RMAG Professional Awards

HONORARY MEMBERSHIP AWARD

Ronald W. Pritchett

The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) is pleased to present Honorary Membership to Ronald W. Pritchett in recognition of more than four decades of contributions to the association and to the geologic community.

Ron has long been a part of the geologic community since he is the son of geologist Frank Pritchett. As he says in the film, Geofamilies, he was out in the field so often with his father that the “difference between me and dirt wasn’t much.” Not surprisingly because of his childhood immersion in the field, Ron pursued and was awarded a BSc in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines in 1972. In 1984, he began consulting with a focus on integrating geology, engineering and economics of petroleum and environmental technologies in projects across North America. It was during this time that Ron acquired a Masters of Technology Management in 1998 from the University of Denver. In 2003, Ron was hired by Noble Energy and worked there until once again entering the consulting business in 2013.

Long a standout volunteer with the RMAG, Ron received several awards over the years including Distinguished Service Award (1994), President’s Award (2004) and the prestigious Shaft Award (2014). These awards were in recognition of his participation as a board member (1st Vice President, 1993), as emcee of the annual Rockbuster’s Ball for numerous years and as a contributor to the Outcrop and The Mountain Geologist. In addition, Ron has previewed numerous papers for authors in these and other publications.

A colleague noted that Ron is “more than accommodating in his personal approach to individuals.” He “is as low key, polite and thoughtful a person as you could ever hope to meet” and is always willing to pitch in when needed; such as serving on a panel discussion this year at the University of Denver for 7th and 8th grade STEM students. In recognition of his volunteer contributions to both the RMAG and the greater geologic community, the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists is pleased to award Ronald W. Pritchett with Honorary Membership.

HONORARY MEMBERSHIP AWARD

John Ladd

The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) is pleased to present Honorary Membership to John Ladd in recognition of his exceptional service to the association and to the greater geologic community.

John received his BSc from Brown University and a Master’s Degree from Cornell University. He started his career in Tucson with the minerals division of Superior Oil, and pivoted to oil and gas when Superior was acquired by Mobil in 1985. While at Mobil he moved to Denver and worked the Anadarko and Arkoma basins. During his long and varied career in Denver, he spent over 10 years working the Wattenberg Field for Snyder Oil, HS Resources, and Vessels Oil and Gas; 5.5 years working the Green River and Powder River basins for Kerr McGee, and 11.5 years working the Permian Basin for Discovery Natural Resources. He is currently working as a consultant.

John has served on six RMAG Boards, including President in 2016, President Elect in 2015, Counselor in 2012-2013, Treasurer in 2008, and Secretary in 2006. His steadfast leadership as President was critical to the successful resolution of several challenges that faced the organization that year. As a member of the Continuing Education Committee, he has been instrumental in recruiting speakers for the monthly luncheon program and he helped to plan the first ever and very successful RMAG Permian Basin Symposium in 2019. He has also been an integral and engaged member of the Investment Committee since 2008, and has always been a go-to member that can be counted on for thoughtful and helpful input regarding association matters. John has also made scientific contributions to RMAG, publishing two papers on Wattenberg Field in the 2001 volume Gas in the Rockies.

An avid skier, mountaineer, and mountain biker, John also works part time as a ski instructor at Winter Park. In recognition of his volunteer contributions to both the RMAG and the greater geologic community, the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists is pleased to award John Ladd with Honorary Membership.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO RMAG

Daniel Bassett

The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) is pleased to present the Distinguished Service to RMAG to Daniel Bassett for his outstanding efforts chairing the 2020 Continuing Education Committee.

Dan received his BSc. in Geology from Fort Lewis College and his Master’s from Oklahoma State. He is a geologist with SM Energy working the Permian Basin. Dan has been an RMAG member since 2015 and he served as 2nd Vice-President of RMAG in 2020.

The “shelter in place” mandate enacted in early 2020 due to the Covid19 outbreak was a potentially devastating blow to RMAG and its mission to provide educational content to its members. However, Dan and the Continuing Education Committee sprang into action spearheading the effort to get the monthly lunch meetings presented to our members via RMAG’s online video platform. It was no small job getting the process set up for our members and engaging and interacting with each lunch speaker to facilitate their needs for presenting to an online audience. On April 1st (less than 2 weeks after the shelter in place order) the first online lunch talk for its members was launched and it filled up in almost two hours after opening the registration. In 2020, the RMAG hosted seven online lunch talks with a monthly registration holding close to 100 attendees each month.

Dan’s collaborative thinking also helped create a partnership with RPS/Nautilus to offer a wide variety of quality courses to the geoscience community and at a discounted rate for RMAG members. The successful transition to online learning under Dan’s leadership inspired confidence to host many additional RMAG online endeavors including short courses, workshops, and symposia.

The impact of Dan’s proactive leadership has had a profound effect on our professional society that has not gone unnoticed by members and other organizations who have commented that the RMAG has been a leader in providing content during this “new normal”. The lunch talks and subsequent additional events that indirectly resulted from Dan’s leadership helped to create a sense of connectedness and normalcy for RMAG and the geoscience community during this unprecedented time in our history. In recognition of his outstanding leadership, the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists is pleased to present Dan with the Distinguished Service to RMAG award.

PRESIDENT’S AWARD

Terrilyn Olson

The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) is pleased to present the President’s Award to Terrilyn Olson in recognition of her vital contribution to the Rockies Members in Transition (MiT) group, a joint effort between RMAG, AAPG, Denver Section of SPE, WOGA, DWLS, and COGA.

The MiT Group was created to support oil industry professionals who have been negatively impacted due to the current downturn. One of the group’s primary initiatives has been hosting free online webinars targeting those needing assistance in their job search or who may be looking to make a career change. Terri has been the principal force behind this effort since its inception, and has been involved at every level, including organizing and leading the committee meetings, recruiting webinar presenters, and serving as moderator during panel discussions. Her tireless commitment, leadership, and drive have been critical to the success of the Rockies MiT group. As a result of her selfless efforts numerous RMAG members have received much needed career guidance and assistance at no cost.

Terri began her education as a geologist/petrologist at the University of Virginia before transferring to Colorado College where she obtained a B.A. degree in Geology. She went on to earn her Master’s at Dartmouth College. She started her career with Amoco Production Company (Amoco) in Denver, working on exploration and development projects in California, New Mexico, Nevada, and Oklahoma. Terri later transferred to Stavanger, Norway after attending the Amoco Petrophysics School in Tulsa. In 2000, Terri returned to Denver where she worked for Tom Brown, Encana and EOG. Terri joined FEI Oil & Gas (FEI) in 2015 where her expertise in digital rock and image analysis software proved invaluable to predicting reservoir quality as well as providing pore scale modeling and fluid sensitivity analyses. Terri formed Digital Rock Petrophysics in Golden in the spring of 2016.

A long-time RMAG member and active volunteer Terri has been a dedicated and engaged mentor to young professionals. Terri served as RMAG President in 2018 and President-Elect in 2017. She also served as Chair of both the RMAG and AAPG Publications Committees. She co-edited a Piceance Basin guidebook for RMAG in 2003 for which she authored a paper on White River Dome Field. She also edited a 2016 Memoir for AAPG, Unconventional Reservoir Pore Systems. Terri received Honorary Membership from RMAG in 2019. She has also been recognized with distinguished service awards from RMAG in 2007 and from AAPG in 2016. She has served on the boards of directors of RMAG and DWLS and is a valued member of AAPG, SPWLA, SPE, RMAG, and DWLS. In recognition of her exceptional leadership of the Rockies MiT, Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists is pleased to award Terrilyn Olson the President’s Award.