealing to geologists and petroleum engineers, will also be a priority.

Mohammed Badri is the managing director of research and development at the Schlumberger Dhahran Research Center. He earned a BS in geology and an MS and PhD in geophysics from the University of Minnesota. In 1986, he joined King Saud University in Saudi Arabia as an assistant professor of geophysics where he developed the curriculum requirements of the BS degree in geophysics. In 1990, he joined Schlumberger operations as an interpretation geophysicist. From 1990 to 2006, he held several technical and management positions globally. In 2006, Badri was appointed as the managing director of the Schlumberger Dhahran Research Center where he focused on conducting research in rock physics, microseismic, vertical seismic profiling, electromagnetics, nuclear magnetic resonance, dielectric, acoustics, and geomechanics.

Badri joined SEG in 1981. He has contributed to the Meetings Review and Planning Committee and the SEG Distinguished Instructor Short Course Committee. For the last five years, Badri has been involved with the SEG Middle East Advisory Committee as vice chair. He is responsible for developing growth strategies for SEG. He has served as the SEG representative for the International Petroleum Technology Conference since 2016 and GEO conferences since 2006. He has coordinated a range of technical collaborations with many universities including Oxford, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. He received the SPE Regional Distinguished Achievement Service Award in 2015 and the SPE Distinguished Membership Award in 2018. He energetically supported the Faculty of the Future program under the Schlumberger Foundation that supports women in developing countries. Badri chaired and cochaired many SEG and SPE workshops and annual conferences. He is a member of SEG, SPE, and EAGE. In addition, Badri has published and presented over 75 papers and invented or coinvented 52 U.S. patents.

Position Statement

SEG plays a fundamental role in the oil and gas industry through disseminating knowledge, advancing science, and most importantly, sharing best-practice ideas from members. Geophysicists from around the globe come to SEG Annual Meetings to meet colleagues, learn from experts, share their work, and discuss technical challenges. Since I joined SEG 38 years ago, I have gained knowledge and insight as a member and actively engage with the growth of the organization. As energy supplies move toward securing resources from unconventional reservoirs, deep water, heavy oil, and improving recovery factors, the role of geophysicists has never been more important than now.

I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to run for the SEG director at large position. I feel with my global experience in exploration, drilling, logging, cementing, completion, production, and recovery that I can contribute to the Society’s strategies and future. If I am elected, I will steer SEG in the following directions. (1) Enable young geophysicists to take more prominent and leading roles. (2) Promote multidisciplinary and intersociety interaction. (3) Reach out to the geophysical community in countries where SEG currently lacks presence. (4) Engage with students at universities and colleges that offer geoscience degrees through seminars, workshops, and team activities. (5) Ensure that SEG is an effective platform for collaboration between business and academia.

Tad Smith specializes in seismic rock properties and petrophysics. He has held a variety of positions as a geologist, petrophysicist, and manager at various companies including Apache Corporation, Amoco, BP, ConocoPhillips, Newfield Exploration, and Veritas DGC. From 1995–1996, he participated in the Amoco Petrophysics Training program where he developed his interest in petrophysics and seismic rock properties (seismic petrophysics). Since then, he has been actively engaged in the process of integrating petrophysical data into geophysical workflows.

Smith was elected president of GSH for the 2013–2014 term. He previously served as the GSH secretary during the 2005–2006 term. In 2011, he was the North America Honorary Lecturer for SEG. From 2010 to 2014, he served on the editorial board for The Leading Edge, a leading industry publication, and served as the editorial board chair during the 2013–2014 term.

Smith has a PhD in geology from Texas A&M University, an MS from Washington State University, and a BA from Ohio Wesleyan University. He is a member of AAPG, SEG, SPWLA, GSH, and HGS. When he’s not working on interesting petrophysical problems, he enjoys time with his wife and son, riding bikes, spending time with friends, and listening to good music.

