OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
Volume 71 • No. 11 • November 2022
The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
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OUTCROP | November 2022
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Vol. 71, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
1999 Broadway • Suite 730 • Denver, CO 80202 • 720-672-9898 The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) is a nonprofit organization whose purposes are to promote interest in geology and allied sciences and their practical application, to foster scientific research and to encourage fellowship and cooperation among its members. The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the RMAG.
2022 OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT
2nd VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT
Rob Diedrich rdiedrich75@gmail.com
Matt Bauer matthew.w.bauer.pg@gmail.com
PRESIDENT-ELECT
SECRETARY
Ben Burke bburke158@gmail.com
Sandra Labrum slabrum@slb.com
1st VICE PRESIDENT
TREASURER
Courtney Beck Antolik courtneyantolik14@gmail.com
Mike Tischer mtischer@gmail.com
1st VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT
TREASURER ELECT
Ron Parker parkero@gmail.com
Anna Phelps aphelps@sm-energy.com
2nd VICE PRESIDENT
COUNSELOR
Mark Millard millardm@gmail.com
Jeff May jmay.kcrossen@gmail.com
RMAG STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Bridget Crowther bcrowther@rmag.org OPERATIONS MANAGER
Kathy Mitchell-Garton kmitchellgarton@rmag.org CO-EDITORS
Courtney Beck Antolik courtneyantolik14@gmail.com Nate LaFontaine nlafontaine@sm-energy.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Elijah Adeniyi elijahadeniyi@montana.edu Marlee Cloos marlee.cloos@bpx.com
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CALL FOR ABSTRACTS DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 15, 2022 The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists is seeking oral presentations, prospects, and exhibitors for its 2023 North American Helium Conference. We plan to cover a range of topics related to Helium exploration and commercialization including (but not limited to):
Helium Geology, Geophysical, & Other Exploration Methods • •
•
Elemental properties, source, migration, entrapment, reservoir characteristics, relationships to other gases in the reservoir. Exploration methods - geophysical techniques (AVO/Inversion), well logging and mudlogging systems, geochemical exploration, remote sensing laboratory testing methods, isotopic evaluations, etc. Analogs - North America and International, helium play types
Helium Midstream – Getting downstream • • • • •
From stranded deposits to major accumulations Helium produced with methane, or carbon dioxide and\or nitrogen Helium purification: from modular membrane units to cryogenic units Gaseous vs Liquified Helium – processing, transportation, gathering, tolling What does an explorationist need to consider to commercialize helium discoveries?
Markets, Regulations, Financing • • • • •
Play Characterizations and Case Studies in North America:
Centra l Pla ins of US a nd Ca na da : • • •
Alberta / Saskatchewan to the Anadarko Basin The great foreland basins plays of the interior Rockies down to the Anadarko Basin Look at the helium systems and plays, old and new discoveries, and concepts
Rockies a nd Western Ba sins: • •
Paradox Basin, Holbrook Basin, the Greater Colorado Plateau, Wyoming, Montana, British Columbia, and the Western US Giant structures and smaller traps from basement to near surface the west has a plethora of plays and prospectivity
Ea stern Ba sins to Mid-Continent Rift Zone: • • •
Ontario through the Illinois Basin, the southern US, to the Mid-Continent Rift Zone What prospectivity and helium systems exist? What are the known seeps, sources and seals?
The current state of the helium market, supply and demand dynamics Helium pricing in an opaque market Global Commodity - the difference between Canadian, USA and International markets and valuations Helium exploration funding markets State and Federal regulations concerning helium as a mineral resource, etc.
For More information and to submit an abstract please visit: https://www.rmag.org/2023-north-american-helium-conference Questions? Email staff@rmag.org
DEADLINE EXTENDED: NOVEMBER 15, 2022
OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
CONTENTS FEATURES 6 2023 RMAG Summit Sponsorship Packet 16 Lead Story: RMAG Centennial Conclusion–The Unconventional Revolution, the Digital Transformation, and the Great Reset (1997 and Beyond) 24 2023 RMAG Board of Directors Biographical Sketches
DEPARTMENTS
37 In The Pipeline
10 RMAG October 2022 Board of Directors Meeting
37 Outcrop Advertising Rates
12 President’s Letter
38 Member Corner: Christophe Wakamya Simbo
34 Hybrid Lunch Talk: Benjamin Burke
44 Welcome New RMAG Members!
36 Hybrid Lunch Talk: Mitch Schneider
47 Advertiser Index 47 Calendar
40 RMAG’s 100th Anniversary Celebration 42 Review of the Powder River Basin Symposium
COVER PHOTO ASSOCIATION NEWS 2 RMAG Summit Sponsors 4 RMAG Helium Symposium Call For Papers 11 San Juan River Float Trip 13 RMAG Women’s Group Coffee 45 RMAG Foundation Announces its 2022 Fundraising Drive 46 WANTED: Colorado Rocks!
