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2004-2005 HGS President's Awards |
HGS Awards 2004-2005 Gerald Cooley Award Honorary Life Membership Distinguished Service Award Rising Star Award Corporate Star Award President's Award HGA Distinguished Service Award Dan Smith - Gerald A. Cooley Award Written by Jeff Lund
I have known Dan since he welcomed me to my first Houston Delegates meeting many decades ago, through our current simultaneous service on the AAPG Advisory Council. He has been a friend, a mentor and an inspiring leader to me and countless other geologists, and he continues doing so actively every day! Dan received his bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1958 and immediately began his career as a petroleum geologist with Pan American Petroleum (now BP). In 1967 he joined independent oil company Roberts and Whitson Petroleum as exploration manager. Continuing his entrepreneurial bent he became part owner, executive vice president and exploration manager of Texoil Co., until 1992 when he joined Texas Meridian (now Meridian Resource Corp). He retired from Meridian in 1999 as vice president of new ventures. More recently, Dan brought his prospect generating expertise and business skills to Sandalwood Oil and Gas where his prospects are a key factor in Sandalwood’s notably successful drilling program. Dan’s business career has always been paralleled by his contributions to the profession of petroleum geology. Joining AAPG in 1959, he has held many offices including President of the Association in 2002-2003. He is a Certified Petroleum Geologist and an AAPG Foundation Trustee Associate. Dan has been active in the AAPG House of Delegates (HOD) for nearly 20 years serving as a delegate and foreman of the Houston delegation. He was elected chairman of the HOD in 1997-98. He has served as chair of the Constitution and By Laws Committee, Nominations Committee, Special Resolution Committee on International and Domestic Representation and as a member of the HOD Procedures Committee. Dan’s extensive HOD service was recognized in 2000 when he received the first Distinguished Service Award made by the body. AAPG Standing Committees have benefited from Dan’s leadership. His contributions include service on the Committee on Conventions, Committee on Committees and the Visiting Geologist Committee. He chaired the Summit on Sections Meeting in 1997. The Department of Professional Affairs (DPA) of AAPG has been an arena of great interest to Dan. He served as DPA vice chair for the 1995 annual meeting as well as being DPA program chair and receiving the Best Paper Award. Most of us in HGS see Dan’s service more directly through the Houston Geological Society, and for sure HGS, has been another beneficiary of Dan’s dedicated talent. His term as President in 1987-88 and Vice President in 1985-86 capped years of service recognized by HGS having presented him Honorary Membership and Distinguished Service Awards. Not all of us remember how he lead the HGS during a painful decline in the price of oil when optimism was a critical leadership quality, and required unusual to budget challenges. Dan has long been concerned with scholarship support of young geologists and has served many years as chair of the Graduate Memorial Scholarship Board and the HGS Advisory Committee. HGS is the largest local society in the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies (GCAGS). Dan co-chaired a very successful 1991 GCAGS Convention and served for many years as the GCAGS Convention Committee chair. GCAGS awarded him Honorary Membership and Distinguished Service Awards and in 2001 dedicated the Transactions volume to him, one of the rarest of honors. Of significant note is his participation in other earth science organizations including the Society of Independent Earth Scientists, Association of Independent Professional Earth Scientists, Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Houston Producer’s Forum and regular attendance at the Chief Geologists and Exploration Manager’s Luncheons. I believe the most important contribution Dan’s long service has brought to our profession is his optimism and positive vision for petroleum geology. His term as AAPG President emphasized his concept of making AAPG every geologists “Career Partner for Life” as industry rapidly evolves away from lifetime employment with a company. Dan’s Presidential address at the Salt Lake City Convention Opening Session focused on the “big picture” of the earth’s energy future and its importance not just to geologists but to mankind. Even today, Dan chairs a major strategic planning project by the AAPG Advisory Council and he proactively pursues outreach to students as a Visiting Geologist. My wife Marti and I have had the honor of knowing not only Dan but his wonderful wife Laura and their close-knit family. We have been invited to join the special family tradition of celebrating their Scottish heritage and celebrating Robbie Burn’s birthday with the Houston Heather and Thistle Society annual Burn’s Supper. This opportunity has been especially meaningful to us after our ex-patriot assignment in Aberdeen, Scotland during Dan’s year as AAPG President. Dan visited Aberdeen and spoke to the geology department students at the University of Aberdeen. As you can imagine, the former Chieftain of the Heather and Thistle Society was a big hit with the students, many of whom plan careers in energy exploration. Finally, I invite all HGS members to join in congratulating Dan on receiving the truly special Gerald A. Cooley Award. It has been