Position Statement

It is a great honor to be nominated to run for the position of director at large for SEG.  For me, this caps almost 15 years of engagement with SEG and GSH. I’ve had the honor to serve as the North American Honorary Lecturer for SEG, chair the editorial board for The Leading Edge, and serve as president for GSH. My engagement with both organizations has enriched and benefited my professional career, and both organizations have come to feel like my professional home. If elected as a director at large, I would work closely with my fellow officers to:

• Ensure that SEG will be financially healthy for many years into the future
• Review our educational offerings and ensure that the educational needs of our members are being met
• Broaden our appeal to underrepresented demographics and disciplines, and in the process, increase our membership
• Work to enhance and expand relationships and joint activities with regional SEG chapters and local geophysical societies
• Work with the Board of Directors and staff to ensure that SEG is a recognized global voice for energy-related issues.

Kurt Marfurt is a research professor of geophysics at the University of Oklahoma where he mentors students and conducts research to aid seismic interpretation. Marfurt holds MS and PhD degrees in applied geophysics from Columbia University and an AB in physics and French from Hamilton College.

Marfurt’s experience includes 23 years as an academician, first at Columbia University and later at the University of Houston and the University of Oklahoma. His career also includes 18 years in technology development at Amoco’s Tulsa Research Center working on a wide range of topics including seismic modeling, seismic imaging, vertical seismic profiling analysis, signal analysis, magnetotellurics, basin analysis, seismic stratigraphy, and seismic attributes. Marfurt leads the Attribute Assisted Seismic Processing and Interpretation Consortium with the goal of developing and calibrating new seismic attributes to aid in seismic processing, seismic interpretation, and data integration using both interactive and machine learning tools. With colleagues, he has received several best paper and best presentation awards on seismic modeling, coherence, curvature, principal component analysis, and brittleness estimation. Marfurt served as the 2006 EAGE/SEG Distinguished Short Course Instructor and as the 2018 SEG Distinguished Short Course Instructor. He has taught continuing-education short courses for SEG and AAPG since 2003. From 1984–2013, he served as either an associate or assistant editor for Geophysics. In 2013, he joined the editorial board of the SEG/AAPG journal Interpretation where he served as the editor-in-chief from 2016–2018, and he now serves as deputy editor-in-chief for 2019–2021.

Position Statement

As a candidate for director at large, I note the following challenges facing SEG:

• Continuing education: Given today’s learning styles and a desire to balance their professional and personal lives, relatively few young professionals attend local meetings and read journal articles, preferring “just-in-time” learning that can be immediately applied to the task at hand. SEG needs to become the hub for online interactive geophysical learning.  
• Publications: In 2018, 62% of the papers submitted and most of our reviewers for Interpretation were from outside North America. Many of our most talented geoscientists have never published a scientific paper. SEG needs to construct and continually update online resources to enable these contributors to better share their expertise and findings with the membership at large.
• Connection: Members outside the larger oil patches often feel disconnected from SEG. Even with an active local society, there may only be one or two colleagues with the same expertise and interests. SEG needs to embrace a world of blogs and online communities where examples, findings, suggested workflows, as well as alternative hypotheses and interpretations can be posted and discussed.

Allen Bertagne is a hands-on explorationist with more than 35 years of experience gained in basins around the world. After receiving a BS in geology from Imperial College and an MA in geology from the University of Texas at Austin, he worked for Exxon, exploring in the Wyoming Thrust Belt and other Rocky Mountain basins. He then worked for service companies including CGG, PGS, CoreLab, and Fusion Geophysical, providing exploration and production analysis and advice to domestic and international oil companies.

From 2006 to 2010, he was the lead geoscientist in Shell’s Gulf of Mexico Commercial Team and was responsible for business deals with a total value of more than $500 million. In 2010, after raising the necessary drilling funds, he became country manager in France for a two-year exploration campaign in the Aquitaine Basin on behalf of an exploration joint venture. After completing the France project, he worked in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Colombia for 18 months at Shell before participating as a geophysicist and investor in a deepwater Gulf of Mexico exploration startup, Venari Resources. Since January 2015, he has been an advisor to several companies, primarily providing high-end integrated interpretation.

In his spare time, Bertagne served on The Leading Edge Editorial Board and as first vice president of SEG. He was also named an Honorary Member of the Geophysical Society of Houston. Since December 2017 he has been the technical coordinator of SEG EVOLVE, a program to develop the Fearless Explorers of the Future. Over the years, he has published many articles, presented lectures and short-courses to students, and remains a champion of the industry that has provided, and continues to provide, great benefits to humanity.