Sandstone Hoodoo known as the ‘Alien Throne’ located in the Ah-ShiSle-Pah Wildeness Study Area, northern New Mexico. The softer white sandstones that form the stalks are often capped with the harder, more resistant brown sandstones of the Bisti Member of the Late Cretaceous Kirtland Formation. Photo credit: Stephen Sturm
SUMMIT SPONSORSHIP OUTCROP | November 2022
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October 20, 2022 Geoscience Community: We greatly appreciate every Summit Sponsor and Event Sponsor that has contributed to RMAG over the last year. We could not exist without your support. In RMAG’s 100th year we have emerged from the global pandemic to return to many of RMAG’s beloved programs, and we created new programing to meet the needs of our members and the greater geoscience community. Monthly luncheons returned to in-person, with the addition live streaming. The 2022 Golf Tournament sold out bringing over 100 golfers out for a great afternoon together. The Powder River Basin Symposium offered two days of talks and core viewing to a packed room with attendees from across the country. Members young and old celebrated RMAG’s past and future at the 100th Anniversary Party. But that’s not all, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee in conjunction with Education Outreach attended numerous community outreach events from Girl Scout Days at Dinosaur Ridge to the Juneteenth Festival, sharing our members love of the geosciences with the next generation. Short courses were held both in person and online creating educational opportunities for members in Denver and across the country. 2023 brings new opportunities for RMAG. Your sponsorship dollars will help RMAG bring to fruition the 2023 North American Helium Symposium, an exciting Field Trip season, and a dynamic list of luncheon speakers on topics ranging from the state of the industry to the Williston Basin to geothermal energy storage. These dollars will allow RMAG Members to impact the next generation at outreach events throughout the community and provide opportunities for the geoscience community to connect and build their network. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on a more regular basis. Your sponsorship dollars support our excellent publications including the monthly Outcrop newsletter and the quarterly Mountain Geologist journal. We recognize your financial commitment with in-person signage, website and publication advertising, as well and social media posts before each online event. With a LinkedIn group of almost 3000 members, we make our sponsors visible to the geoscience community for both virtual and in person events. Thank you to those who are already a Summit Sponsor, we look forward to your continued support in 2023. If you are not already a sponsor, please look at the many complementary benefits included with the sponsorship levels. If our annual sponsorships don't make sense for your company, or you wish to sponsor something specific, ask about our single event sponsorship opportunities. Please feel free to contact our staff with questions by email: bcrowther@rmag.org or by phone at 720-672-9898 ext. 102. We and the staff of RMAG thank you all for your continued support and look forward to seeing you in person this year. Ben Burke 2023 RMAG President
Bridget Crowther RMAG Executive Director
P: (720)672-9898 staff@rmag.org www.rmag.org
Vol. 71, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
730 17th Street, B1 Denver, CO 80202
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RMAG ANNUAL
SUMMIT SPONSORSHIP PLATINUM, GOLD, & SILVER SPONSORSHIP LEVEL
PLATINUM
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RMAG MEMBERSHIP Active or Associate Membership in the Association for employees
RMAG WEBSITE BENEFITS Company Logo on Summit Sponsor Page of www.rmag.org
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PUBLICATION ADVERTISING 12 months of Outcrop advertising: To receive 12 full months, company logos and ad art must be received no later than the 20th of the month in which you register. The Outcrop (receive benefits for 12 issues, monthly online publication
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EVENT ADVERTISING Sponsorship will be acknowledged as part the summit sponsors at all RMAG Events. Additional Sponsorship Opportunities will be available for all RMAG Events. Company Logo Looping in Slide Decks
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RMAG EDUCATION EVENTS Registration points are cumulative and can be used for Symposiums or Short Courses. For example a Platinum Sponsor can send 4 people to the 2023 North American Helium Symposium, and register for 4 short courses. Total Educational Tickets
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RMAG SOCIAL EVENTS Registration Points are cumulative and can be used for any social event. For example, 1 point means 1 golfer, or 1 registration for Rockbusters. *2 points can be used for a golf hole if that makes more sense for your company. Total Social Event Tickets
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RMAG 2023 SUMMIT SPONSORSHIP Payment Options
All sponsor benefits event tickets follow RMAG event registration deadlines. All benefits end 12 months after registration. RMAG 2023 ANNUAL SUMMIT SPONSOR OPPORTUNITIES Platinum Sponsor Gold Sponsor Silver Sponsor
Summit Sponsorship benefit term is for 12 months! Specify type of payment on signed form, and send logo and advertisements to staff@rmag.org Company: Company Representative: Address: City:
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RMAG events are subject to change. Cancellation or rescheduling of events does not give the sponsor the right to refund. Summit Sponsors will receive benefits at any new events added into the RMAG schedule.
Thank you for your generous support!
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RMAG OCTOBER 2022 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING By Sandra Labrum, Secretary slabrum@slb.com
Committee is also retooling the mentorship program to better support our mentors and mentees. The Publications Committee is hard at work publishing the Outcrop and the Mountain Geologist. Be on the lookout for another interesting article about the centennial of RMAG in this issue. The Educational Outreach Committee will be taking part in the Colorado Science Conference in November and are as always working on other exciting initiatives to support local educators. On the Rocks has finished field trips for the year and are already hard at work brainstorming ideas for the 2023 season. Finally, Diversity and Inclusion Committee has been hard at work bringing you member corners in each Outcrop as well as cohosting the Women’s Group Coffee. I hope you all have a fantastic month and ladies of RMAG mark your calendars for our recurring coffee event on November 1st at Vibe coffee. Until next time!
Hi everyone! Happy November and the start of the holiday season! Hope you all had a safe and spooky Halloween. Personally, my kids are still coming down from their sugar highs. The October Board of Directors meeting took place October 19th, 2022, at 4pm via Microsoft Teams. All board members except one were present. The Finance Committee provided an overview of the financial situation. The Finance Committee also presented a draft budget for 2023. The Continuing Education Committee is continuing to host hybrid lunches with great success. Our very own Ben Burke will be presenting in November, Geothermal Systems in Sedimentary Basins. They also have a full schedule of talks outlined for next year. The Membership Committee is partnering with the Diversity and Inclusion Committee to continue to host the RMAG Women’s Group. We are continuing to have coffee the first Tuesday of every month. The Membership
Fall PTTC Workshop Oil and Gas Property Valuation Tuesday, November 16, 2022 Location: Colorado School of Mines, Student Center Ballroom D Fee: $250, includes snacks, class notes, and PDH certificate Instructors: Nicholas Kernan, US Dept of Interior The valuation of oil and gas properties has rapidly developed into one of the most important skills within the energy sector. This course aims to introduce individuals to a basic workflow that will allow them to take raw data and develop an opinion of value for oil and gas acreage. The focus will be on-shore U.S. unconventional resources. Valuations will be considered from both the standpoint of operators and royalty owners. Topics to be discussed are: the role of geology in valuations, forecasting production, commodity prices, development plans, defining risk, quantifying uncertainty, and the construction of discounted cash flows. All of these topics could be a course in their own right and this workshop does not aim to make participants experts in any one of the above topics. Rather, it aims to bring all these concepts together in a practical workflow, providing the participant guidance for future investigation. It should also help give technical experts context of how their day-to-day work affects business decisions. This is an introductory class and is not meant for individuals that are already familiar with oil and gas property valuation. Some of the exercises will involve building discounted cash flows in Excel, as such, the class requires participants to bring their own computer and have basic knowledge of Excel. Class Description and Register Online: Link
For more information, contact Mary Carr, 303.273.3107, mcarr@mines.edu; WWW.PTTC.ORG
Imagine... you, next year 2023 RMAG On-the-Rocks
San Juan River Float Trip June 4-8, 2023
Spend 5 days on the Lower San Juan River with RMAG, Fort Lewis on the Water (FLOW), and Geology Professor Gary Gianniny. Travel through the Goosenecks (at right) and take in amazing geology! FLOW takes care of food and guiding, and received rave reviews on this year’s trip. Estimated pricing: $1400/members, $1475/non-members. More details coming and registration will open soon.
Save the date! Not to be missed! Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists 11 OUTCROP e: staff@rmag.org | p: 720.672.9898 | w: www.rmag.org
Vol. 71, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
| November 2022
PRESIDENT’S LETTER By Rob Diedrich
Veterans Day
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This month we pay special tribute to those who have served in the armed forces, and so it is fitting to consider the role that geoscientists play in the military and to look at a way that two of my former colleagues are honoring veterans. Geoscientists contribute significantly to the military’s strategic and tactical successes. Military geologists create a wide range of specialty maps. They analyze terrain and identify resources including sustainable potable water supplies and essential raw materials. Tunneling and mining operations are dependent on engineering geologists. Geophysical techniques are used to locate clandestine tunnels, cave systems and underground facilities. During peacetime operations, environmental geologists work to protect the land, soil and aquifers. Although geologic principles have been informally applied throughout military history, it wasn’t until WWI and WWII when armed forces began to depend on and deploy geoscientists operationally. During World War I (1914-18) Allied forces and German troops engaged in trench warfare along the Western Front. The 12-foot-deep trenches stretched for thousands of miles and made it nearly impossible for either side to advance. Military geologists helped map preferred trench and tunnel locations where the ground water table was low and in soils that both drained well and did not easily erode. During World War II (1939-45) geologists played an important strategic and tactical role in the Allies’ D-Day invasion that began the end of the war in Europe. On June 6, 1944, 156,000 American, British and Canadian troops landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of a heavily fortified Normandy coastline. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning.
