Seismic Soundoff

Staying up to date on the latest techniques and technology is a key part of being a geophysicist. In this episode, Patricia de Lugão provides a helpful analysis of the benefits and uses of magnetotellurics (MT), based on her upcoming 2020 Honorary Lecturer (Latin America) tour called "Environment-friendly exploration using magnetotellurics." Patricia highlights the role of MT in geophysics and mining, discusses the advantages of this method over seismic, and spotlights how MT is ready to play a major role in renewable energy. If you are a student considering your specialization, early-career wanting to stay up to date on the latest techniques, or simply like to know more about a promising tool for the future, then push play on this episode. Visit https://seg.org/podcast/Post/9102/ for the complete show notes and the link to Patricia's upcoming lecture tour. BIOGRAPHY Patricia de Lugão received a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental engineering and water resources from the University of South Carolina in 1988, a master’s degree in geophysics from the Observatório Nacional in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and a Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of Utah in 1997. At Observatório Nacional, she worked with Sergio Fontes on the acquisition, processing, and modeling of magnetotelluric data from the Recôncavo Basin, Brazil. During her Ph.D. studies at the University of Utah, de Lugão had the good fortune to work with Phil Wannamaker and Michael Zhdanov on the development of modeling and inversion algorithms for magnetotellurics. After her Ph.D., de Lugão worked in the research department at Western Atlas in Houston with Kurt-Martin Strack, where she applied her knowledge in modeling and inversion to the development of algorithms for array borehole tools. In the Geosignal division of Western Atlas, Patricia worked with Lee Bell on two- and three-dimensional refraction tomography techniques for statics correction and initial velocity model for prestack depth migration of seismic data from the foothills of South America to the Gulf of Mexico. In 2000, de Lugão moved to Brazil and accepted a position with Landmark, working with the support group for the interpretation of seismic data, a shift from her previous work. In 2003, de Lugão founded Strataimage Consultoria Ltda, foreseeing an interest in the new marine electromagnetic techniques that were being developed. From 2003 to 2006, Strataimage brought to Brazil companies such as AGO (marine controlled-source electromagnetics) working with Arnold Orange and Oedegaard (elastic inversion) working with David Davies. In 2008, she participated in the first marine magnetotelluric survey offshore Brazil, on the Santos Basin. Dr. de Lugão was instrumental in helping establish electromagnetic methods onshore and offshore in Brazil, leading most of the recent commercial onshore surveys in that country. CREDITS Original music by Zach Bridges. This episode was hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Geary. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Crockett, Ally McGinnis, and Mick Swiney.

30 Jul 202020min

Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) represent two of the trendiest and important topics in geophysics right now. In this episode, host Andrew Geary speaks with Aria Abubakar on his 2020 SEG-AAPG Distinguished Lecturer tour on the "Potential and challenges of applying artificial intelligence and machine-learning methods for geoscience." This conversation explores machine learning and AI from multiple angles. What is the biggest success of AI and machine learning to date in the geosciences? How can geophysicists tailor AI, machine learning, and data analytics algorithms and paradigms to meet the specific properties of geoscience data? How close are we to translating modern workflows from proof-of-concept works to scalable commercial products? If you are new to these topics or want to hear the latest news in this essential area of knowledge, Aria will be your guide for our current understanding, as well as the future possibilities for machine learning and AI. Visit https://seg.org/podcast/Post/9101 for the complete show notes and the link to Aria's upcoming lecture tour. BIOGRAPHY Aria Abubakar was born in Bandung, Indonesia. He received an M.Sc. degree (Cum Laude) in electrical engineering and a Ph.D. degree (Cum Laude) in technical sciences, both from the Delft University of Technology, in 1997, and 2000, respectively. After graduation, he worked as a researcher with the Laboratory of Electromagnetic Research at the Delft University of Technology. He joined Schlumberger-Doll Research in Ridgefield, CT in 2003, and his last position there was a scientific advisor and the manager of the Multi-Physics Modeling and Inversion Program. From 2013 until mid-2017, he was the Interpretation Engineering manager and scientific advisor at Schlumberger Houston Formation Evaluation in Sugar Land, TX. From mid-2017 until 2019, he was Data Analytics program manager and scientific advisor for the Software Technology based in Houston, TX. Aria is currently the Head of Data Science for the Schlumberger Exploration and Field Development Platform. His main responsibility is to oversee and coordinate the utilization of machine-learning and data-analytics technology for exploration and field development applications throughout Schlumberger. He is currently an Associate Editor of GEOPHYSICS and IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine. He was the 2014 SEG North America Honorary Lecturer. Aria holds 30 U.S. patents/patent applications and has published five book/book chapters, more than 90 scientific articles in journals, 200 conference proceedings papers, and 60 conference abstracts. He also has presented more than 300 invited and contributed talks in international conferences, institutes, and universities. CREDITS Original music by Zach Bridges. This episode was hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Geary. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Crockett, Ally McGinnis, and Mick Swiney.

