Near-Surface Elections

Kennedy Doro received his PhD in geosciences from the University of Tuebingen, Germany in 2015 and has since then acquired both industry and academic experience. He is currently an assistant professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Toledo, Ohio, where he leads the Hydro- and Environmental Geophysics research group (UToledo HEG-Lab). Prior to his current position, he served as a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto, ON, Canada; a visiting researcher at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria; and a direct sensing specialist and field engineer with Fugro Germany GmbH, Moessingen, Germany. He was also a Volkswagen Foundation Junior Postdoctoral Fellow from 2015–2016. He holds an MSc degree in applied environmental geosciences from the University of Tuebingen, Germany, and a BSc degree in geology from Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. 

His research interests include advancing our understanding of soil and aquifer properties’ variation as well as the hydrological and biogeochemical processes within them using geophysical methods in combination with hydrogeological and other in-situ techniques. He is also interested in advancing the use of geophysics for supporting forensic investigations, including locating clandestine graves, buried weapons, wastes, etc. 

Kennedy has been an active member of the SEG-NSTS since 2010, moving from a student member to an active professional member. He has served the SEG community in several roles, including the pioneer chair of the SEG-NSTS Global Subcommittee and as a member of the SEG Equity in Process committee. Kennedy has lived and worked in more than 14 countries spanning three continents, and besides his research and teaching, he is actively involved in leveraging the knowledge and experience of Africans in the Diaspora to contribute to the development of the continent, an initiative he calls “the Brain-Gain” initiative. 

Position Statement

I would be delighted to serve as the next chair-elect of the SEG Near Surface Technical Session (SEG-NSTS); hence, I seek your vote. The SEG-NSTS community has achieved some successes in recent years, including increased visibility (thanks to the initiative of the leadership to host the Near Surface Pavilion during the annual IMAGE Meeting in 2022) and growing members’ participation and numbers. The current leadership has built on this success with increased participation from students, early careers, and diverse professionals at the advanced career stage from both academia and industry. With the current transient nature of the energy sector, which parallels a decline in enrollment in geophysics and geoscience programs, there is a need to reinvent the perception of a geophysics career and the roles of geophysicists in modern society. This responsibility falls largely on the SEG-NSTS Community, as our professional services transcend energy needs to the environment, agriculture, critical infrastructure, and addressing climate change. The near-surface community holds the potential to re-invent the business of geophysics and attract students and younger professionals, connecting them with experienced professionals to collectively serve societal needs. To achieve this, there is a need for visionary leadership. We need a Chair-elect that believes in the and can mobilize others to rally around it. This is what I plan to provide while serving as the chair of the SEG-NSTS community. Therefore, I want you to consider supporting my candidacy for the position of chair-elect. 

Having been an active member of the SEG-NSTS community for about 15 years — from a student member to an early career now advancing towards mid-career — I can say I have been a beneficiary of the support framework within the SEG from a student award to a field camp grant. More importantly, I have benefitted from mentorship available to early career professionals both while I was in the industry and now in academia. Thanks to this available mentorship framework, I have successfully built a research program, graduated my first batch of students, and looked forward to contributing to my profession and community. I want to leverage this firsthand experience to grow opportunities and build connections between students and mentors, early career, and experienced professionals and foster partnerships between academia and industry. The near-surface geophysics community is filled with so many individual and small- to large-scale consulting firms that need this connection and can also give back. This is my vision for wanting to serve as a chair. 

Having served on the executive committee of the SEG and its sister organization, AGU-Near surface, for several years, I appreciate the dynamics of the near-surface geophysics community and would be honored to serve the community further as chair. Go ahead and vote for me and join me in sustaining the growth and expanding the opportunities within the SEG-NSTS Community.

I am an MSc engineer geophysicist by training. I have worked as an expert engineer for several projects related to coal mines/exploration and planning. I received my PhD from Michigan State University following my undergraduate and graduate studies in Istanbul Technical University. My PhD work was highly interdisciplinary including geophysics, hydrogeology, statistics, and groundwater modeling. 