The logo for the podcast hosted by Tony Lupo and Ryan Fairfield, geophysicists and self-described citizen historians. The podcast can be accessed on most podcast platforms. Identifying the best landing sites was critical to the operation’s success. American and British geologists studied almost one million aerial photographs and analyzed soil samples from Normandy’s coast. What they considered was the fact that heavy equipment and soldiers would get mired in mud and fine-grained sand, and that coarsegrained pebbly sand would limit the maneuverability of tanks as they advanced onto the beaches. After creating top-secret geologic maps of Normandy’s coastline, geologists identified a series of beaches with medium-grained sand that were best for heavy equipment to maneuver and enable the mass amphibious landing of the liberating Allied forces. These beach names are etched in history: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.
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MONTHLY, 1ST TUESDAY @ 10AM FREE / RSVP AT RMAG.ORG CHECK RMAG.ORG FOR LOCATION November 1st event sponsored by
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PRESIDENT’S LETTER
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And so how can we celebrate veterans? One way is to listen to and learn from their stories. Two of my former colleagues, geophysicists Tony Lupo and Ryan Fairfield, have made it easy for us to do just that. These days, when they are not inverting seismic data, Ryan and Tony honor and connect with veterans in a profound way through their The Warrior Next Door Podcast. This project began nearly 20 years ago when Tony and Ryan started interviewing and recording WWII veterans for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. They’ve now spoken with nearly 200 veterans, including those who fought in Vietnam and Iraq. Self-described citizen historians, they decided that these conversations should be shared with the public. They each built quality recording studios in their homes, Tony in Denver and Ryan in Tulsa, where they reformat the interviews into podcast episodes. The veterans share some truly amazing stories. Tony and Ryan provide the context, defining the veteran’s military lingo and outlining the strategic framework for the specific battles and military operations discussed. Make some time to listen to these compelling stories this month. This summer, Ryan and Tony were invited to accompany Ray Parker, one of their interviewees, to Normandy for ceremonies commemorating D-Day. Parker’s regiment was the first to land and tread on Omaha Beach’s medium-grained sands. Now 97 years old, Mr. Parker visited towns his company helped liberate from occupying forces and met with current residents who honored him as a true hero. Ryan and Tony documented portions of his journey and have incorporated them into Well Log Digitizing • Petrophysics captivating episodes called “Back to Omaha Beach.” Petra® Projects • Mud Log Evaluation Kudos to Ryan and Tony for providing a unique vehicle for sharing stories from our esteemed veterans. Bill Donovan For this month’s RMAG centennial anecdote, I’d Geologist • Petroleum Engineer • PE like to thank and honor all the RMAG members who (720) 351-7470 over the last 100 years have served or continue to serve in branches of our military. Your service to our donovan@petroleum-eng.com country is most valued and appreciated.
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LEAD STORY
RMAG CENTENNIAL Conclusion: The Unconventional Revolution, the Digital Transformation, and the Great Reset (1997 and Beyond) By Jane Estes-Jackson, Donna Anderson, and Matt Silverman
Throughout the late 1990s, tight gas reservoirs continued to be the primary focus of exploration efforts in the Rockies. Many of the vertical Codell wells that were drilled in the early 1990s in the greater Wattenberg area were part of a large-scale refrac program that started in 1997. The coalbed methane play that had been well established in central Utah and the San Juan Basin expanded into the Powder River Basin. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Piceance Basin operators began exploiting the tight sandstones of the Mesaverde Group with S-shaped directional wells to minimize the surface footprint as well as rig moves, which improved the economics of that play. Natural gas prices started rising in early 2000, reaching $5.77/mcf in December of that year. In some circles, the Rockies were being touted as the “Saudi Arabia” of natural gas. It seemed like an opportune time for a gas-themed publication. In 2001, RMAG published what was to be its last printed hardbound format guidebook Gas in the Rockies. Two of us were co-editors of that book and have
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very fond meetings of editors’ breakfast meetings at The Delectable (aka “Detestable”) Egg on Court Place in downtown Denver. The book was printed in time for the AAPG ACE, where it sold out in a few days. The shallow Niobrara biogenic gas play in eastern Colorado had a resurgence in the early to mid2000s due in part to the availability of 3D seismic (Figure 1). In 2001, Fidelity E & P shot the first 3D seismic survey in Yuma County, across the existing Bonny Field. They drilled 61 infill wells, with only one of those completed as a dry hole, resulting in a 98% success rate (prior drilling in the area by Amoco from 1980-1999 had a success rate of 75%.) This kicked off a seismic and drilling boom throughout eastern Colorado, western Kansas, and southwestern Nebraska. Seismic is critical to the success of this play, both for detailed mapping of the complex structure of the area, but also for identifying the amplitude anomalies that indicated gas charge. Between January and February 2011, over 1,150 square miles of 3D seismic data was acquired in Yuma County alone (Figure 2). The shallow depths
GAS IN THE ROCKIES
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FIGURE 1: Structure
map for the Denver Basin contoured on the top of the Niobrara Formation showing key locations discussed in the text. Green indicates Niobrara oil fields; red indicates Niobrara gas fields. Dashed orange line represents vitrinite reflectance of 0.5% Ro. East of this line along the shallow flanks of the basin gas from the Niobrara is biogenic in origin. (Sonnenberg, 2022).
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Shale of North Texas economic. In 2003 they combined these specialized fracs with horizontal drilling and the “Shale Revolution” was born. Initially confined to the Barnett Shale, the new technology quickly spread to other basins throughout the US, Canada and overseas. Natural gas prices continued to zigzag upwards, first peaking in October 2005 at $10.33/mcf then again in July 2008 at $10.79. RMAG published several gas-themed digital guidebooks during this time, including the Piceance Basin 2003 Guidebook, Gas in Low Permeability Reservoirs of the Rocky Mountain Region (2005), and Gas Shale in the Rocky Mountains and Beyond (2008), all of which were delivered in either CD or DVD format. The guidebook Hydrocarbon Systems and Production in the Uinta Basin, Utah, a collaboration with the Utah Geological
and drilling with coiled tubing rigs kept well costs down. From early 2001 through the end of 2014 over 2,900 shallow Niobrara wells were drilled in Yuma County; over 2,600 of those were completed as gas producers with combined total cumulative production of 386 BCFG. Horizontal drilling was first used widely as a means of exploiting fractured reservoirs in the US in the late 1980s in the Austin Chalk of Texas and the Bakken Formation in the Williston Basin. By the early 1990s it was also successfully tested in the Niobrara Formation in the Silo Field in Laramie County, Wyoming (Figure 1). The impetus was to contact as much of the reservoir as possible, and many of the target zones were completed either without treatment or with perforations alone. In the late 1990s George Mitchell and Mitchell Energy Corp. perfected frac treatments that made the Barnett
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LEAD STORY
» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 Association, was also published in 2008.