Bertagne believes SEG should focus on: (a) improving the quality of membership benefits and (b) generating new opportunities for members while (c) maintaining a sound financial base. We should encourage and facilitate the technical development of current members and ensure that students who are considering entering the profession are given a realistic view of our industry. We should continue to broaden our international perspective and increase cooperation with other societies, such as AAPG and SPE. We need to improve our communication with the outside world and market ourselves to top managers in our industry as well as those in related industries. We need to be more responsive to the companies that provide the majority of current SEG revenues, to identify new sources of revenue, and to lower our operating costs. In summary, we should strive to make SEG increasingly valuable to every member and to make concrete contributions to their careers.

Karen Carlson has 43 years of experience in the oil business, including 35 years at Marathon Oil. She received bachelor’s degrees in geology and physics from the University of Delaware followed by an MS in geophysics from Colorado School of Mines (1975).

Her first 19 years in the industry included work in seismic data processing, onshore seismic acquisition, and U.S. onshore Gulf Coast and Gulf of Mexico exploration. She held various exploration supervisory and technical oversight roles. She was also chief geophysicist for North and South America and manager in upstream technical services.

Beginning in 1994, she worked numerous international new ventures/business development projects on five continents, frequently providing technical and/or project leadership. Her special interests included thematic exploration and applying latest concepts and technologies to old areas.

Her consulting work started in 2016 (KC Geoscience) focusing on portfolio development and organizational capability for international clients. Carlson serves on the Dean’s Advisory Committee for the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment at the University of Delaware. She has been a member of SEG since 1974 and is a member of AAPG, HGS, and GSH.

Kathryn “Kathy” Hardy is a retired exploration geophysicist. She graduated from the University of Texas with a BS 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 her career as an exploration advisor for EPL/Energy XXI. Hardy has been a member of the SEG for 40 years. She served as a District 2 Representative in 2014/2015. As District 2 representative, she will strive to understand how the SEG Council decisions will affect SEG membership and vote for those members’ best interests.

Frank Brown has been an Active member of SEG since 1981 and received Life Membership in 2012. He has served on the Executive Committee as Secretary-Treasurer (2006–2007) and the SEG Finance, Continuing Education, and Distinguished Instructor Short Course committees. He also served on the SEG Foundation Board from 2011 to 2014. Brown received his BS in geology from West Texas State University in 1977. He has held positions at G.S.I., Marathon Oil, Southland Royalty Company, Permian Exploration, and Dawson Geophysical before entering the consulting field. He currently serves as vice president of licensing and land for Fairfield Geotechnologies in Houston, Texas.

It would be my great honor to serve as District 2 Representative to the SEG Council. I believe it is important to continue the good work of the Society, especially as it relates to student programs and continuing education. If elected I would endeavor to further these programs.

Tiziana Vanorio is a professor in the geophysics department at Stanford University where she leads the Stanford Rock Physics Laboratory program. Together with her students, she uses laboratory, imaging, and modeling techniques to study the physical and mechanical properties of rocks and geomaterials, with emphasis on understanding how the mechanical and chemical interactions of fluids with earth materials drive geologic and engineered processes. Specific applications of her research include the geophysical response of reservoirs and geologic seals to fluid injection and stimulation practices, the physical and mechanical properties of shales, carbonates, and ancient and new materials. Tiziana is a Marie Curie Fellow, the recipient of the 2018 Wegener Award by the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, 2015 NSF Career Award, and 2014 Innovative Teaching Award by the Society of Petroleum Engineering. She is a member of AGU, EAGE, and SEG.

Ray Earley earned BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from Oklahoma State University. He worked for 18 years as a research engineer at Amoco’s Tulsa Research Center. Work there included development of recording system testing equipment hardware and software, shipboard processing systems hardware and software, development and testing of new marine acquisition methods, and front-end processing of large 3D volumes for prestack depth migration. He helped form Flamingo Seismic Solutions in 2000. There, he has been involved in a variety of roles including seismic data processing, AVO, software and algorithm development, ongoing development of a unique potential fields lineament algorithm, and training in seismic data processing. He has served as president and second vice president of the Geophysical Society of Tulsa (GST), SEG Council representative from the GST, and member of the SEG Real Estate Board.