23 Jul 202019min

In this episode, host Andrew Geary speaks with David Johnston on reservoir monitoring, the featured special section in July's The Leading Edge. This conversation covers a great deal of valuable information in a short time. David shares why reservoir monitoring is the specialization for generalists, the future and value of carbon sequestration, and why he believes there is another Copernican Revolution coming. He also breaks down reservoir monitoring in an easy-to-understand way by relating it to how we control the temperature in our home. If you are considering specializing in reservoir monitoring, want to learn how to work better with other disciplines, or simply want to hear a great preview of July's the Leading Edge, this episode will meet your goals. Visit https://seg.org/podcast/Post/9081 for the complete show notes and links to this month's special section on reservoir monitoring. BIOGRAPHY David H. Johnston is Managing Director of Differential Seismic, LLC, a geophysics consultancy. Dr. Johnston retired from ExxonMobil in 2017 after a 38-year career in research, exploration, and production. He was responsible for the development and commercialization of 4D seismic technology in ExxonMobil and was Geophysics Coordinator for ExxonMobil Production Company, where he provided technical and business stewardship of ExxonMobil’s global production geophysics activity. Dr. Johnston earned a Bachelor of Science degree in earth sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1973 and a Ph.D. in geophysics in 1978, also from MIT. Dr. Johnston has received numerous awards from the SEG and in 2013 he served as the SEG Distinguished Short Course Instructor. CREDITS Original music by Zach Bridges. This episode was hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Geary. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Crockett, Ally McGinnis, and Mick Swiney.

9 Jul 202028min

Getting involved in your professional association is the key to unlocking its power. And volunteering is a great way to get started. At SEG, committees serve this vital role of connecting members to the society, as well as to each other. In this conversation with Andrew Geary, Dr. Sergio Chávez-Pérez, Chair of the Research Committee, discusses what the committee does, how to get involved, and how it has impacted Sergio's career. Sergio also discusses why engaging geophysicists outside Houston, Texas is essential for the future of applied geophysics. Visit https://seg.org/podcast/Post/9063 for Sergio's full bio and the link to read May's The Leading Edge highlighting the Committee. BIOGRAPHY Sergio Chávez-Pérez received a B.S. degree in geophysical engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM, Mexico City, MEXICO) in 1984 and an M.S. in exploration geophysics from the University of South Carolina (USC, Columbia, SC, USA) in 1987. He began his work as an exploration seismologist in Mexico City at the Mexican Petroleum Institute in 1987. Later, he was appointed a research associate of engineering seismology at the Center for Seismic Research (1987-1992) and an adjunct professor of exploration seismology at UNAM (1987-1992). Sergio went back to the USA in 1992 to pursue his Ph.D. in exploration seismology at the Seismological Lab of the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR, Reno, NV, USA). He obtained his Ph.D. in December 1997 and since January 1998 is a Research Geophysicist at the Mexican Petroleum Institute (IMP), following technology for IMP and PEMEX. He has also been an adjunct professor of exploration seismology at UNAM (1999-2014; 2016- ) and adjunct professor at the University of Utah, USA (2004-2014). His areas of professional interest are seismic imaging (migration, modeling, tomography, and inversion), data processing and wavefield transformation, interpretation of seismic data for structural, stratigraphic, and reservoir and site characterization targets, and seismic wave propagation. He became an SEG (Society of Exploration Geophysicists) member in 1981 during his undergraduate years in Mexico City, was a candidate for Vice-President in 2007, and currently serves as an associate editor for GEOPHYSICS (Case Histories, Interpretation Methods), reviewer for Interpretation, member of the Global Affairs, Latin America Advisory (past Chair), Research (Chair), and Translations committees (past Chair), and reviewer, and session and workshop organizer during SEG Annual Meetings. Sergio is also a member of AAPG, AGU, AMGE (serving as foreign relations liaison), EAGE (serving as a workshop organizer), GCSSEPM, GSA, and GSH. In addition, he is also a reviewer for the Journal of Applied Geophysics, Geofísica Internacional, and Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics (NPG). CREDITS Original music by Zach Bridges. This episode was hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Geary. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Crockett, Ally McGinnis, and Mick Swiney.