OIL IN THE ROCKIES
The discovery of the Covenant Field in central Utah in 2004 by Wolverine Gas and Oil briefly reignited interest in thrust belt traps in general and Utah in particular. The Kings Meadow Ranches #171 well tested over 700 BOPD, and the field reached cumulative production of over 27 MMBO from 34 wells. The primary reservoir was originally thought to be the Navajo Sandstone but was later shown by the Utah Geological Survey to be the overlyFIGURE 2: Seismic crew in Yuma County, Colorado. Three D seismic was critical to the ing Temple Cap Formation. success of the shallow biogenic Niobrara play in eastern Colorado and elsewhere. Subsequent efforts along this trend were not successful, and the play fell out of favor. When the price of oil BCPD from a 4000 ft lateral completed with a 16 reached $147/Bbl (WTI) in July of 2008 it kicked stage frac, horizontal drilling of the various benchoff another drilling boom throughout the US, and in the Rockies the target shifted to oil and natural gas es of the Niobrara in the greater Wattenberg area liquids. A perfect storm of high prices, horizontal quickly accelerated. This resulted in the fourth redrilling, and hydraulic frac’ing converged to transsurgence of the DJ Basin. By mid-2022, over 10,000 form tight source rocks into viable reservoir targets. horizontal Niobrara wells had been drilled and By November of 2008 there were 89 rigs drilling completed in Weld County alone. the Bakken Shale in North Dakota. EOG Resources RMAG capitalized on this trend by publishing a utilized their experience in the Bakken (including series of oil-themed guidebooks, starting in 2011 Parshall Field) to drill the Jake #2-01H horizontal with the guidebooks Revisiting and Revitalizing the well in northern Weld County (north of Wattenberg) in late 2009. This well, with an estimated Niobrara in the Central Rockies and Bakken-Three flow rate >1500 BOPD, established Hereford Field Forks Petroleum System in the Williston Basin. These (Figure 1). It also reopened the Niobrara oil play were followed by the updated Oil and Gas Fields of in the DJ Basin and set off a land rush. Around that Colorado in 2014 and Hydrocarbon Source Rocks same time, Noble Energy drilled their Gemini K #1in Unconventional Plays, Rocky Mountain Region in 99HZ, a horizontal Niobrara test situated between 2016, both of which were available directly as digitightly spaced vertical wells in the heart of the Wattal downloads from the RMAG webpage. tenberg Field. Following the success of the Gemini well, which had an IP of 4.13 MMCFGPD and 265 OUTCROP | November 2022
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LEAD STORY success, the one-to-two-day symposia format gradually replaced RMAG’s business model of publishing guidebooks to generate revenue. Symposia topics have included the Coalbed Methane Symposium, which was held six times between 1999-2007, as well as other popular topics such as basin centered gas (2000), fractured reservoirs (2001), petroleum systems and reservoirs of southwest Wyoming (2003), low permeability sandstone reservoirs (2005), shale gas (2006), unconventional reservoirs (2009), Bakken-Three Forks petroleum system (2011), horizontal drilling (2012) and hot plays of the Rocky Mountain region (2016). In August of 1997, RMAG, in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain Section AAPG meeting, hosted the first Rockies-focused prospect fair. This event had well over 1100 participants and was a huge success. Two years later, when it evolved into the Prospect Fair and Technofest, co-hosted with DGS and DAPL, it exhibited 157 prospects that were viewed by 946 attendees. By the following year attendance was up to 1200. The event ran through 2012, until it was replaced by Denver NAPE in 2013. Many of the AAPG ACE meetings hosted in Denver by RMAG have been well attended. The ACE meeting in 2001 with Steve Sonnenberg as General Chair had 7122 registrants. The 2009 meeting, with Randy Ray acting as General Chair, was one of the most successful with 7452 attendees. The 2015 meeting, with John Robinson as General Chair, had over 6000 registrants even as the price of oil was falling. As the host society of AAPG meetings as well as RMS AAPG section meetings, RMAG received a portion of the revenue, which was a significant contributor to RMAG’s operating income. In late 2001, the Investment Committee proposed a plan to invest the income received from the 2001 AAPG ACE meeting to create an endowment to ensure the long-term viability of the organization. Historically the majority of RMAG’s members have worked in oil and gas. Consequently, RMAG’s fortunes have ebbed and flowed in concert with the boom-and-bust cycles inherent in the petroleum industry. When the price of oil goes up, so does the number of members, and when the price of oil drops (and stays down for an extended period), the
» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18 THE UNCONVENTIONAL REVOLUTION Not surprisingly many of the low permeability reservoirs in the Rockies were well suited to horizontal drilling, and the success of the Niobrara play in the Denver Basin renewed interest in other Rocky Mountain basins. EnCana drilled their first horizontal Niobrara well in the Orchard Unit in the Piceance Basin in 2008. Over the next three years they drilled a total of 16 horizontal Niobrara wells and three horizontal Mancos tests in the Orchard Unit, as well as three horizontal tests in Plateau Creek and two in Mamm Creek. In late 2012 WPX drilled their GM #701-4 HN1 well near Parachute as a horizontal Niobrara test. This well, nicknamed “The Beast”, made headlines when it tested 16 MMCFGPD and produced 1 BCF in its first 100 days online. WPX also drilled and completed the first two horizontal Mancos wells in the San Juan Basin in 2010. The estimated IP of the Rosa #634A was 21 MMCFGD (AOF) and that of the Rosa #634B was 35 MMCFGD; both wells were later choked back to 12 MMCFD. EnCana drilled the first horizontal wells in the Gallup Sandstone within the oil window of the Mancos Formation in 2012. Their first well, the Lybrook #H36-2307, reportedly flowed 838 MCFGPD and 786 BOPD. WPX followed in 2013 with their Chaco 2408-32 P well, which had an IP of 361 BOPD and 1236 MCFGPD. Several operators turned their attention to the Powder River Basin, with its multiple stacked pay zones in both shales (Niobrara, Mowry) and tight sandstones (including the Teapot, Parkman, Sussex, Shannon, Turner, and Frontier). Others revisited the oil shales of the Green River Formation in the Uinta Basin. Between 2010 and 2015 US oil production nearly doubled, from 5.4 MMBOPD to 9.4 MMBOPD and reached an all-time high of 12.8 MMBOPD in 2019 thanks in large part to the horizontal drilling in the Rockies.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
The annual 3D Seismic Symposium continued to be very popular for many years, with peak attendance of 768 participants in 2008. Building on its Vol. 71, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
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LEAD STORY program was initiated by the Membership Committee in 2016 in part to keep recent retirees engaged in the organization. The RMAG ceased co-sponsoring the 3D Seismic Symposium after 2017 as relationships soured and costs soared amid declining oil prices. In the fall of 2017 RMAG co-hosted its first annual symposium with DWLS: the Geology and Petrophysics of Unconventional Mudrocks.
