SEG 2023 Election

View Candidate Video

John Eastwood has been an SEG member since 1993. He graduated from the University of Waterloo in 1987 (BSc honors co-op physics) and from the University of Alberta in 1992 with a PhD in geophysics. Eastwood worked for ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil for more than 30 years. He started his career in research where he pioneered the use of active and passive seismic monitoring in oil sands. He led ExxonMobil research groups in quantitative geophysics, seismic imaging, and acquisition. Eastwood also spent time in ExxonMobil’s production company as geoscience manager for Canada East, and in exploration as manager pursuit and capture for Canada. He held company executive positions in technical and managerial realms as geophysics manager for seismic imaging/acquisition/full-waveform inversion (FWI), and as senior principal geophysicist. Eastwood led ExxonMobil’s resurgence into seismic imaging and FWI including the re-establishment of Exxon’s leading position in high-performance computing. 

Eastwood was recognized in 1998 with the J. Clarence Karcher Award for outstanding contributions from a young geophysicist. He has received the Best Paper in The Leading Edge award (and Honorable Mention) as well as Best Paper from the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists. He has five patents and numerous publications.

Since 1993, Eastwood has been active in his volunteering for SEG, including with the Development and Production Committee/workshop chair (five years); The Leading Edge Editorial Board including chair (five years); SEG secretary treasurer and SEG Finance Committee/chair (four years); SEAM Board of Directors and chair (four years); SEG Executive Director Search Committee member; Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force member; and North American Regional Advisory Council chair (two years). 

Position Statement

SEG conferences, publications, workshops, courses, lectures, networking, and volunteering were all instrumental to success throughout my career. For this I am truly grateful. Serving as SEG president is an opportunity to give back to the Society from which I have benefitted so much. Past SEG presidents all say the commitment is nearly full time. After electing to retire in 2022, I am ready for this commitment to serve SEG in 2023 and beyond. My exploration, development, production, and research geophysical technical and managerial roles with ExxonMobil, (interacting with contractors, academia, and partner companies) as well as my past volunteer experiences with SEG provide me with the credentials to lead SEG. 

As your SEG president, I will:

• embrace all aspects of the “exploration of geophysical solutions” to meet society’s needs while preserving a sustainable future;
• ensure SEG provides world-class conventions, workshops, educational opportunities, and publications to serve geophysicists at every career stage across the globe;
• promote and equip SEG members to be “JEDI champions” in their host organizations so we do not become stuck in the past;
• enhance intersocietal collaboration; and
• maintain a strong balance sheet to provide a compelling and invaluable product to members, sponsoring companies, academia, and stakeholders.

View Candidate Video

Marianne Rauch has a PhD in theoretical physics from the Karl Franzens Universitaet, Graz, Austria. She has an inquisitive mind and is involved in many aspects of the oil and gas industry worldwide. She has researched and developed geophysical technologies, advocated for geological and geophysical integration during seismic processing and interpretation, built and managed reservoir teams, mentored many students throughout her career, and lately gotten involved in cybersecurity. She has published a number of technical articles and is a seasoned presenter. Rauch is very active in our societies, including being part of the technical committees of the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference and the International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy, past first vice president of the Geophysical Society of Houston, organizing and chairing numerous sessions at various conventions, and reviewing abstracts and articles for publications. Besides the geosciences, her passions include being a mother and being involved in volunteer activities where she advocates for underprivileged children in her hometown of Houston. Currently, she is employed by TGS in the role of principal technical advisor. 

Position Statement

As SEG second vice president, my mission will be to support the organization’s efforts in partnerships, education, and innovation within our geoscience communities. I will be committed to proposing and executing meaningful interaction among members that encourages the exchange of ideas and research and highlights the importance of geophysics in traditional areas like oil and gas and mining but also for the environment; carbon capture, utilization, and storage; the energy transition; etc. 

I will work closely with the other board members to implement tactics that enhance the impact of SEG not only on the geoscience but also the broader community. This includes fostering a culture that embraces inclusion and diversity and encourages policies that promote new applications of geophysics. 

Ultimately, my goal as the second vice president is to promote the growth and success of the Society nationally and internationally and across generations. I will achieve this by supporting a platform for our members to participate in meaningful discourse and develop a climate that allows for input of ideas and new concepts from all participants. My two main goals are to move the Society away from only serving oil and gas and mining and to motivate young professionals to play an active role. I believe that the future of geophysics is very strong, but we need to adjust to a new geophysical world order.