30 Jun 202014min

On June 5, 2020, Hendratta Ali released the "Call for a Robust Anti-Racism Plan for The Geosciences" petition. In the petition, Dr. Ali and her collaborators outline 15 action steps for societies, organizations, companies, and individuals to take to strive toward anti-racism and equity. In this conversation with Andrew Geary, Dr. Ali discusses how the petition originated, what it means for a professional society to be anti-racist and equitable for all members, her personal experiences of racism in the geosciences, and concrete steps organizations can take to better support Black, Indigenous, Latinx People and other minoritized groups in the geosciences. As of June 19, over 19,000 have signed the petition. Read the petition at https://www.change.org/p/geoscientists-call-for-a-robust-anti-racism-plan-for-the-geosciences. For all the resources Dr. Ali mentions in this conversation, visit https://seg.org/podcast. BIOGRAPHY Hendratta Ali is an Associate Professor in the Geosciences Department at Fort Hays State University (FHSU) and is the coordinator of the Petroleum Geology program and student club advisor/mentor. Dr. Ali established and developed a petroleum geology program in the Department of Geosciences at FHSU. She supervises the FHSU geology apprenticeship program for students and mentors students to gain industry experience before they graduate. In addition to teaching and supervising apprenticeships, Dr. Ali has a vibrant research group that typically includes several undergraduate students, advises the student chapters of the SEG (Fort Hays State University Geophysical Society) and AAPG petroleum club. She is also the faculty sponsor of the Fort Hays State University IBA team. Dr. Ali’s research interests are in magnetic susceptibility and chemo-stratigraphy applied to petroleum systems and the use of stable isotope applied to surface and groundwater systems. She is very active in SEG, AAPG, and other professional organizations. She has served in key leadership roles including serving as president of the Kansas Geophysical Society, chair of the SEG Youth Education committee, and member of several committees. She offers petroleum-related short-courses and workshops to working professionals and non-geosciences professionals. Dr. Ali was honored with the SEG Outstanding Educator Award in 2018 and the AAPG Inspirational Geoscience Educator Award in 2017. CREDITS Original music by Zach Bridges. This episode was hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Geary. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Crockett, Ally McGinnis, and Mick Swiney.

23 Jun 202035min

Seismic Soundoff is excited to welcome back Kurt Marfurt. Kurt joined the podcast for our second-ever episode that still remains one of the most popular episodes. For this conversation, Kurt highlights the present state of education and training in geophysics, including the value and benefits of virtual education. He shares his thoughts on the most important area of focus for geophysicists right now, why there's a need to increase your quantitative and programming skills and offers his one piece of advice to succeed in geophysics. As with our first conversation, this one is not to be missed. Join host Andrew Geary and Kurt Marfurt on "The present and future of training and education." Visit https://seg.org/podcast/Post/9056 for the complete show notes and links to Kurt's research articles, books, and courses. BIOGRAPHY Kurt J. Marfurt joined The University of Oklahoma in 2007 where he serves as the Frank and Henrietta Schultz Professor of Geophysics within the ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics. Marfurt’s primary research interest is in the development and calibration of new seismic attributes to aid in seismic processing, seismic interpretation, and reservoir characterization. Recent work has focused on applying coherence, spectral decomposition, structure-oriented filtering, and volumetric curvature to mapping fractures and karst with a particular focus on resource plays. Marfurt earned a Ph.D. in applied geophysics at Columbia University’s Henry Krumb School of Mines in New York in 1978 where he also taught as an Assistant Professor for four years. He worked 18 years in a wide range of research projects at Amoco’s Tulsa Research Center after which he joined the University of Houston for 8 years as a Professor of Geophysics and the Director of the Allied Geophysics Lab. He has received the SEG best paper (for coherence), SEG best presentation (for seismic modeling), as a coauthor with Satinder Chopra best SEG poster (one on curvature, one on principal component analysis) and best AAPG technical presentation, and as a coauthor with Roderick Perez Altimar, AAPG/SEG Interpretation best paper (on brittleness) awards. Marfurt also served as the SEG/EAGE Distinguished Short Course Instructor for 2006 and 2018 (on seismic attributes). In addition to teaching and research duties at OU, Marfurt leads short courses on attributes for SEG and AAPG and served as first Editor-in-Chief of the AAPG/SEG journal Interpretation. CREDITS Original music by Zach Bridges. This episode was hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Geary. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Crockett, Ally McGinnis, and Mick Swiney.