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number of members drops as well (Figure 3). By 2012, coincident with the boom in unconventionals, membership had reached an all-time secondary peak of 2978. The Summit Sponsor program was initiated in 2012 as a means of ensuring steady income throughout the fiscal year. The Corporate Advisory Board was formed in 2015 and includes senior geoscience managers from companies and institutions in the region who connect their organizations to RMAG and advise the Board and the Executive Director on broad matters of policy, finance and direction. In June of 2014 the price of oil began dropping once again. By March of 2015 it was down to $42.66/Bbl (WTI), and by February 2016 it had reached $25.62/Bbl. Consolidations and layoffs once again became common in Denver, and once again RMAG was impacted. The mentorship
REVISIONS, MOVES, AND GYRATIONS
The RMAG office has moved several times in the past 25 years. In 2009 the office moved from the Symes Building at 820 16th Street, where it had resided since 1995, one block away to the 11th floor of 910 16th Street. Four years later it moved to the 12th floor of the same building. Due to maintenance and safety issues in that building the office, it then moved to 1999 Broadway in 2019. The office
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FIGURE 3: RMAG membership plotted versus the prices of oil and
natural gas. Graph compiled and prepared by Donna Anderson, 2021.
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LEAD STORY Denver to manage operations both in the Rockies and elsewhere, including in the Permian Basin and Mid-Continent. Over 22% of RMAG members were working the Permian Basin when RMAG hosted its first-ever Permian Basin Symposium and core workshop in January 2019.
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staff has also undergone numerous changes during that time. The luncheons were held at the Petroleum Club through the late 1990s into the early 2000s, until they were moved to the Marriott in 2004. In 2011 the luncheon program shifted from bimonthly Fridays to once monthly Wednesdays, partly in response to many companies in Denver moving to 80/20 work schedules with either Friday half days or every other Friday off. The luncheons were moved to Maggiano’s in January 2015, which has been a popular venue.
THE GREAT RESET
In early 2020 a new virus was making the headlines in China and Europe, and by mid-March it had turned up in Denver. By April 2020 the now all-too-familiar Covid 19 worldwide pandemic was well underway, and Colorado as well as much of the US was in lockdown mode. All in-person activities in the City and County of Denver were suspended indefinitely, which had a tremendous impact on RMAG, as much of the organization’s operating revenue is derived from symposia, short courses, and the monthly luncheons. But the 2020 Board quickly pivoted to online events. Dr. Brian Toelle with the University of Wyoming presented the first remote luncheon in April 2020, and it was sold out at 200 attendants in two hours. The virtual luncheons were offered to members at no charge, which had the pleasant side effect of increasing membership, including new members from other states as well as international locales. Attendance at the online luncheons averaged over 100 participants through the end of the year. The Data Science one-day symposium morphed into a five-week webinar series. The Continuing Education Committee made a concerted effort to provide a large and varied selection of virtual short courses, which included a first-ever partnership with RPS/Nautilus. When it became necessary to cancel all the in-person field trips, the On the Rocks Committee successfully tested a couple of virtual field trips and the Membership Committee came up with the first ever GeoHike Challenge scavenger hunt and photo contest as a means of remotely engaging members in an outdoor setting. And the virtual Trivia Nights provided a fun way for members to participate in online networking. The nominal price for WTI crude went negative
THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
One of the most profound changes over the past 25 years has been the digitization of data. Advances in computer technology facilitated the growth of 3D seismic data acquisition and interpretation. The development of GIS-based software that was specifically designed for the oil and gas industry for use on desktop computers was a game changer for many geologists, especially those working for independent operators. It resulted in an almost insatiable demand for all forms of digital data, especially logs and maps. RMAG adapted to this by publishing all guidebooks since 2001 in digital format. The Big Red Book was re-released in pdf and georeferenced tiff format in 2006 and then converted to GIS format in 2014. The Outcrop became digital in 2012 and The Mountain Geologist followed in 2014. The rise of unconventional resource plays has profoundly transformed the role of geologists working in the petroleum industry. Geosteering horizontal wells has become the primary responsibility of operations geologists. Petrophysicists are in higher demand than exploration geologists. Data analytics has exploded due in part to the sheer volume of (mostly public) digital data now available for each well. By the mid-2010s much of the data necessary for oil and gas exploration and development was readily available digitally, which, combined with the rise of cellphones and laptops, meant that physical proximity to operations was no longer necessary. Many independents, both public and private-equity companies, opened and maintained offices in Vol. 71, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
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DIVERSITY IN RMAG
for the first time in history in April 2020. This was followed by a record drop in rig count in May 2020 and more layoffs. RMAG, in partnership with AAPG, SPE, WOGA, COGA, and DWLS formed the Members in Transition committee to assist members in need of a career transition. From May 2020 through January 2022 this group provided 39 free webinars for members that had lost their jobs and were looking to pivot to other industries. Things slowly started returning to normal in late 2021. RMAG resumed in-person On the Rocks trips in July, followed by the golf tournament in September. RMAG also acted as host society for the inaugural and hybrid AAPG-SEG IMAGE meeting (replacing the AAPG ACE meetings) in September 2021, unfortunately just as the Delta Covid variant hit a peak. This event, which was only a partial success, was moved to Houston for the next five years, effectively removing a significant revenue stream for RMAG. In-person lunches resumed in May 2022, and the Powder River Basin symposium and core workshop in September 2022 exceeded all expectations. Like many of the members, the RMAG staff spent much of the pandemic working from home. This situation worked so well that in September 2022 the Board subleased its office at 1999 Broadway and moved into shared office space at DERL, an arrangement that should be mutually beneficial to both organizations.
For the past 25 years women have greatly increased their representation and visibility within RMAG. Susan Landon served as RMAG’s second woman President in 2001, 60 years after Ninetta Davis became the first. Since 1997, 77 women have served in Board positions, including seven women Presidents (Figure 4). Seven of the last 10 guidebooks have been co-edited by women, and 29 women RMAG members have received 44 of the organization’s awards. Over the last decade, even as overall membership numbers have declined, the percentage of women members has increased to over 16%. In 2021 RMAG, like other geoscience societies, corporations, and academic institutions, created a Diversity and Inclusion Committee in a concerted effort to reach groups that have been chronically under-represented in the sciences. RMAG recognizes that diverse classrooms, workplaces, and professional societies that foster inclusion benefit with increased creativity, a diversity of ideas, and enhanced scientific inquiry.
