Houston 2009 Annual Meeting
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SEG Distinguished and Honorary Lecturers travel the globe
Sarah Tyler, Web Content Editor, SEG
The SEG lecture series includes the Distinguished Lecturer (DL) and Honorary Lecturer (HL) programs. The DL honors outstanding individuals noted for high quality in their contributions to geophysics on an international level and who are outstanding communicators. The HL is a companion program to the DL with a focus to transfer knowledge within a region of the world. Every year there is one Honorary Lecturer for each of the following regions: Central and South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, North America, Pacific South, and South and East Asia. Lectures may be given in English or a language appropriate to the region.
These lecturers usually are well known in the industry. This results in both Distinguished and Honorary lecturers being highly sought after by SEG sections. The 2009 DL and HL lecturers have traveled to more than 180 locations worldwide, teaching approximately 5700 attendees, with many lectures still to come this year.
Distinguished Lecture Program
Selection as a Distinguished Lecturer is viewed as a major honor and recognition of excellence by the SEG. In addition to recognizing an individual's contributions to the science or application of geophysics, this position is an active effort to promote geophysics, stimulate general scientific and professional interest, expand technical horizons, and provide a connection to SEG activities and practices.
Two Distinguished Lecturers are selected for each year: one for the spring (SEG lecture) and one for the fall (SEG-AAPG lecture). Distinguished Lecturers make one-hour presentations in approximately 20–30 locations.
The Fall DL is sponsored jointly with the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG); SEG and AAPG alternate years administering the program.
The 2010 Spring Distinguished Lecturer will be Patrick Connolly. His lecture will cover “Robust workflows for seismic reservoir characterization.”
The 2010 Fall Distinguished Lecturer will be Carl Sondergeld.
Honorary Lecture Program
In late 2008, Shell International Exploration and Production B.V. announced its commitment to fully fund the SEG HL for five years, starting in 2009. The program began with a full slate in 2009. The HLs traveled to approximately 50 countries worldwide and taught thousands of geoscience students and professionals.
These lectures are free and available to those interested in the subject being taught. Many of the areas visited have not had an SEG lecturer before, so this has been a unique opportunity for SEG to help advance the knowledge of many of its members.
The first year of six HLs has been exciting. For example, 2009 Middle East and Africa HL Samir Abdelmoaty recently was honored by being featured on The National Oil Corporation of Libya’s Web site. Students in Nigeria and Ghana were particularly excited by the tour stops.
2009 Pacific South HL Andrew Long keeps readers up to date on his many adventures through his tour journal. Long allows attendees and interested parties to get a glimpse into the life of a traveling instructor by keeping an online journal.
This year is expected to be another full and challenging program. The 2010 South and East Asia HL will be Deva Ghosh, whose talk is titled “Geophysical issues and challenges in southeast Asia with emphasis on Malay Basin.” The 2010 Pacific South HL will be Ben Clennell, whose talk is titled “Electrical properties of sedimentary rocks from DC to dielectric frequencies.” The 2010 European HL will be Aldo Vesnaver, whose talk is titled “Talking and listening to reservoirs: Production monitoring by active and passive seismic.” The 2010 North American HL will be Mike Batzle. The 2010 Central and South America HL will be Efrain Mendez. The Middle East and Africa HL has not yet been determined.