4 Jun 202033min

How can couples best navigate dual careers? How do you balance work-life throughout a career? How can dual-career couples benefit companies? Eve Sprunt answers these questions and shows how management and individuals alike can truly activate the power of dual-career couples. This is a wide-ranging conversation that touches on career development, workplace bullying, how professional societies can propel your career in downturns, and much more. This conversation with host Andrew Geary is based on Eve's recent book, A Guide for Dual-Career Couples. Visit https://seg.org/podcast for the complete show notes and to buy her book. BIOGRAPHY Eve Sprunt is the author of two books that deal with the issues impacting those in dual-career couples. Her first book, A Guide for Dual-Career Couples, is based on extensive research she has done on the topic. She felt compelled to write her second book, Dearest Audrey, An Likely Love Story after she found her aunt’s letters that were written in the mid-1950s. Eve is working on a new book that explores the challenges her mother, Ruth Chew, faced trying to combine her career as an artist and later as a children’s book author and illustrator with raising five children. Eve earned her bachelor of science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At the age of 21, while working on her master’s degree at MIT, she eloped before meeting any of her husband’s family. She went on to become the first woman to receive a doctoral degree from Stanford University in Geophysics in 1977. Her first child, Alexander, was born 9 months after she defended her Ph.D. thesis. Thirteen days later, Eve returned to work as a research associate at Stanford bringing Alexander into her lab. Her daughter was born while she worked for Mobil before there was any maternity leave. She spent 35 years in the petroleum industry (21 years for Mobil and almost 14 years for Chevron). She was the 2006 President of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and received that society’s highest award, “Honorary Membership.” In 2013, she received the highest award given by the Society of Women Engineers, the SWE Achievement Award. She acted as vice president of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and served as Past Chair of the SEG Women's Network Committee. She founded the Society of Core Analysts in 1985 and was the 2018 President of the American Geosciences Institute. She authored 23 patents, 28 scholarly papers, and over 150 other articles. CREDITS Original music by Zach Bridges. This episode was hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Geary. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Crockett, Ally McGinnis, and Mick Swiney.

21 Mai 202046min

In this episode, host Andrew Geary speaks with Sarah Morton Rupert, lead author on "Time-lapse monitoring of stress-field variations within the Lower Permian shales in Kansas" in May's The Leading Edge. This conversation is a great primer on the value of near-surface geophysics to scientists and the public. Whether building a house, building a bridge, or remediating an old salt mine, Sarah provides a lot of actionable information in this episode. And if you are wondering the best way to get engaged in the Society, Sarah has you covered there as well. Visit https://seg.org/podcast/Post/9027 for the complete show notes and links to this month's special section on near-surface imaging and modeling. BIOGRAPHY Sarah Morton Rupert currently is a Graduate Research Assistant at the Kansas Geological Survey. Her current work focuses on surface wave seismic methods to investigate how surface waves behave and interact with different geologic and engineering structures. The goal of her research is to better observe geologic materials that may induce engineering failures before they occur and help bridge the gap between the engineering and geophysical communities. She serves as Vice-Chair, Student Program Lead, and Communications Lead for the SEG Near-Surface Geophysics Technical Section. CREDITS Original music by Zach Bridges. This episode was hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Geary. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Crockett, Ally McGinnis, and Mick Swiney.

7 Mai 202027min