LOOKING AHEAD
The decline in RMAG membership that started 10 years ago accelerated during the Covid pandemic. Membership has dropped to around 1200 members, from over 2100 in 2014. Many of these former members have left the industry altogether, either via retirement (aka the “great crew change”) or a career pivot. In 1997 at the time of RMAG’s 75th anniversary, Past President Fred Meissner opined that “As long as there are 25 or more practicing petroleum geologists in the Denver area, the RMAG will continue to exist”. RMAG has always been open to all geoscientists, but historically most of the membership has been employed in the oil and gas sector. While technical programs and luncheon topics over the years have included other, broader geologic topics, those featuring petroleum-related themes have generally been more successful. That may be changing as more members pivot to other fields, including geothermal, helium and CCS/CCUS. Organisms adapt to changing environments by
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LEAD STORY
FIGURE 4: Seven of RMAG’s Presidents over the last 25 years have been women, including (left to right) Donna Anderson, Jane
Estes-Jackson, Debra Higley, Susan Landon, and Terri Olson.
SOURCES
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Piceance Basin Mesaverde, by Stephen Cumella, Paul Weimer, Mike Leibovitz, and Nathan Rogers, in Oil & Gas Fields of Colorado, 2014 RMAG Guidebook. Niobrara Biogenic Natural Gas in the Eastern DJ Basin, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, by Bruce Kelso, Joseph Stewart, Kori Norberg, and Thomas Hewett, in The Mountain Geologist, July 2006. A Short History of the “Jake” Niobrara Horizontal Oil Discovery, Weld County, Colorado, by Donna Anderson, John Melby, and James Folcik, in The Mountain Geologist, July 2015. The relatively recent development of resource plays in the Rocky Mountain region, by Stephen A. Sonnenberg, in The Mountain Geologist, August 2022.
evolving. Organizations also evolve to meet change. RMAG has thrived in good times and survived in bad times over the past 100 years because of the resiliency and adaptability of its members and member-leaders. Long-term sustainability of the RMAG, or any organization for that matter, involves recognizing and embracing change as it happens, while knowing that humans as a collective body do not like change. Considering the last 100 years, we can only predict that changes in the next 100 will be large! RMAG’s viability over its second century will require the early recognition and enthusiastic embrace of the huge changes to come.
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2023 Board of Directors Candidate
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Mike Tischer
5 WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME nimble, curious, understanding, genuine, detail-attentive
FAVORITE OUTCROP/CORE:
Candidate for President Elect
Burgess Shale, Walcott Quarry, Alberta, Canada (Access comes with a 10 km round-trip, 780 m elevation gain hike. It’s paradise!)
EDUCATION • PhD Geology, Columbia University (2005) • M.A. Physics, SUNY Buffalo (1997)
FAVORITE FOOD
• On The Rocks GeoConsulting, LLC, Owner (2020) • FractureID, Geologic Consultant (2018-2019, 2021) • NEOS GeoSolutions, Exploration Project Manager & Geoscience Lead (2015-2017) • Dolan Integration Group, Petroleum Geologist/Data Manager (2012-2015) • ExxonMobil, Petroleum Geologist (2005-2012)
WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THE RMAG BOARD?
PROFESIONAL EXPERIENCE
INVOLVEMENT WITHIN RMAG AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS • • • •
RMAG treasurer in 2022 RMAG member since 2012 Member of RMAG’s field trip committee since 2018 Former judge for AAPG’s Imperial Barrel Award (IBA) program, Rocky Mountain Region
MOST SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS
• Tischer, M., Zimbrick, G., Dolan, M. Tectonic Control on the Thermal Evolution of the Michigan Basin, In AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Search and Discovery Article #90216, 2015 • Tischer, M., Zimbrick, G., Dolan, M. Importance of Structural and Tectonic Inheritance for Unconventional Basin Play Prospectivity: An Example from the Powder River Basin, In Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Denver, Colorado, 25-27 August 2014, pp. 58-63, 2014. • Tischer, M., U. Ten Brink, U., G. Karner, A. Goodliffe, M. Robb, B. Taylor, N. Driscoll, D. Ryan, Insights into along-strike passive continental margin variability from seismic reflection, refraction and gravity data, Northwest Australia, Eos Trans. AGU, 84 (46), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract T51F-0218, 2003 OUTCROP | November 2022
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Kinder Surprise Eggs (has to be the European version) Over the last few years, the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists have had to adapt to challenges that affect how this organization is run. The changes in the energy landscape and the impacts from COVID are some of the most prominent examples. RMAG has handled these challenges well but will have to continue to adapt over the next few years as energy markets continue to evolve and roles of geoscientists in the private and public sectors shift in response. Challenges, however, are also opportunities for RMAG. Adaptability and resilience can be achieved by becoming a more diverse and inclusive organization, and should be reflected in our membership as well as in our activities. With increased diversity and inclusivity, RMAG would provide greater value to our members and the community at large. Efforts are already underway to make this happen but we will have to continue on this path to ensure their success. The prospect of reaching more individuals and touching more lives excites me, and therefore I would love to help shape the future for RMAG as its President. As our name suggests, our mission is to support all geologists. Let’s get to work!
Mallard Exploration is a Denver-based upstream Oil & Gas Exploration and Production company focused on the DJ Basin of Colorado. We are building a successful business with strong ethics, hard work and industry-leading technology.
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2023 Board of Directors Candidate
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Sarah Compton Candidate for First Vice President Elect 5 WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME
EDUCATION BS/MS Geology from IUPUI, PhD Geology from University of Alabama PROFESIONAL EXPERIENCE 9 years in oil and gas, spread between mostly data work at vendors (IHS IHS Markit S&P Global Platts, Liberty Oilfield Services Liberty Energy, and Geosteering at Terra Guidance) and petroleum geoscientist work at operators big and small (Noble Energy Chevron, Bridgecreek (deceased), Great Western Petroleum PDC). I currently run my own geologic consulting firm in Morrison. INVOLVEMENT WITHIN RMAG AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
RMAG member for most of my career, and semi-recently stepped down from Chair of Education Outreach Committee from roughly Q1 2020 to Q1 2022 (yes… I chaired an outreach committee during COVID. Went much better than you’d think, though, thanks to the active committee members!).
Steady, enthusiastic, honest, tenacious, inquisitive
FAVORITE OUTCROP/CORE:
Dinosaur Ridge footprints (really…the whole area). Everyone can understand it at some level and interact with it. It’s also extremely accessible at all levels because its base price is free, it’s close to the city, and all physical abilities can get right up to it. Second to that (and nearly opposite end of the “accessible” spectrum) are the columnar basalts at Vic in Iceland.
FAVORITE FOOD
Spaghetti and meatballs.