Jennifer Leslie-Panek is a contract geophysicist with the Geological Survey of Canada in Calgary. She received an Honors BS in applied physics from the University of Waterloo and completed her PhD in geophysics at the University of Calgary in 2000. She began her career as a seismic processor with a specialty in depth imaging at Kelman Technologies Inc. and then at GXT/Ion Geophysical. She joined Nexen Energy ULC in 2006 where she worked in various roles as a geophysical advisor and seismic interpreter before the industry downturn in 2016. She has been working for the Geological Survey of Canada since the end of 2017. She is an active member of SEG, CSEG, and APEGA and has volunteered for the CSEG in many roles including, various technical convention committees, the scholarship committee, and as the director of Educational Services. She has served as an SEG District 5 Representative since 2016.

David Cole Mosher is a commissioner with the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf at the UN in New York, a senior research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada, a professor (on leave) with the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of New Hampshire, and an adjunct at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He graduated with his PhD in oceanography from Dalhousie University in 1993, following an MS at Memorial University in Newfoundland. He is a marine geophysicist with 40 years of seagoing research experience in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting marine seismic reflection and refraction data from continental margins around the world. He is author of 110 refereed publications and editor of six books. He has carried out 50 seagoing expeditions, 28 of these as chief scientist, including cochief scientist of Ocean Drilling Program expedition 207. He is a past president of the Marine Geosciences Division of the Geological Association of Canada and of the Atlantic Geoscience Society. He is a member of SEG and AGU and past cochair of UNESCO IGCP project 585 and executive officer on the current IGCP project 640.

Hector Alfonso is a senior geophysicist (MS) with 30 years of experience working for the exploration vice presidency at Ecopetrol (Colombian state oil company). Alfonso is currently senior geophysicist adviser MS at Geophysical Operations at Ecopetrol and is a former member of asset team QA/QC responsible for risk analysis, including prospects analysis for opportunities from Brazil, Africa, Peru, India, Colombia, and the Gulf of Mexico. He has a wide knowledge of seismic exploration and has worked with multidisciplinary groups using a team approach in the search for oil with interpreters and geophysicists in several countries. Alfonso is an exemplary teacher and award winner at Ecopetrol. He received an MS degree (2000) in geophysics from University of Houston; undertook postgraduate studies in exploration geophysics with Colorado School of Mines (1989), and holds a degree in civil engineering from Universidad Nacional de Colombia (1987). He has had extensive involvement in seismic exploration projects and prospect evaluations within Ecopetrol. He is an active member of SEG and an enthusiastic collaborator within the Society. He has published more than 20 papers in geophysics journals. Besides being an editor for SEG, he also is a former chairman of the Latin America Regional Advisory Committee, and he is one of the team leaders of the SEG Wiki translation of the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Geophysics into Spanish. Alfonso also has been an invited speaker at EAGE and SEG workshops.

José R. Arce obtained his BS in geology and geophysics from the University of Missouri-Rolla (1991) and his MS in geophysical engineering from the University of Arizona (1993). He has been working as a geophysicist at Arce Geofísicos in Perú since 1993 and currently heads the company, with more than 910 surveys completed with his active involvement to date in most countries of the American continent. He presided over the organizing committee for the XIII Latin American Geological Congress and XIV Peruvian Geological Congress in 2008 and was elected 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 in 2015–2016 and also served as part of the Nominations Committee. For SEG, Arce was chair of the Mining Committee in 2015–2016 period and is currently chair of the Near Surface Technical Section. He also is a member of the SEG Latin America Regional Advisory Committee and the Meetings and Review Planning Committee.

Isabelle Lecomte received an MS (1987), a Civ. Eng. (1988), and a PhD (1990; IFREMER grant), all in geophysics and at the University of Strasbourg, France. She was postdoctoral fellow at NORSAR, Norway (grants from EU, 1991; Research Council of Norway, 1992), before joining as principal research geophysicist in R&D seismic modeling (1993–2016). She was guest researcher at the International Centre for Geohazards, a Norwegian Research Centre of Excellence (2003-2012) and adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Oslo (2012-2017). She is now Associate Professor in reservoir geophysics at the University of Bergen (2016-present), Department of Earth Science, in the “Basin and Reservoir Studies” research group. She is also visiting Associate Professor at NORSAR (2016–present). She received the 2001 EAGE Loránd Eötvös award and the 2014 Norwegian Geophysical award.