View Candidate Video

Kyle Spikes is an associate professor of geophysics in the Department of Geological Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. Spikes is a member of SEG, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in geology with geophysics emphasis (The University of Kansas), and master’s degree and PhD in geophysics (Stanford University). 

Over the past decades, Spikes has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, including in all three SEG journals, and more than 50 expanded abstracts and conference proceedings. His research focuses on seismic reservoir characterization and rock physics, as well as inversion algorithms. He is also an active researcher in near-surface distributed acoustic sensing applications. 

Spikes served as chair of the editorial board for The Leading Edge (2019–2020) after three years as a board member. He also served as cochair (faculty) on the Committee on University and Student Programs (2010–2016), the Annual Meeting Technical Program Committee (2011–2013), the Travel Grant Committee (2012–2015; chair 2016–2018), the Research Committee (2014–present), and as the faculty advisor to the UT-Austin SEG chapter (2009–present). 

Position Statement

The field of applied geophysics continues to see significant and rapid changes due to pressures on resources and issues related to the mitigation of climate and environmental impacts. SEG must continue its standards in terms of publishing and disseminating relevant advances in the application of geophysical theories and practices relevant for resource identification and management. Equally, the publication side of SEG needs to welcome new technological developments as they emerge for related and societally pertinent needs. To do so, the portfolio of publications must continually be aware of and, more importantly, be ahead of strategies that maintain and enhance our position at the forefront of applied geophysics research. Accordingly, I would support these specific tasks: 

• reduce the time-to-publish of research articles from authors to reviewers to editors;
• maintain standards of writing originality from authors in the presence of AI-generated language;
• encourage reproducible research through easy-to-use online resources for data and software;
• improve, on a continuous basis, diversity, equity, and inclusion within the editorial boards of the various Society publications; and
• support the SEG Board of Directors to maintain financial stability of the published journals.

View Candidate Video

Lillian G. Flakes earned her bachelor’s degree (1987) in mathematics from Spelman College and a master’s degree (1990) in geophysics from Georgia Institute of Technology. She started her career with Texaco as a geophysicist in seismic interpretation working offshore development where she drilled successful shallow horizontal wells in the Gulf of Mexico. In 1997, she joined ARCO International where she focused on exploration in South America. She later consulted for Netherland and Sewell to support petroleum property analysis for basins around the globe. As a program manager with CGG for 10 years, she led software teams in the development of petrophysical modeling, rock physics, advanced seismic interpretation, velocity, and earth modeling software products. Currently, Flakes works for GeoSoftware as a principal product marketing leader where she defines and analyzes market segments to support product strategy for subsurface reservoir characterization and petrophysical solutions. 

Flakes is also the head of geomatics for the Open Subsurface Data Universe (OSDU). She leads the multicompany team in strategic and operational planning, policy, and standards for geospatial data management and capabilities for the OSDU platform. 

Flakes chairs the SEG Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee and was a member of the SEG Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force. She also served on the planning committee and was a panelist on the IMAGE 2022 DEI panel. Flakes also contributes to IMAGE 2023’s DEI efforts. She has been published in The Leading Edge.

Position Statement

More than 90 years ago, the founders of SEG constructed their vision for an organization to support geophysical technology for the petroleum industry. We’ve expanded our reach and have the opportunity to position ourselves for future growth. It is a great honor for me to have served with SEG committees, and I welcome the opportunity to continue contributing to the organization through an at-large position on the SEG board of directors. If elected, I will focus my efforts to: 

• promote programs to support publications and professional development of members in emerging technologies such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage; physics-driven machine learning; and geothermal energy;
• implement practical solutions to increase engagement of student chapters through mentorships, employment coaching, and educational enrichment;
• establish critical collaborations between academia and industry to advance research and promote innovation and growth in technologies based in applied geophysics;
• develop strategic diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to attract, develop, promote, and retain individuals to careers in applied geophysics and global membership for SEG; and
• leverage international participation to extend diversity of ideas for regional workshops and technical committees. 