MOST SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS
• Compton, S., Baier, K., Brand, J., Barhaug, J., Faye, L., Stinson, S., (2022) Using the Relationship Between Geochemical and Pressure Data to Elucidate Produced Oil Sources and Movement in the Subsurface., URTeC conference, OnePetro. • Agarwal, K., Kegel, J., Ballard, B., Lolon, E., Mayerhofer, M., Weijers, L., Melcher, H., Compton, S., Turner, P., (2019) Evolving Completion Designs to Optimize Well Productivity from a Low Permeability Oil Sandstone Turner Reservoir in the Powder River Basin—One Operator’s Experience. SPE-194350-MS • Haney, M., Nies, A., Masterlark, T., Needy, S., Pedersen, R., (2011) Interpretation of Rayleigh-Wave Ellipticity Observed with Multicomponent Passive Seismic Interferometry at Hekla Volcano, Iceland. The Leading Edge 30(5). 526-531. • Needy, S.K., et al. (2009) Mesozoic Magmatism in an Upper-to-Middle-Crustal Section Through the Cordilleran Continental Margin Arc, Eastern Transverse Ranges, California. Crustal cross sections from the western North American Cordillera and elsewhere: Implications for tectonic and petrologic processes: Geological Society of America Special Paper, 456, 187-218.
WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THE RMAG BOARD? In a nutshell: I strongly believe in RMAG’s mission to promote interest in geoscience and promote research and cooperation among geoscientists from all backgrounds. Longer version: I got involved with the Education Outreach Committee because I enjoy teaching and interacting with kids a lot, but also because I believe our science has a PR problem. The public doesn’t understand what we do nor why it’s important, but they’re pretty sure we’re destroying the planet while we’re doing it. So, I focused on bringing some clarity to young people, which can help with our future as a science, but we need some help presently, internally, as well. That’s where our publications come into play, and why I’d like to step into the First President – Elect role. Ensuring the publication process continues smoothly is key to fostering paths forward in our science. Understanding what has been done, what needs to be done, and discerning how to accomplish it is imperative. Tier 1 rocks are largely owned and getting drilled, but maybe more could be found. More realistically, we need to better understand Tier 2 rocks for optimization and expand current fields, both geographically and stratigraphically, but many local early and mid-career geologists have never done the type of work required for that task. The workload has mostly consisted of geosteering and possibly development of current assets. Our profession has been gutted in decades previously and is going through another culling, especially in Denver where the job market is brutal, which means our knowledge and experience base is only shrinking. Publications are our best means to preserve knowledge for the current and future crop of geoscientists, and I can help continue the smooth operation of RMAG’s publications.
Confluence Resources is an upstream exploration and production company Confluence Resources is an confluenceresources.com upstream exploration and production company confluenceresources.com
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2023 Board of Directors Candidate
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Lisa Wolff
5 WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME
Candidate for First Vice President Elect
EDUCATION • B.S. in Geology with a minor in physics at the University of Wyoming • M.S. in Geology at California State University Northridge
PROFESIONAL EXPERIENCE
Exploration geoscientist that has worked for Bill Barrett Corporation, Tamarack Oil and Gas, Occidental Petroleum, Whiting Peotroleum, and currently holds a senior geoscientist position at Robert L. Bayless, Producer LLC in Denver, CO working the Rockies with a focus on the Uinta and Powder River Basins.
INVOLVEMENT WITHIN RMAG AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
RMAG member since 2007 and have been an active member of AAPG, DGS, SJGS, GSA, and UGA.
MOST SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS
Evidence for Five Paleoearthquakes on the San Andreas Fault in the San Gorgonio Pass
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Explorer, Diver, Athlete, Parent, Connector
FAVORITE OUTCROP/CORE: Can any geo name just one??? I’ve always loved the massive conglomerates in southern CA that were deposited from the initiation of the San Andreas Fault and my heart flutters for Chevron folds.
FAVORITE FOOD
Seafood and Cajun anything (Lived in Lake Charles, LA for 7 mo and fell in love with the food)
WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THE RMAG BOARD?
Because Cat asked me… Kidding. I want to be a part of the RMAG board because it is such an incredible community of geoscientists that has served me so well in the past with connections, research, continuing education, and FUN. Many of my fondest memories are from RMAG field trips, courses, and workshops and I would love the opportunity to serve the organization. I have been asked to serve in the past but have declined because of having little kiddos. Now that they are both in school, I’m excited to dedicate some time to RMAG.
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2023 Board of Directors Candidate
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Jason Eleson
Candidate for Second Vice President
5 WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME Tall, Goofy, Technical, Creative, Passionate
FAVORITE OUTCROP/CORE: Yacoraite Formation (lacustrine carbonates), NW Argentina
FAVORITE FOOD EDUCATION • BS, Geology, University of Nebraska - Lincoln (1999) • MS, Geology, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (2002)
PROFESIONAL EXPERIENCE
Jason Eleson is the Principal Geoscience Advisor at Enverus and specializes in detailed case studies leveraging Enverus data and solutions for M&A, asset optimization, cost reduction and CCUS screening. He has more than 20 years of oil and gas experience, with expertise in conventional and unconventional reservoirs. He has performed conventional carbonate reservoir exploration and field development in subsalt basins in Kazakhstan and Brazil, as well as conventional clastic exploration in the Guyana Basin. Jason has drilled and developed tight gas sands in the Piceance and Uinta basin, and performed shale exploration in the Piceance, Williston, DJ, Permian, Haynesville, Eagle Ford, Utica/Point Pleasant in the United States, and the Neuquén basin of Argentina. Jason has lived in Denver since 2014 and is active within the geologic society of the Front Range.
INVOLVEMENT WITHIN RMAG AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Member of AAPG, RMAG and member and former president of RMS-SEPM.
Ah c’mon…too many options to pick just one: Thai (Pad See Ew), Vietnamese (Vermicelli Bowl), Indian (Saag Paneer), Texas Barbecue (Ribs>Pork Shoulder>Brisket>Chicken>Hot Links), Tex-Mex (mole seafood enchiladas), & Ethiopian (18 baskets of injera bread… just for me)
WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THE RMAG BOARD?
It has been a while since I participated directly in one of the Front Range geo societies, and I want to meet new people, stay abreast of the latest technical subsurface developments, and leverage my technical background to help diversify the technical topics that RMAG tackles, including things like CCS/CCUS, geothermal, hydrogen storage, as well as good ol’ oil and gas.
MOST SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS
• Post-Pandemic Re-Ignition of the PRB: Activity, Targeting, and Spacing Trends of an Awakened Basin – 2022 PRB Symposium • Evaluation of reservoir quality variation, baffles, and barriers on Bell Creek CCUS EOR Project – 2022 PRB Symposium • Indications of exploration risk from a recent exploration well in the deepwater turbidite play of the Guyana Basin, Guyana – DIPS talk, May 2021 • Insights into productivity drivers for the Niobrara-equivalent horizontal play in the Piceance Basin, Colorado – The Mountain Geologist, October 2020 • Conventional Core as a Rosetta Stone for Presalt RQ: Insights and Observations Within Upper Sag Presalt Microbialites From Conventional Core of the 3-ESSO-4A-SPS (Guarani-1ST) Well, BM-S-22, Santos Basin, Offshore Brazil – AAPG ACE Meeting, 2014
2023 Board of Directors Candidate
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
John H. Benton Candidate for Counselor
5 WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME Inquisitive, collaborative, experienced, integrity, respectful
FAVORITE OUTCROP/CORE: Burgess Shale
FAVORITE FOOD Mexican, although willing to try most anything except liver and onions
EDUCATION • BSPE, CSM, 1978 • MSPE, CSM, 1984
WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THE RMAG BOARD?