visible only to a few, but Dan’s leadership roles have occurred during times of great change, debate and stress to our industry and professional societies. He has been called upon to serve in the face of criticism, divisive debate and strong political pressure. Dan has responded admirably! I am sure Jerry Cooley is smiling as Dan receives this coveted award! Carl E. Norman – Distinguished Service Award Carl E. Norman has been selected to receive the Distinguished Service Award for his many years of volunteerism and leadership for the HGS. Prior to beginning his academic career, Carl served 4 years in the Air Force, enlisting shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. He returned to complete his BS in geology from the University of Minnesota in 1957. After completion of his Masters degree from Ohio State University in 1959, he joined Carter Oil (soon after Humble Oil and Refining), where he worked until he returned to pursue his PhD in 1962. Following the completion of his PhD from Ohio State University in 1967, he accepted a faculty position in the Geology Department at the University of Houston, where he taught for 33 years until his retirement in 2000. During his tenure at the university, Carl taught introductory geology to over 6500 students; he taught at the summer field camp in Silver City NM for 12 years; he was the major advisor of 11 Master’s students and on the thesis and dissertation committees for numerous others. He was honored with the Outstanding Educator Award by the GCAGS in 1992. Carl became secretary of the HGS Warren L. and Florence W. Calvert Scholarship Fund in 1974, at the urging of its founder, Mr. Warren Calvert. He served in that position until his appointment as chairman of the fund’s board in 2001, and continues to serve in that position. This represents an amazing 31 years of continued dedicated service to this important HGS committee! This fund has awarded almost $200,000 in scholarships to over 50 graduate students from 15 universities. Carl has guided numerous field trips for the HGS, and is often sought after to both teach and consult because of his extensive knowledge of active faults and other environmental issues in the Gulf Coast region. His many years of commitment to the Warren L. and Florence W. Calvert Scholarship Fund, along with innumerable hours of additional service to the HGS, deem Carl E. Norman an honored recipient of the Distinguished Service Award. Deborah Sacrey - Honorary Life Membership If “Energy” is not Deborah Sacrey’s middle name, it should be. Consider just the things that Deborah, who will receive an Honorary Life Membership in HGS in June, has going on right now: The only reason she is not doing something big right now in the Society of Professional Earth Scientists, I suppose, is that there is nothing left for her to do: she has already been national president of that organization! Deborah Sacrey has spent her life in the oil patch. She was born in Oklahoma City and was raised in Tulsa. Her paternal grandfather was a petroleum landman and an uncle was a petroleum engineer. She picked up a geology degree at the University of Oklahoma, went to work for Gulf Oil Corp. in 1976, and has been running hard in the oil industry ever since. I first met Deborah in the early 1990’s at an HGS Executive Committee meeting when she was Chairman of the Public Relations Committee. She was full of ideas and not at all reticent about expressing them—characteristics that she definitely carries with her today. Deborah moved to Houston in 1988 from Dallas, where she had been active in local geological society affairs. She quickly became very active in HGS, where she became known as a “go-to” person who would quickly and thoroughly accomplish any task She has served in various “official” positions in our Society (including Treasurer in 1997-1998), but some of her most valuable contributions have come through work on ad hoc committees such as the one that selected a new office location for the Society in a hurry in 1996. The Society has already given her its President’s and Distinguished Service awards. In addition to her work in HGS, Deborah has served her profession by extensive labors for AAPG, GCAGS and SIPES. AAPG has given her its Meritorious Service and Distinguished Service awards. She has worked on half a dozen committees, chairing some, was Co-Vice-Chairman of the 2002 national convention in Houston and Co-Chairman of APPEX in 2003. She has been very active in the House of Delegates, having been Secretary/Editor and chairman of several committees. She had been secretary and vice-president of DPA before being elected president last year. While doing all these pro bono tasks, Deborah has had to make a living. She went through some of the reverses that many of us suffered during the 1980s, but came out of them as a very successful independent geoscientist and explorer. She bought a seismic interpretation workstation in 1996 and ended up working for the vendor, testing software, assisting in marketing, and teaching courses. For a number of years she has helped to teach a course entitled, “How to Be an Independent” at AAPG and SIPES conventions and for other organizations. She was a joint author of a publication for the Oklahoma Geological Survey entitled Two- and Three-Dimensional Seismic Methods: Effective Application Can Improve Your Bottom Line, and was one of the editors of an AAPG-DPA publication, Heritage of the Petroleum Geologist. In addition to all of the accomplishments just cited, Ms Sacrey also maintains an excellent library of fine wines, which she is not reluctant to share. I asked Deborah how she was able to accomplish all this. She told me that she was driven by her liking for people and for working with them. Whatever the spark is, it certainly works for her, and has made her an excellent choice for Honorary Life Membership in HGS. Paul Britt - Honorary Life Membership