I am honored to be nominated for this esteemed position with the Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

Constantine Tsingas holds a PhD from the University of Alberta, Msc in geophysics from McGill University, and a bachelor’s degee in physics from the University of Athens, Greece. Throughout his 35-year career he has worked in a number of leadesrship and technical positions at Saudi Aramco and at seimic service providers, such as, Seiscom Delta, Western Geophysical, Cogniseis, PGS, and Kelman Technologies. Currently, he is a senior geophysical consultant with Saudi Aramco’s Upstream Research Center specializing in advanced imaging, blended acqusition designs, processing, and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)-based applications for offshore seabed acquisitions. He has conducted the first land application of vertical cable technology and multicomponent (9C) surveys in the Middle East. He has also demonstrated a new seabed acquisition technology where 200 AUVs were deployed – the first in the world. 

He is a receipient of the 2013 SEG Distinguished Achievement Award as a member of the EXPEC ARC Geophysics Group of Saudi Aramco. In 2022, he was awarded the “Technical Presentation Award” for his exceptional contributions made to SEG in the Middle East. Tsingas has received numerous recognitions for his research work from various industry organizations, such as, Hart’s E&P (2020), ADIPEC (2018), World Oil (2018), and GPS (2018). He was instrumental in securing SEG’s enrollement in the first GEO Conference in Bahrain in 1994. During the 65^th SEG Annual Meeting, his paper titled “A project management approach to the integrated reservoir characterization process” was confirmed by the Honors and Awards Committee to have been one of the most outstanding contributions. Throughout the years he proposed and organized numerous workshops in the Middle East, Europe, and North America in addition to his participation as active author and speaker. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and has been awarded 10 patents.

Position Statement

It is a great honor and pleasure to be nominated for the SEG Board of Directors position of director at large. I can still recall the moment when as a naïve young MSc student I applied for my SEG membership back in 1983. Since then, I have not regretted being a part of this international, diverse, and borderless Society. 

As a long-standing member, I will support and be involved directly in SEG’s business in a number of ways:

• capitalizing on my senior position at Saudi Aramco and being equipped with broad international experience, I have the right skills and relentless drive to ensure continuous engagement of SEG values to local entities. My resilient character traits will immensely contribute to the requirements of this position.
• collaborating and liaising with the rest of the SEG Board to assist local SEG offices to promote and further expand the role, footprint, and services of the Society in these important parts of the world.
• facilitating SEG’s Middle East office to propose and organize a number of workshops and forums.
• connecting academia and industry across the region by providing the necessary support for mutual realignment.

Engaging SEG’s vital contributions in the world’s sustainability goals by fostering technologies related to CO₂ sequestration and monitoring, geothermal, and hydrogen exploration. 

I trust that my international background and my educational and professional experience are key assets to serve our Society successfully. Equipped with a can-do attitude, results-oriented personality, and effective communication and leadership skills, I feel capable of enhancing and promoting SEG’s mission, values, and services.

Bryce Swinford is a geophysicist staff sr. for Occidental Petroleum in Houston, Texas. He supports development and appraisal projects in the Midland Basin in West Texas. His prior experience includes unconventional development and exploration projects in the Delaware Basin in West Texas and southeast New Mexico for Anadarko Petroleum and Concho Resources, as well as conventional infill and delineation projects in the Central Basin Platform, Northern Shelf, and Eastern Shelf for Apache. He earned a bachelor’s degree in geophysical engineering in 2007 from Colorado School of Mines and a masters in applied geophysics in 2012 from IDEA League (TU Delft, ETH Zurich, and RWTH Aachen University). Swinford’s interests include all of the usual work that goes into successful integrated development activities, along with career and technical mentoring. He has served on the boards of the Permian Basin Geophysical Society and Permian Basin Section of the Society for Sedimentary Geology. He was also on performing arts boards in Midland and Houston, Texas. He served SEG as an Annual Meeting Technical Program key contact (interpretation topic) in 2019, Annual Meeting Technical Program cochair in 2020, and International Meeting for Applied Geoscience & Energy Technical Program chair in 2021. 

Position statement

I seek to serve SEG, its members, and the greater geophysical community as the energy transition accelerates. I strive to demonstrate the ongoing relevance of the Society to both younger and established members of the geophysical community through effective, inclusive, and meaningful representation. I will work to maintain adherence to Society guidelines while providing feedback and facilitating adjustments to those guidelines to further the Society’s missions.