My first job after graduation was at the University of Wyoming as a postdoctoral researcher and I moved to Clemson after UW to work as a research assistant professor. Both jobs provided great opportunity to expand my horizon with research projects on snow accumulation, SWE for Laramie and Snowy Range mountains, radionuclide transport, high resolution pre-clinical imaging, and biogeochemically controlled preferential flow systems.

Currently, I am an assistant professor at Western Michigan University and leading a near-surface geophysics research lab. The research projects with my students cover a wide range of geophysical applications for near-surface targets including high resolution imaging of tree roots and infiltration processes, assessing conditions of several cemeteries, mapping landfill leachate, groundwater contamination, and forensics using both conventional on-ground and air-borne (UAV platform) geophysical methods. 

Position Statement

I am excited for being able to serve as a vice chair in SEG Near-Surface Geophysics Section and work with other near surface geophysicists to represent and promote our area of research. Near surface/critical zone/vadose zone — however we name them — are the areas of geophysics that affect our daily lives the most and would greatly benefit from both progressive approaches and collective wisdom. We work in a volume that is most heterogeneous and increasingly disturbed by our civilization. I believe continuous and effective communication within the section to share ideas and experiences and transferring our progress to next generation are the keys for the success of our field. Additionally, developing a collective language to share our research and outcomes with the public and stake holders would allow us to utilize our expertise for greater good. I appreciate the great role that SEG plays in our community and its effectiveness as a member myself, therefore, would be honored if I can get the opportunity to connect and work towards these goals with my peers at SEG NS section.

Sophie is CEO of Imagir sarl, based in Saint Renan, France. She received her PhD in geophysics in 1999 from the University of Brest. From 1999 to 2010, she was associate researcher at the University of Edinburgh and then Brest. Her research focused on magnetotellurics (MT), with the development of new interpretation tools (3D inversion) and application to crustal studies, particularly the structure of the East-African Rift. In 2010, she left the University of Brest and created Imagir, a company specialized in magnetotellurics where she applies her latest developments to the processing and 3D inversion of large MT data sets collected for geothermal, oil&gas, and groundwater exploration. 

Position Statement

I have 30 years of experience in geophysics, both in academic and industrial domains. I am specialized in electromagnetics, with a wide range of applications from near surface to crustal studies, and from field data acquisition to the development of processing and inversion tools. I believe that serving as vice chair of the Global Subcommittee of Near-Surface Geophysics Technical Section will be a great opportunity for me to share and promote new ideas with the near surface geophysics community. It will be important for me to highlight and promote the new techniques and methodologies developed by young geophysicists. It is also important to encourage global awareness of the importance of near-surface geophysics.

Nadia Fantello earned her BS at Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina, in 2014, and her MS in geophysics at the University of Wyoming, in 2016. For her thesis work, she used ground penetrating radar to locate and quantify gas trapped bubbles in lake ice. During that time, she published her thesis in the GEOPHYSICS journal and presented her work at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting. After completing her MS, Ms. Fantello worked for a year at the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming, under the supervision of her thesis advisor, Dr. Andrew Parsekian, where she oversaw the collection and processing of electrical resistivity tomography and borehole nuclear magnetic resonance data. She currently serves as project geophysicist/team leader at S&ME, Inc. 

Position Statement

Two years ago, I was elected as the Vice-Chairperson of Committees position for the Near Surface Technical Section. The NSTS and the Gravity and Magnetics SEG Committee collaborated to organize a post-convention workshop called GEM Methods (Gravity, Magnetic, Electrical and Electromagnetic) for Environmental Applications, which was a great success at IMAGE22. 

Because collaboration among other geophysical societies is imperative to grow, in 2022 we reached out to the Geophysical and Dams & Levees technical working groups within AEG (Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists) to create a Dams and Levee panel that will be held at each annual conference. The amount of support and excitement was incredibly inspiring. If I am re-elected, I will keep working on supporting the NSTS and help facilitate communication between committee leaders, but also continue to work on strengthen the relationships we built with other societies and keep increasing collaboration with other ones.