Paul learned the exploration and production business from the ground up. Following completion of his Bachelor of Science degree in 1977 from Easter Michigan University, Paul went directly to the oil patch, employed for a year by Exploration Logging as a mud logger. He then joined Michigan-Wisconsin Pipeline Company, where he conducted volumetric mapping of gas reserves for the Pipeline Division. In 1980, he accepted a position as Staff Geologist for Union Texas, where he engaged in both exploration and development assignments, including management roles, in the Gulf of Mexico and onshore, from South Texas through the Gulf Coast into East Texas and Arkansas. This work entailed all geological aspects of operations, development mapping and drilling, and prospecting. He honed his skills further as Staff Geologist working development and acquisition in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico for Elf Aquitaine from 1987 until 1992. At that point, he set out on his own , founding Texplore, where as president, he has focused on exploration and production, principally in the Texas Gulf Coast and East Texas basins. He has served in consulting capacities in Texas and Louisiana, onshore and offshore, and in West Texas, the Mid-Continent, and Rockies basins, and in Russia. In his current enterprise, Paul makes full use of his comprehensive exploration skills, including seismic and subsurface interpretation with current workstation technology, and he has in the past three years directed the drilling of over 60 wells in his association with Phoenix Energy’s drilling fund. Paul joined HGS in 1980, and his early roles on behalf of the Society involved planning and coordinating field trips. For five years, from 1991 through 1995, Paul was “Mr. Field Trip” for the HGS. He accepted the position of Field Trip Coordinator, first for the 1991 GCAGS Convention, next for the 1992 GSA Convention, and eventually for the 1995 Annual AAPG Meeting. Concurrently, Paul coordinated countless field trips, outside the domain of the conventions, as Chairman of the HGS Field Trip Committee from 1990 to 1994. Paul accepted the nomination for 1994-1995 Treasurer-Elect and won the election, serving that term and the 1995-1996 term as Treasurer. His service in this capacity proved most timely, as he brought strong computer skills to the job in the critical years when HGS was making its transition to the computer age – a time when such skills were a rare commodity. He generously offered these skills on a more widespread basis for HGS as 1996-1997 Chairman of the Computer Applications Committee, among other things playing a key role in adapting HGS office systems for the computer. He also chaired the HGS Finance Committee during the 1996-1997 term where he managed to solidify computerization of the HGS Budget from committee input through final Budget. Paul’s contributions in these areas, though not widely heralded, may stand as among the most valuable in the evolution of the Society. Paul served the 1997-1999 term as an HGS Director, where he further enhanced his perspective on the Society and provided sound counsel borne of his experience in so many areas. He served as Chairman of the HGS Advisory Committee in 2000-2001, and in 2001-2002 as Vice President, both jobs being pivotal for the continued vitality of the Society. He is completing a term as Editor-Elect and will assume the post of HGS Bulletin Editor for 2005-2006, one more way in which Paul’s contributions to HGS will have major impact. While the breadth of Paul’s contributions to the HGS are almost unparalleled, he has been virtually as active on behalf of the Society of Independent Earth Scientists and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. He has served as Chapter Treasurer and Chairman, and is currently a National Director for SIPES. He has served several terms as a Houston Delegate in the AAPG House of Delegates, as General Chairman of the 2004 AAPG Prospect & Property Expo, and he currently serves both as a Gulf Coast Councilor to the AAPG Division of Professional Affairs and as Chairman of the AAPG Constitution and By-laws Committee. Paul has truly distinguished himself by his steadfast and generous service to the Society and for his past efforts has been awarded both the President’s Award and the Distinguished Service Award. As is often the case with individuals as productive as Paul, he has lent his support in arenas beyond his profession – most notably with his involvement with the Fort Bend County Fair and 4H program. And by his dedicated and valuable service to other professional associations, he has also brought much distinction and honor to the Houston Geological Society. Craig M. Dingler - Distinguished Service Award
