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Get into the Field: GSA/ExxonMobil Awards
GSA TODAY | MARCH/APRIL 2015 The importance of field schools to practicing geologists is
unquestionable, yet the opportunities to experience field geology
are dwindling. The Geological Society of America (GSA), in
cooperation with ExxonMobil, is currently offering three programs
to support and encourage field geology. This non-profit/industry
collaboration has proven very successful; in 2014, more than 250
geology students and professors applied for these awards.
GSA/EXXONMOBIL BIG HORN BASIN FIELD AWARD
Application deadline: 17 April
This one-week field seminar offers 20 undergraduate and grad-
uate students and five faculty members a chance to receive a
high-quality educational experience in the spectacular Bighorn
Basin of north-central Wyoming. The course is free to accepted
participants, and all transportation, meals, and living expenses
are covered.
The seminar is team-taught by several ExxonMobil profes-
sionals. These geoscientists represent years of research in
integrated basin analysis, with specific skills in tectonics,
geochemistry, structure, sequence stratigraphy, sedimentology,
paleontology, hydrocarbon systems analysis, and integrated play
analysis. GSA’s role is to select awardees and to handle all logistics.
The seminar focuses on multidisciplinary, integrated basin
analysis and enables awardees to study exposures of individual
hydrocarbon system play elements, such as source, seal, reservoir,
and structure, within a prolific hydrocarbon basin. For more than
a century, the Bighorn Basin has been studied by academic,
industry, and government geoscientists, who have focused on the
exceptional outcrop exposures, as well as subsurface borehole and
seismic data. Our current understanding of the basin derives from
both industry and academic perspectives.
This is not, however, a course on the detailed geology of the
Bighorn Basin. Instead, our objectives are to introduce the
concepts of integrated basin analysis, including evaluation,
prediction, and assessment of play element distribution and
quality, using the Bighorn Basin as a natural laboratory. Via this
laboratory, we explore the concepts, methods, and tools of petro-
leum geoscience that we use on a day-to-day basis in the energy
industry. Our discussions on the outcrop and in the classroom
focus on how we make decisions with limited data and how crit-
ical information is identified in order to evaluate risk vs. uncer-
tainty. We also use the excellent field setting to teach fundamental
geoscience skills in structure, stratigraphy, geochemistry, etc.
By the end of the seminar, the teams will generate play element
Supported by
https://rock.geosociety.org/eo
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maps, play summary charts, cross sections, and play fairway
maps. The highlight of this course is the presentation of these
ideas to the group and the ensuing discussions about how these
ideas and play assessments could be further developed.
Feedback we have received:
“I’d like to express my gratitude once again for excellent organization,
course content and quality of the material, amazing instructors and
professors at the Bighorn Basin trip! I am very impressed and truly
inspired! Great thanks to all the people who made this trip possible.”
“The week long field course afforded me the opportunity to learn about
integrated basin analysis from top industry professionals while
improving my field geology skills. Not only was the trip a highly
valuable academic experience, it also introduced me to fellow students,
faculty, and industry workers from across the world who share my same
interest in the geosciences.”
“I just wanted to thank the GSA and ExxonMobil for such an amazing
experience. It is hard to explain how much last week meant to me, the
time we spent in Wyoming is something I will remember for the rest of
my life. The seminar has motivated me to work even harder over the
next couple of years to realize my goal of being a geologist.”
GSA/EXXONMOBIL FIELD CAMP SCHOLAR AWARD
Application deadline: 17 April
This award provides 20 undergraduate students with US$2,000
each to attend the field camp of their choice, based on diversity,
economic/financial need, and merit. Funds for this award have
been provided by ExxonMobil. Selection of awardees is completed
by GSA.
Feedback we have received:
“I thank the GSA and ExxonMobil for providing funds that
allowed me to attend such a life-changing camp. I am truly an
enriched and better person because of it.”