She is an active SEG member since 1997. She was associate editor for Geophysics, seismic imaging (2004–2011); co-editor of one special issue in Geophysics (2008) and one in Interpretation (2015); member of the SEG Committee on Nominations (2008–2009); founding member of the OSEG in 2005 (treasurer 2005–2006; president 2007). She is member of the SEG Regional Advisory Committee for Europe (2017–present).

Sjoerd de Ridder recently accepted a lectureship in applied seismology (beginning May 2019) at the University of Leeds. He earned a PhD (2014) in geophysics from Stanford University, an MS from Delft University of Technology, and a BS from Utrecht University. De Ridder has held positions with the University of Science and Technology of China and with the University of Edinburgh. He has consulted with BP Norway and Total E&P UK in Aberdeen. De Ridder was awarded SEG’s J. Clarence Karcher award in 2017 in recognition of his work on utilizing surface waves from ambient noise for exploration seismology. De Ridder serves as an associate editor for Geophysics and Computers & Geosciences.

Dirk Gajewski holds the chair of Applied Seismics at the University of Hamburg, Germany. He is the director of the Wave Inversion Technology (WIT) Consortium, which was established 1997. Besides his activities in WIT, he is a board member of the Center for Marine and Climate Research at the University of Hamburg, Germany. In 1981, Gajewski received a diploma in geophysics from Clausthal Technical University, Germany, and a PhD in 1987 from Karlsruhe University, Germany. His research interests include high-frequency asymptotics, seismic processing, imaging, and inversion of passive and active seismic data. He is a member of DGG, EAGE, and SEG, and he serves on the SEG Council and the EAGE Research Committee. Gajewski has edited six books, is editor of the annual WIT report, and has published more than 100 research papers. He was the recipient of SEG’s Best Poster Award in 2009, and he served as 2019 SEG Honorary Lecturer for Europe.

Obi Ifeanyichukwu is a senior geoscientist with the deepwater production team of ExxonMobil Corporation. He studied at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) where he obtained an MS in petroleum geology as an Agip Scholar (2009) and a PhD in applied geophysics (stratigraphy option) as a Shell Scholar (2014).

He started his career at the Shell Chair of Geology UNN in 2008 where he became a research associate in September 2009. In October 2010, he joined the exploration team of Shell Petroleum Development Company, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, as a research attaché until December 2011 when he joined ExxonMobil. He has authored papers published in the SPE, AJSIR, and NAPE Nigeria bulletins.

He is the founder of GEOCAMP Institute, an online platform for geoscience sharing and mentoring. He has given several talks to SEG student members. For example, in December 2018, he gave a volunteer lecture titled “Using sparse data and 2D seismic volume for exploration and opportunity identification” in Lagos Nigeria. In 2014 he was a judge at the AAPG-IBA competition, and since 2012, he has served as industry consultant for up to five participating universities. He has been involved in conference planning for the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists since 2009 and is currently head of that organization’s conference evaluation committee.

George Smith received his master’s degree from Cambridge University (1979). He worked for Seismograph Service Ltd. (1971–1975), Soekor, the South African National Oil Company (1975–2000) where he was exploration manager, and the University of Cape Town (2000–2014) where he was a senior lecturer in geophysics. He retired at the end of 2014. He has also served as a Board member of PetroSA, and is a member of the Board Technical Committee of the Petroleum Agency of South Africa.

He has been a member of SEG since 1979 and has served on the Global Affairs Committee as Regional Coordinator for Africa (1999–2007), and on the Distinguished Lecturer Committee (2014–present). He received the Reginald Fessenden award (SEG Medal) in 2002 and was SEG Honorary Lecturer for Africa and the Middle East (2013). He also received the Krahmann Medal from the South African Geophysical Association (2005).