Having now served four years as a member of the HGS Executive Board, it was only natural that he be nominated and elected as President-elect in 2002 and served as President in 2003-2004. Craig served in key HGS Executive Board positions for six years between 1997 and 2004, an amazing feat of dedication and stamina. While serving as the 79th HGS President, Craig aggressively pursued a number of goals, none more so than education, a favorite for Craig as he had once been an HISD teacher, and has remains a teacher today as an adjunct instructor at the San Jacinto Community College. During his term the HGS was actively involved in multiple educational outreach programs - Earth Science Week, and the Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST), student sessions at the GCAGS. The new website was introduced and symposiums such as "Disappointing Seismic Anomalies" were highly successful. Craig's wife Mary Kae, has been a very important contributor in her own right - an active HGA member, arrangements coordinator for the 2004 Presidents Night and more recently as a valuable member of the 2005 Scholarship Benefit Dance Committee. A great team they are. To borrow a quote from Jeff Lund in 1999, "You gain from a society in proportion to what you put into it". Craig, thank you for your service to our society and to our profession. Linda Sternbach - Distinguished Service Award  The Houston Geological Society is pleased to present Linda Sternbach with the Distinguished Service Award for her many years of dedicated service. Linda has made great contributions to the HGS while serving in numerous leadership and support roles since becoming a member in 1985.Within the last few years, Linda has devoted her service to providing high quality Guest Night Events. She has three outstanding themed Guest Night events at the Museum of Natural Science 2003 - 2005. She organized the now-legendary sellout Guest Night event in 2003 that featured Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Jack” Schmitt. Last year’s Mars Rover theme Guest Night event, with NASA administrator Dr. Gordon McKay, was also a ticket sellout. This year’s Guest Night to be held June 11, 2005, featuring USGS senior science advisor and geologist, Dr. David Applegate, with his topic “Lessons from Sumatra: Reducing Earthquake and Tsunami Risk Worldwide.” These Guest Nights have had the added bonus of a full evening during the night at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, including IMAX movies and planetarium shows, food and prizes. The promotion and organization of each of these showcase events requires a tremendous effort and Linda assembled a fine team. Linda has not only performed an admirable job as an event planner, but she has proven to have a special talent as a writer and editor. She served as Editor of the HGS Bulletin in 1997-1998. During the years on 1996 to 1998, the Bulletin experienced a major upgrade of content and appearance, thanks to the efforts of Dave Orchard and Linda Sternbach. She had fun as Bulletin Editor, publishing one page editorials with catchy titles and quality text including, “Finding the Play Versus Finding the Pay”, “Job Interviewing: Sort of Like Bungee Jumping, But with More Excitement,” “The Christmas Tree that Roared,” and “Can’t Get no Job Satisfaction …”. Linda introduced some innovative enhancements, including publishing the Bulletin content on the HGS webpage), heightened design quality and fine writing. All editors since Linda have only built upon her excellence. Linda has been an active member of HGS for 20 years and has contributed in the role of Poster Session Committee chairman, International Explorationists Group treasurer and International Group technical program chairman/co-chairman, and HGS/GSH Directory chairman. Linda received the HGS Rising Star Award in 1995, and Presidents Award in 2003. Linda has been active with other national and local organizations. She served for four years as a member of the Editorial board for SEG’s Leading Edge magazine, and was Continuing Education and Technical Program Chair for SIPES. Linda started her career in Houston as geologist for ARCO Oil and Gas, and has followed the ups and downs of the oil industry with assignments inside many big and small independent oil companies as a seismic interpretation geophysicist. Currently, Linda is a senior geophysicist with Kerr-McGee, working assignments in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, and in international areas. The HGS is pleased to bestow the Distinguished Service Award to a creative individual who has enriched our society so greatly. Congratulations Linda. Michael L. Jones - Rising Star Award
Mike Allison - Rising Star Award
Faced with not having the financial ability to commercially record Part 1 of the “Petroleum Reserves – Avoiding Write-downs” short course series, Mike volunteered his technical services and his personal equipment to record the first short course. At the same time, Dominion offered a $5000 contribution to purchase state of the art video recording equipment and software for the HGS. This was soon followed by the contribution of reproduction expertise and funds from SMT and additional funds from Fugro-Jason. From this point forward, Mike investigated alternative equipments options and ultimately recommended the equipment purchases. As well as contributing his knowledge of equipment and software, Mike has tirelessly contributed his time and phenomenal skill in recording and editing the final products. He spent countless hours beyond the camera, doing the editing and mixing of the voice narratives of the short courses. Mike’s generous contributions have enabled the Continuing Education Committee to parlay the generous corporate contributions into a legacy for the HGS. We will now be able to capture the knowledge of Geological experts for distribution to a wider audience and for historical archival purposes. Mike has just completed the first two CD-ROMs for the four part “Petroleum Reserves – Avoiding Write-downs” series, which will be sold as a set, with the proceeds going directly to HGS programs Mike has a BS in Geology from the University of Miami in Florida at Coral Gables and an MS in Geology from the University of Tennessee. He is currently working as a geoscientist for Geoscience Data Management and as a geology instructor at Cy-Fair College. Mike previously worked for Landmark Graphics Corporation as a research and development product geoscientist. Before that he worked for Chevron and Gulf Oil on a variety of assignments since 1983. Mike's interests in geology, computer software, and videotape recording have been a tremendous benefit to the HGS. In such a brief time span, few HGS volunteers have ever left such a unique and indelible mark on the society. Frank Walles – Rising Star Award