Neil Judge is the CEO of Inventa Energy Inc., a company that is developing energy solutions in South America. He has a master’s degree in geophysics from Imperial College London and more than 45 years of experience in the exploration and production industry. He has been a member of SEG since 1977 and is a fellow of the Geological Society of London. Judge began his career as a seismic data processor with Geophysical Service Inc. in the United Kingdom. He then spent 20 years working for Phillips Petroleum and 23 years working for Hunt Oil in various domestic United States and international assignments. He has worked at the leading edge of exploration technology throughout his career, from the early days of Seiscrop 3D interpretation, to designing and acquiring early land 3D surveys using radio telemetry, to imaging complex thrust systems using full-azimuth and offset 3D surveys and prestack depth migration. Judge has been a champion of using cost-effective geophysical tools as part of integrated development and exploration projects throughout his career. He has also been a strong mentor, passing his experience on to young geoscientists. Judge has been a resident of Dallas, Texas, for the last 26 years. 

Position statement

In my lifetime, the geophysical industry has been immensely successful in helping to find and develop cost-effective energy supplies. As the challenge to find and develop new sources of energy has increased with complexity and remoteness, we have stayed ahead of the curve by developing new technology and improving on old. The challenge going forward is to manage the energy transition of the 21^st century while cost effectively maintaining the traditional energy supplies that will be needed during and after the transition. The application of geophysical methods in developing and optimizing renewable energy sources and in carbon sequestration is becoming a larger part of the workload of the Society’s membership, and the Society should reflect this in its training opportunities and literature. To maintain the vibrancy and excellence that has characterized the industry throughout my career, we need to attract bright young scientists to an industry that is in many parts perceived as being part of the problem. This is a challenge that must be addressed head on through proactive programs at high-school and college levels.

Ge Jin is an assistant professor of geophysics and codirector of the Reservoir Characterization Project at Colorado School of Mines (CSM). His research interest is in distributed fiber-optic sensing applications in geophysics. Before his arrival at CSM in 2019, Jin served as a research geophysicist at ConocoPhillips for five years. He obtained a PhD in geophysics from Columbia University in the City of New York, along with a dual BS in geophysics and computer science and an MS in geophysics from Peking University. Jin has served SEG on the Research Committee, Transformation Task Force, and technical and organizing committees of several conferences and SEG workshops. He also served as associate editor for Geophysics and Interpretation. 

Position statement

I have extensive experience in both industry and academia that enables me to serve as a bridge between these two communities. My primary goal is to promote participation of the younger generation in SEG activities and increase the population of members in early-career stages. I am committed to improving the career-development opportunities through online education and professional networking. Furthermore, I intend to support the repositioning of SEG during the energy transition era by expanding the community’s representation toward CCUS, mining, geotechnical, and civil engineering directions while maintaining strong representation in the oil-and-gas industry.

Shannon Jeffries is a business development geoscientist with Devon Energy in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She works on mergers and acquisitions projects, as well as geologic play studies in the United States. She was previously a senior staff geophysicist in the Permian and Williston basins for Devon/WPX Energy. Prior to her time at Devon, Jeffries was a senior geophysicist in the Arkoma Basin for Trinity Operating. She was also a geophysicist for new ventures and Anadarko Basin for SM Energy.

Jeffries received an MS in geology from Oklahoma State University and BS in geology from Missouri State University. In addition to being a member of SEG, she has served as president and in other roles for the Geophysical Society of Tulsa, membership coordinator for the Tulsa Geological Society, and student at large member for the Soil and Water Conservation Society. 

Position statement

With the changing times, it is even more crucial for leaders to emerge within SEG and the industry to help guide and direct our organizations to better serve members. The energy transition is a difficult topic that requires compromise and change within our societies while still adhering to the founding principles. I believe that my experience working in oil and gas as well as business development will serve me well during these discussions as SEG moves forward in this transition.

Craig Funk is the Director of GeoServices & Land at Nutrien Ltd. where he supports the potash mining business unit. He studied at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada where he earned a B. Sc. in Engineering Geophysics and an M. Sc. in Geophysics. He is currently both a professional engineer and geoscientist. Craig has worked in hard- and soft-rock mining, geotechnical consulting, and upstream oil and gas in a variety of locations, including South Africa, United States, and Canada. Craig started at Nutrien in 2008 as Chief Geophysicist and has progressed into the current role where he oversees potash exploration, mineral and surface lands, corporate disclosure and reporting, and geoscience applications and special projects. 

Craig is currently a board member with the International Mineral Innovation Institute based in Saskatoon, Canada. Craig is a long-time member of the SEG, the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG), and other societies and associations. Craig has been an SEG council representative for District 5 since 2021. In 2023, he was given the Technical Achievement Award by the CSEG for his career achievements. 