Sherif M. Hanafy is currently an associate professor at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. He received his PhD in 2002 from Kiel University, Germany – Cairo University, Egypt on Seismic and GPR tomography, master (1996) and BS (1993) from Cairo University, Egypt. He worked as an assistant professor at Cairo University (2002–2009) and senior research scientist at KAUST (2009–2018). He received two postdoctoral scholarships, the first in 2004 from Fulbright and the second in 2007–2009 from CSIM, U. of Utah. His main research interest is shallow applications of geophysics using seismic, GPR, and resistivity, but he is also interested in tomography, seismic modeling, inversion, migration, data interpolation/extrapolation, and machine learning. He was the SEG 2017 Honorary Lecture for the Middle East and Africa.

Jackie Zhang has been a member of SEG since 2000. She is currently a senior and lead geophysicist in various regional resource and play assessment projects at Saudi Aramco. Prior to this, she had been a lead and principal geophysicist in seismic interpretation and reservoir characterization at ConocoPhillips. She received her master's degree in exploration seismology from the CREWES, University of Calgary in 2003, and bachelor's degree in geophysics in 1996 from the Petroleum University of China. With work experience from three continents in multicultural and multidisciplinary teams and environments, she has developed profound communication and versatile language skills.

Besides serving SEG as a District Representative since 2016, Zhang also has a wide range of work interests that include the integration of geophysical and geologic studies in the regional, field, and reservoir scales; structural and stratigraphic seismic interpretation; seismic attribute analyses; impacting exploration prospect generation with play assessment results; and the application of multicomponent seismic data and simultaneous inversion using multicomponent seismic data. She is also a member of EAGE.

How-Wei Chen is a professor in the School of Earth Sciences, Institute of Geophysics, Department of Earth Sciences, National Central University. He received a diploma in physics (1986) and a doctoral degree in geophysics (1992) from the University of Texas at Dallas, USA. He spent one and one half years as a postdoc in UT-Dallas. He was elected as the adjunct research fellow of Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica of Taiwan, Republic of China. He was the director of the Center for Computational Geophysics from 2009 to 2014. He visited Caltech, UT-Austin during his sabbatical periods and worked on projects associate with the TAIGER project and 3D wave propagation simulation for strong motion prediction. His field of interest includes seismic modeling, migration, and imaging including large-scale tomography study, wavefield, and full-waveform inversion.

Kim Frankcombe has been an SEG member since his final year of university in 1978 when he obtained an honors degree in geophysics and geology. Since then he has worked as a geologist and geophysicist for majors, service providers, and, for the last 22 years, as a geophysical consultant. As a consultant he works globally, principally exploring for precious and base metals, diamonds, and bulk commodities, but he also consults to oil and gas explorers on nonseismic methods and provides high-level advice and reviews for the geophysical component of geotechnical projects. He has been a reviewer for GEOPHYSICS and SEG Expanded Abstracts and served previously on the SEG Council as the ASEG representative and most recently as a representative for District 12. He is a member of the SEG Mining Committee. Frankcombe is an honorary member of the ASEG and served on their Federal Executive until April 2019. He is nominated for the position of honorary secretary of the Australian Geoscience Council and if elected will start that role in May 2019. In addition, he is a member of SEcG, IAMG, EAGE, and AIG (Australian Institute of Geoscientists).

Ahmad Riza Ghazali is a chief scientist at Group Research & Technology of PETRONAS in Malaysia. He served as a member of the SEG Global Affairs Committee from 2005 to 2011 and was cochairman of the SEG technical program subcommittee of IPTC 2014. He served as the technical committee program chairman of Asia Petroleum Geoscience Conference & Exhibition (APGCE) 2017 in Kuala Lumpur. He was the chairman for the EAGE International Workshop on Velocities: “Reducing uncertainties in depth” 2016. He was course instructor for the APGCE/EAGE seismic imaging below gas cloud short course, industrial advisor panel for University of Technology PETRONAS, and guest lecturer at Institute of Technology Bandung, Indonesia. He was also appointed as the technical advisor to PETRONAS E&P International Growth Opportunities Strategic Studies. His fields of interest include seismic imaging and reservoir characterization. He received his PhD from Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands (2011), and his BS from University of Leicester, UK (1998).