Frank was instrumental in developing the technical program for the first year of the Northsiders Committee in 2003. He has since been actively involved in arranging the technical program with a team assembled from fourteen Northsiders members. He currently serves as co-chairman of the Northsiders Committee responsible for the tasks of the technical program, posters, and members’ roles and assignments. “We try to blend all types of technical subjects and interests. We meet once a month and send a letter out to Northsiders members to keep fresh ideas coming forth” says Frank. The Northsiders are a progressive committee, they are the first group to routinely videotape their technical talks, they have arranged for alternating dinner and luncheon meetings to serve their membership, and the committee provides a wide array of geological/geophysical subjects for their technical talks. Franks’s expertise in hydrocarbon producibilty model development particularly with unconventional reservoirs was tapped for the creation of a fine paper entitled “A New Method to Help Identify Unconventional Targets for Exploration and Development Through Integrative Analysis of Clastic Rock Property Fields ” written exclusively for the HGS Bulletin in October, 2004. Frank is a geologist with Kerr-McGee O&G specializing in international petroleum systems analysis. He has worked in many international and domestic E&P projects in his career with various major oil companies. He specializes in advanced petroleum systems evaluations, producibility model development, and identification of missed completions. Thank you for serving the HGS as a leader and author. HRA Gray and Pape LLC - Corporate Star Award HRA Gray and Pape LLC have been recognized as a Corporate Star Award recipient for their outstanding support of the HGS-supported community service project "Project Respect - Evergreen Negro Cemetery". Staff from the geo-archeological and anthropological firm; have stepped forward to become major contributors in technical expertise and consultation for this historic site. HRA Gray and Pape employees were able to obtain state-of the-art surveying equipment through one of their product providers, Western Data Systems, and have begun the process to generate a detailed digital grid for the site. Their efforts are recognized by the Project Respect organization as a huge milestone in the progression of making this site into an officially recognized Texas historical site.  Dominion E&P - Corporate Star Award We proudly recognize Dominion E&P this year with the Corporate Star Award for its commitment to the HGS Continuing Education Committee. Dominion E&P provided a large contribution to purchase sophisticated video recording equipment and editing software for the HGS. The equipment proved to be essential for providing quality videotaping and editing of the Petroleum Reserves mini-series. This equipment will be valuable in future HGS technical talks, symposiums, and training classes for years to come. We thank Dominion E&P for enabling us to advance our ability to provide an outreach to HGS members and non-members alike through digital recording of HGS programs.  Diversified Well Logging - Corporate Star Award The Corporate Star Award is presented this year to Diversified Well Logging for their many years of support to many of our social events. Food for hundreds of members at the annual skeet shoot and fishing tournament has been prepared by Diversified Well Logging employees and donated, thus providing the HGS thousands of dollars in contributions through expense savings each year. "The fish may be biting but the food is always great because of Diversified Well Logging," says Bobby Perez, chairman of the annual fishing tournament. Diversified Well Logging headquartered in Reserve, Louisiana, is a mudlogging service provider for the Gulf Coast and offshore regions of the Gulf of Mexico.  BHP-Billiton - Corporate Star Award We proudly present to BHP-Billiton the Corporate Star Award for providing a generous contribution through sponsorship of the HGS Guest Night. BHP-Billiton has provided funds to support this annual event for several years. Thank you BHP-Billiton for your repeatedly generous contributions to benefit the HGS.
A2D/TGS-Nopec - Corporate Star Award The Corporate Star is presented this year to A2D/TGS-Nopec for providing its seventh consecutive year of scholarship giving. Each fall, A2D/ TGS-Nopec sponsors its industry golf tournament where all proceeds are donated to the HGS Undergraduate Scholarship Fund. This sustained level of giving to provide for university students scholarship funding is truly outstanding and noteworthy. A2D/TGS-Nopec also provided contributions to the HGS Guest Night. We thank A2D/TGS-Nopec and their employee volunteers for their generous contributions and service to our society.