Position Statement

It’s been a privilege to serve as a District 5 representative since 2021 and I would welcome an opportunity to continue serving. I work for the largest potash miner in the world, and with potash being recognized as a critical mineral, I have some unique perspectives on the contributions geophysics is making towards finding these strategic minerals and safely mining them. However, we are facing significant demographic challenges as our experienced geophysicists retire. I believe SEG plays an important role in both attracting young geophysicist into the profession and helping them to grow and mature technically.

Walter Gualberto González Eslava is currently an industry solutions advisor G&G for Mexico with Halliburton. He earned a degree in geophysical engineering and a master’s degree in earth sciences with specialization applied to petroleum from Simón Bolívar University. He also studied data science at the Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires. He has more of 16 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, specifically in exploration, development, and operations in conventional and unconventional resources. He has held several positions during his career with oil and gas operators (Chevron-PDVSA) and a service company (Landmark-Halliburton). They have included him serving in the roles of development and exploration geophysicist, operation geologist, and G&G consultant. His activities have comprised the evaluation of petroleum systems in sedimentary basins (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela), geophysical specialist work (seismic well tie, velocity modeling, seismic attributes studies, and seismic inversion), elaboration of integrated studies based on technical information (G&G, D&C, and production), and identification of new opportunities and the creation of development plans with an interdisciplinary team.

Laura Bornatici has been an active SEG member for 16 years, volunteering in different roles. She has represented District 7 for the last two years and will be happy to serve in this role for another mandate.

Bornatici is the chief geophysicist for Capricorn Energy. Her areas of expertise include rock physics, seismic data interpretation, electromagnetic, and potential field data processing and interpretation. Laura has an MSc in environmental engineering from the Politecnico di Milano and later completed a master’s in petroleum engineering at Heriot-Watt University. She has been working in the energy sector since 2000, starting her career as a field geophysicist in electromagnetic data acquisition with Geosystem. She then moved to data processing, inversion, and interpretation. In 2007, Geosystem was acquired by Schlumberger, and Laura was promoted to a managerial position in Houston. Later, she went back to technical work, focusing on seismic interpretation and quantitative geophysics. In the last 11 years, she has been based in Edinburgh, working in exploration with Capricorn Energy.

Barbara Ciurlo received a degree in physics from the Università di Milano in Italy in 1986. From 1986 to 1989, she held a scholarship in climatology and local weather forecasting with the Osservatorio Meteorologico Milano Duomo. She joined Agip S.p.A. in 1989 (Eni S.p.A. from 1995) as a geophysicist, where she focused on seismic studies and borehole seismic data and later on amplitude variation with offset and direct hydrocarbon indicator (DHI) analysis. She contributed to oil-and-gas integrated geoscience projects for all of the main areas in the company’s interests including Europe, North Sea, North/West/East/South Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, Far East, Australia, Gulf of Mexico, and South America (offshore and onshore).

She was with Eni Petroleum in New Orleans, Louisiana, from 2008 to 2010 as geophysical advisor for the Gulf of Mexico areas and Alaska. She has served as Eni knowledge owner for DHI methods and follows the activity of the Rose and Associates DHI Consortium. Since 2021, she has been an area knowledge coordinator for geophysics in Eni, with a focus on training, evaluation, and hiring for the geosciences. She has authored papers for SEG, European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, International Petroleum Technology Conference, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, First Break, and other local events and publications.

Position statement

Serving as district representative from 2021 through 2023 has been a comprehensive experience, allowing me to gain a thorough vision of the evolving status of the geosciences in industry, education, and academia. Connecting these worlds will be one of the main challenges in the near future in order to deepen the many useful opportunities that geophysics can contribute to the society and sustainability of the energy scenario.

Ifeanyichukwu Obi holds an MSc in petroleum geology and a PhD in applied geophysics (stratigraphy option) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He joined ExxonMobil Corporation in December 2011 and is currently a senior geoscientist. He is the founder of the GEOCAMP Institute, an online platform for geoscience mentoring, and has been an active volunteer for the SEG Africa region since 2017. In September 2022, under his guidance as a district representative, the SEG Sub-Saharan Africa student chapter successfully held its first virtual conference, which included activities such as a Challenge Bowl competition, virtual field trip, and technical and career sessions. He has anchored volunteer teaching and geoscience mentoring sessions with students and young professionals at several universities in Nigeria (January 2020 to present), Cameroon (November 2020), Canada (January 2021), France (February 2021), and Uganda (August 2022). He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and is the current student chapter coordinator for the AAPG Africa region. 