Andrea Reynolds - President's Award
Andrea enjoys working with people, particularly the youth and new geoscientists. She has maintained her Certification as Volunteer Geologist at the Houston Museum of Natural Science since 1999 and has been a member of the Earth Science Week Committee. She co-developed the NeoGeos in 2000 and was an inaugural co-chair for the organization. As co-chair of the NeoGeos, she coordinated social events and speaker presentations, and contributed regular Bulletin articles and NeoGeos monthly e-mails. Given this background it was only fitting that Andrea was regularly sought for ideas on attracting and retaining younger geoscientists to our Society. Several of her suggestions became the seeds for the development of the ad hoc committee established in 2004 to progress the HGS through social events, scholarship fundraisers, and community service projects. Andrea obtained a passion for bicycling several years ago and produced a terrific article on energy employees participating in the MS 150 bicycle challenge. The cleverly titled article "The Energy Cycle - The 2004 MS 150" contained a dazzling collage of colorfully embellished cyclists at the event. Andrea is a native of Buffalo, NY. She earned a BA in geology at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo, and an MS in geology at Texas A & M University "whoop". She is a geoscientist with Shell International E&P in the deepwater Brazil business unit. The HGS is proud to recognize Andrea with the President's Award for her sustained, elevated level of service to the Society.
Marsha Bourque - President's Award
Marsha is an avid volunteer and advocate for the fine arts in Houston, including the Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, and Alley Theatre. She was able to utilize her contacts to provide exceptional silent auction items for the HGS Scholarship Benefit. She has also arranged for the first HGS Ballet Night that includes a backstage tour with a lead performing ballerina to be held on June 9, 2005. She served a key role in assisting with arrangements and ticket sales for the Scholarship Benefit. Marsha has been a long-standing volunteer within the Earth Science Week and Academic Liaison committees, and possesses a particular interest for issues affecting science education in schools at the K-12 levels and scholarship opportunities for Marsha has a BS in geology and political science from Vassar College, New York, and an MS in geology from the University of South Carolina. She is currently a geological consultant. She began her career with Chevron in New Orleans and later worked for a variety of major oil companies concentrating on deepwater E&P, the most recent being Statoil and Conoco. She is a member of AAPG, a scholarship committee chairman for AGI, and is a licensed Professional Geologist in the State of Texas. Marsha, we are proud to recognize you for your dedication and leadership to the HGS. Cheryl Desforges - President's Award  Cheryl Desforges will receive the President ' s Award for her inspirational roles as the Chair of both the Continuing Education Committee and Finance Committee in 2004-2005. Quite ashtonishingly, Cheryl still found time to contribute to the Website Committee!!Cheryl stepped forward to assume the duties as the Finance Committee Chair at mid-year. These critical duties as Finance Committee Chair require her to oversee the budget preparation and serve as the liaison between the HGS Executive Board and the investment advisors for the Society's invested funds. Not satisfied with the status quo, she co-coordinated with the Treasurer multiple sessions to administer instructions for the HGS committee chairpersons in order to accelerate the annual budget process. Cheryl volunteered to become Chair of the Continuing Education Committee recently when the previous chairman took an assignment overseas. Her leadership has benefited this vibrant committee as the committee immediately organized the well-received mini-series on Petroleum Reserves held throughout the Fall and Spring. An additional course on Rock-Based Integration: Geologic Interpretation of the Integration of Seismic and Petrophysical Data was created, and the committee helped set up the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists Continuing Education Requirements Forum. Cheryl led the committee in the innovative concept of videotaping the Continuing Education Series on Petroleum Reserves that has now been prepared for distribution and sales as a CD-ROM. A significant milestone in this achievement was the procurement of sponsors to purchase the videotaping and editing equipment ($5000) and underwriting the production of the CD-ROMs. This project may not have been possible without Cheryl ' s efforts and support. "I have never met someone with so much energy and willingness to pitch in wherever help is needed. She is unique is so many ways. We are very fortunate to have folks like Cheryl involved with the HGS ", says Mike Allison, Continuing Education Committee member. Cheryl also has served four years as the HGS Publication Sales Committee Chair. Cheryl has a BS in geology from Texas Christian University, and an MS in physical science/geology and an MBA in finance from the University of Houston. She received the prestigious Gayle Scott Award for the Outstanding Geology Senior at TCU, the same award received by AAPG and HGS President Richard Bishop. She also received the Arthur J. Ehlmann Award for TCU Geology Alumni. Cheryl is a consultant at the Ryder Scott Company, currently working on projects at BP. Cheryl began her career with ARCO and later worked for a variety of companies in the environmental and petroleum fields, the most recent being Subsurface Consultants & Associates, and Randall and Dewey, Inc. She is a member of AAPG, AIPG, GSA, SEG, SPE, and is a licensed Professional Geologist in the State of Texas. Thank you Cheryl for your tremendous service to the HGS. Ken Nemeth - President's Award
Arthur E. Berman - President's Award  Art Berman is most deserving of the Presidents Award for his standout work achieved as Editor-elect and Editor of the HGS Bulletin from 2003-2005. Art became an indispensable member of the editorial team as Editor-elect and likely was more active in this role than anyone in many years. As Art advanced to Editor, it was evident that he had identified components of the Bulletin to modify and made abundant changes to bring the Bulletin to an extraordinary level. He fine tuned the layout and upgraded the paper stock quality to enable for enriched photo and figure enrichment. He incorporated other societies in the publication in order to create a comprehensive newsletter for all of the Houston area geological and geophysical activities. Art loves to write on technical and historical topics. Many of his articles received feedback from readers that extended well beyond the local society but to interested readers worldwide. The outgrowth of the response from the article “Forty Years of Ignoring Plate Tectonics”, a tale of regional apathy prior to the devastating December, 2004 earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia ,and the associated elaborate warning system development approved afterwards, has likely generated the greatest response of any article in the recent history of the HGS Bulletin. Art is deeply concerned about the situation and it was evident is his writings that different methods of responding to future earthquake catastrophes should be deliberated. As a result of this publication, Art was selected to give an interview on tsunami warning systems on National Public Radio, received an invitation to speak at a technical symposium of a major international oil company, and delivered a technical presentation on the northern Sumatra earthquake of 2004 to the Houston Geophysical Society. The outpouring of feedback from Indonesian government officials has been colossal and it has certainly elevated the HGS Bulletin to a level of worldwide recognition. Many other articles that Art has written are thought provoking, well researched, and genuinely informative and entertaining. Appealing articles based on issues regarding election issues and the petroleum industry, a historical perspective of the 1973-1986 oil boom, the diffusion of new ideas, and interviews with fascinating individuals such as NPR’s John Lienhard of Engines of Our Ingenuity fame, HMNS President Joel Bartsch, and Anadarko's CEO Jim Hackett. The expansion of the Bulletin to include a web-based equivalent to the print version has been created with Art’s assistance. Art has a BA in Middle Eastern history from Amherst College and an MS in geology, as well as two years of post-graduate study in petrophysics and advanced stratigraphy from the Colorado School of Mines. Art is a consulting geologist with 27 years of experience in the petroleum industry. He is the Director of Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. and Petroleum Reports.com. His areas of expertise include sequence stratigraphy, integration of seismic interpretation, database analysis, petrophysical evaluation and technical risk assessment. Prior to this he worked over 20 years for Amoco in both domestic and international exploration. Congratulations Art on a job well done as Editor-elect and Editor during 2003-2005. Shirley Gordon - HGA Distinguished Service Award
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| For additional information on this article, please contact: | ||
| Steve Levine | ||
| (281) 376-1105 | ||
| Source: HGS Bulletin -- June, 2005 | ||
| http://www.hgs.org | ||
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The Gerald A. Cooley Award honors the memory of the man we knew, loved and remember as the personification of dedication, service and leadership continuing long after official office terms expire. It recognizes true dedication to the profession of petroleum geology in general, and to the Houston Geological Society in particular. No one I know would disagree that Dan L. Smith is a profoundly deserving recipient of the Cooley Award.
Honorary Life Membership has on occasion been granted to individuals whose contributions to the Houston Geological Society have spanned decades and who have most subsequently, and most deservedly, assumed a lower profile. In Paul W. Britt, however, HGS honors someone who has demonstrated a deep and sustained commitment to serving the Society and whose contributions continue to grow steadily in scale and value. 
Craig assumed the office of editor in 1998 and the full-color cover was unveiled for the first time. He enjoyed writing and amused us with articles such as "Yes We Have No Rocks" and "Of Moose and Men", but he also wrote serious articles as well including "Houston's Geologic Hazards" describing geologic concerns facing the Houston area, and "Junk Science" defining a list of methods to confirm authenticity and technical credibility of geologic research and publications. While Editor, the HGS Bulletin won an Award of Merit from the Society of Technical Communication's Technical Arts, Publication, and Online Competition in January of 1999. A quote from a judge at the event "What's most impressive is the elegance of a no-frills publication that does just what it's meant to do, every month." With a year-long respite following his tenure as Editor, Craig was elected Treasurer-elect in 2000 and served as Treasurer in 2001-2002. He was as dedicated and perseverant with QuickBooks as he had been with the Bulletin as Editor. 