Position statement

Serving as an SEG district representative created an opportunity for me to help with the development of students and young professionals in the region. It has been a platform to contribute to our evolving world of geophysics and subsurface sciences, especially in a region with young and emerging chapters. A renewed opportunity to serve will enable me to support the region by 

• Growing SEG presence in Sub-Saharan Africa through local programs and membership drives
• Improving industry–academia communication through the facilitation of technical programs and young professional conferences
• Focusing on increasing awareness about environmentally friendly sources of energy

Hakim Saibi’s research specializes in exploration geophysics (magnetotelluric and potential fields) applied to environmental, geothermal, and geologic studies. He has published more than 150 papers covering geophysics, geothermal, and hydrogeological issues from numerous countries (Algeria, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Japan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and United Arab Emirates).

He holds a doctor of engineering degree in earth resources engineering (2007) and a business and management degree (2010) from Kyushu University. He worked with the Japan Society for Promotion of Science from 2007 to 2009. He was a senior academic at Kyushu University from 2010 to 2016 and is currently at UAE University.

Saibi has been a responsible and active member of SEG. He has served on multiple conference technical committees, including the International Conference on Engineering Geophysics (ICEG) from 2017 to present. He is chair of the ICEG technical committee for 2023. 

Position statement

I am very delighted to be nominated as a candidate for SEG’s District 10 representative. I will support SEG in achieving its objectives and goals by promoting geophysics locally and globally. Goals include: 

• Supporting young geoscientists to be active in geophysics
• Increasing the role of geophysics in energy and water sustainability and other environmental issues
• Strengthening the relationship between academia and industry to solve actual global problems (net-zero transition, renewables, etc.)

Xinming Wu received a BS (2009), MSc (2012), and PhD (2016) in geophysics from Central South University, Tongji University, and Colorado School of Mines, respectively. He was a postdoc from 2016–2019 at the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin. Since 2019, he has been a full professor of geophysics at the University of Science and Technology of China. There, he founded the Computational Interpretation Group, working on computational methods for geophysical data processing, interpretation, inversion, and subsurface modeling. Wu has published more than 70 journal papers. He received multiple SEG awards including the J. Clarence Karcher Award (2020), Best Paper in Geophysics (2016), and Best Paper, Honorable Mention (2018).

Wu actively serves the geophysics community. He is a member of the SEG Distinguished Lecture Committee (2020–present) and session chair of the SEG Annual Meeting/International Meeting for Applied Geoscience & Energy (2016–present). He has been an associate editor for various journals including Geophysics, Interpretation, Computers & Geosciences, and IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters (2021–2022). In 2020, he was selected as the SEG Honorary Lecturer, and his virtual lectures attracted more than 4000 registrants, which was a record high of all previous SEG Distinguished Lecture tours. 

Position statement

The exploration geophysical society is facing several challenges including aging membership, changes in employment opportunities for geophysicists due to the energy transition, and decreasing international communication and cooperation. As a district representative in District 11, I aim to help address these challenges by: 

•  Motivating and attracting young students and professionals to join SEG and become long-term members
• Facilitating the development of computational and crossdisciplinary skills among SEG members and ensuring that the benefits of SEG membership broaden the members’ career paths and make them adaptable to industry changes
• Organizing online or offline meetings, workshops, and lectures to strengthen international communication and collaboration

Chisato Konishi is a research geophysicist who has worked for OYO Corporation for more than 25 years. He joined OYO following graduation from Kobe University in 1997. After engaging in many projects, he studied in the United States from 2011 to 2014 and received a master’s degree in geophysics from Stanford University. His current research interests include near-surface geophysics for engineering purposes such as subsurface evaluation in construction projects, vulnerability evaluation of river levees using surface-wave exploration and the resistivity survey, landslide stability evaluation, etc. Konishi is a director of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists of Japan and has been responsible for international affairs since 2022. He has been a member of SEG since 2002. 

Position statement

As district representative, I will focus on extending activities in the near-surface geophysics community. I believe there is a considerable possibility to apply geophysical exploration to solve environmental and engineering problems. I want to contribute to connecting the geophysical and engineering communities with mutual understanding.