Mike is a recent graduate of Texas Tech, getting his MS in 2003 with thesis work on heat flow in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. He received his BS in Geology from Texas A&M University in 2001. Mike has taken a slightly different career path, becoming an independent geologist right out of school. He is currently working with Scout Petroleum where he is generating and selling prospects in South Texas. He opened the Houston office of Scout Petroleum downtown, while his dad still mans their Corpus Christi "headquarters." Upon his arrival in Houston, Mike immediately joined HGS for the education and networking opportunities. The North American Explorationists are very happy he did.
Mike Allison has been awarded the Rising Star Award in recognition for his splendid work on the Continuing Education and Northsiders Committees. Since arriving from Lafayette, Mike has become a key volunteer for the HGS. He serves as the treasurer for the energetic Northsiders Committee and performs a second role for that committee behind a video camera recording the presentations. His expertise at audiovisual recording and editing has since expanded in 2004-2005 to the HGS Continuing Education Committee. 
Frank Walles receives the Rising Star Award in recognition for his enormous contributions to the Northsiders Committee since its inception in 2003. Frank also stepped forward to produce an outstanding feature article which also graced the front cover of the Bulletin in October, 2004. 
Andrea has brought a high level of zeal and motivation to the HGS membership and Executive Board while serving as Director for the past two years. Having been very active within the HGS since arriving to Houston in 1998, she introduced a different and highly valued prospective of the next generation of geoscientists. The focal point and probably most time-consuming aspect of her Director office duties was conveying the issues and directives back and forth between the website committee and the Executive Board. The present-day HGS website was developed from a beta test to a fully active web during her term of office. Issues regarding on-line meeting enrollment and credit card payments were abundant. She was a terrific conveyer of the enormous information and performed her duty well. Other committees reporting to Andrea as Director included the superb personnel placement committee, an increasingly important government affairs committee, fishing tournament, scouting, and exhibits committees. All of the committee chairs enjoyed working with Andrea as a liaison with the Executive Board 
Marsha Bourque is a tireless, dedicated HGS volunteer and a most worthy recipient of the President's Award. She has completed her two-year term as Director and HGS Executive Board member and performed the duties of the office laudably. Marsha serves on numerous local and national charity, fine arts, and geoscience boards or advisory positions. Therefore the HGS Executive Board members and society leadership benefited mightily from her exceptional decision-making experience and wealth of knowledge. She is organized and thorough in her thoughts and actions, and these qualities proved to be valuable for her committees and the HGS leadership. Marsha was prepared, well informed about committee activities, and frequently assisted as a volunteer in whatever capacity required. One could find Marsha assisting the Treasurer at numerous technical dinner check-ins, participating in community service projects such as "Project Respect", judging student presentations at the Houston Area Science Fair, and teaching elementary school students about geology during Earth Science Week. Marsha was apologetic if she could not attend each and every HGS volunteer or technical event throughout the year.
It is a rare occasion when the right person comes along at a critical time for an organization. With Ken Nemeth we found that person. His role as Treasurer of the HGS in 2004 -2005 was unexpected. Preparing to have a year to observe as Treasurer-elect, he was abruptly "promoted" to Treasurer due to an overseas transfer of the then-acting Treasurer. This required Ken to embark on a very steep learning curve early in his tenure. Through sheer diligence and the help of a new Finance Committee Chair, he became firmly grounded with the HGS budget. Identifying areas to improve the budget and communicating these results to the HGS Executive Committee has saved the HGS from additional budget spending. 
Shirley Gordon, wife of George E. Gordon, was born in Victoria, Texas. She graduated from Victoria High School, in 1953, and attended Victoria College. George and Shirley met in Victoria while he was in college there. They married in November of 1953. George continued his studies at Lamar University where he received his Bachelors Degree in Geology. Shirley earned her PHT from Lamar, which means "putting hubby through". After graduation, they moved to Houston where George continued his education in Geology at the University of Houston. During that period, Shirley also attended the University of Houston, and worked for Humble Oil while George pursued his Masters Degree. After graduation, George began work at Atlantic Richfield. Shirley and George moved to Corpus Christi, in 1962, where he worked for Skelly Oil Co. The tour in Corpus was only two years, because he then went to work for Brazos Oil & Gas which later became Dow Chemical. In 1981, George left Dow to form our own company, Gordon Exploration.