PROFESIONAL EXPERIENCE 40+ years global oil and gas experience in positions progressing from staff engineer to technical management to senior leadership in public and private companies. Led business units for majors and independents. Served 8 years as a Commissioner with the COGCC, including Chairman for the last 2 years.
INVOLVEMENT WITHIN RMAG AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Current member of RMAG, SPE, SPEE, Tau Bet Pi. Past member of COGA, Western Energy Alliance. Past Section Chairman of Denver Sections of SPE, SPEE. Currently serve as Treasurerelect on the Board of the Denver Section of the SPE, as well as the co-chair of the Section’s Industry Advisory Council.
MOST SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS
• SPE 030992 – Putting Technology To Work – The Petroleum Technology Transfer Council • SPE 035835 – Putting Environmental Technology to Work for Independents • SPE 036013 – National Internet System for Independent Producers • Disclosing Coalbed Methane and Other Unconventional Resources - Conference Board of Canada, Calgary, 2003 • The Challenge of Converting Unconventional Resources Into Economic Reserves - Strategic Research Institute, Denver, 2003 (Conference Chairman) • Oil Recovery Tool (ORT) Overview, Enercom Investment Summit, Golden, CO 2022
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I believe that collaborative work is extremely important to the success of the oil and gas industry. It is important for me to learn more about RMAG from its members as well as increase my technical knowledge of the geoscience of current oil and gas exploration and development. I hope to use that knowledge to improve collaborative efforts between SPE and RMAG to advance the industry’s ability to efficiently develop oil and gas resources. I believe that my experience as a petroleum engineer and SPE member will provide RMAG some insight into how the two organizations can work well together.
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2023 Board of Directors Candidate
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Steve Crouch
5 WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME Overtly friendly, unifying team member
FAVORITE OUTCROP/CORE:
Candidate for Counselor
County Road 21C & Poudre Valley Canal ridge for Niobrara, Fort Hays, and Codell
FAVORITE FOOD EDUCATION
Crawfish Étouffée
• B.S. Electrical Engineering - CU, Boulder • M.S. Geology – Colorado School of Mines
WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THE RMAG BOARD?
PROFESIONAL EXPERIENCE
• 2001-2011 Naval Flight Officer, USN • 2011-2020 Petroleum Geologist, White Eagle Exploration • 2020-Present Geosciences Manager, White Eagle Exploration
INVOLVEMENT WITHIN RMAG AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
• Member RMAG & AAPG 2011-Present • AAPG House of Delegates, RMAG Representative 2019-2022
MOST SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS
“Petroleum Potential of the Codell Sandstone, Northern Denver Basin”- AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Annual Meeting, Billings, Montana, 2017
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Every member of a professional organization owes a commitment to their association to ensure it continues to thrive. Eventually that commitment grows into a dedication of time and skills to the professional advancement of their society. I see the position of Counselor as another chance for me to commit to RMAG. Growing up in our industry in the Rockies, surrounded by a library of RMAG publications, I’ve seen what our association achieved then and what we are capable of now. The professional relationships and friendships I have gained over my career will be essential to serving as a Counselor for RMAG and advisor to our President and Board members to ensure we foster a society that supports our members, our science, and our community.
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2023 Board of Directors Candidate
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Holly Lindsey
5 WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME Dedicated, Outdoorsy, Servant Leader, Helpful, Ethical
FAVORITE OUTCROP/CORE:
Candidate for Treasurer-Elect
All of them, but if I had to pick it would be the arkoses and limestones that formed around and near the Ancestral Rockies during the late Penn and Early Permian. What is cooler than beaches and lime shoals next to the mountains?
EDUCATION BS, Geological Engineering; MS, Geology
FAVORITE FOOD
PROFESIONAL EXPERIENCE
Geological Engineer(Tenneco), Development Geologist(Union Texas Petroleum), Team Lead and Consulting Geologist (LandMark), Certified Trainer and End User Support (LandMark), Operations Manager and Client Support (PetroDE), Team Lead and Product Owner (PetroDE), Director Development and Manager Customer Success (Endurance Energy), Investor Relations and Tech Consultant (EnergyFunders)
INVOLVEMENT WITHIN RMAG AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Volunteer with RMAG, DGS, WEN, MiT, AAPG, WOGA
MOST SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS AND/OR PRESENTATIONS
It’s a tossup between macaroni and cheese and dark chocolate
WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THE RMAG BOARD?
I want to help RMAG enter its second century in a strong financial position and for it to be able to adapt and meet the needs of a diverse and vital geological community. My experience as a corporate board member and as accounting oversight and AP for a small company will serve me well in this position.
Facies relationships of the Ingleside formation in northern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming (Rhoads, H; 1987; CSM; Golden,Co)
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WE ARE GREAT WESTERN AND WE ARE COMMITTED TO:
PEOPLE
EXCELLENCE
TEAMWORK
GROWTH
STEWARDSHIP
RESILIENCE
WE ARE #CommittedtoColorado Vol. 71, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
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HYBRID LUNCH TALK Speaker: Benjamin Burke Date: November 2, 2022 | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Geothermal Systems in Sedimentary Basins By Benjamin Burke locations regardless of tectonic environment, as well as the myriad of direct use applications in agriculture, aquaculture, industrial process, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. This luncheon talk surveys the above applications of geothermal and the geoscience behind them, with a focus on the keys to geothermal systems—analogous to petroleum systems—in sedimentary basins, namely, heat source and flux, reservoir quality and flow, and the importance of geochemistry of geothermal fluids. The Williston Basin and Basin and Range areas of the United States provide examples of geothermal power generation in low temperature regions.
SUMMARY Geothermal, as its Greek word roots suggest, is Earth heat. That heat expresses itself in a variety of ways at a variety of depths in differing geologic environments. Geothermal, as a subset of the energy industry, also has different meanings in its different engineering expressions: high temperature (>150° C/302° F) power generation applications at active margin locations around the world, medium temperature (90°150° C/194°-302° F) power generation applications a further distances from active margins, low temperature (<90° C/194° F) power generation in medium to high geothermal gradient
BENJAMIN BURKE (he/him/his) is the Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of Transitional Energy, a geothermal development company. Prior to his current role, he held individual contributor and management roles as a geoscientist in the oil and gas industry in Houston and Denver with the ExxonMobil Upstream Companies, Anadarko Petroleum, Noble Energy, Fidelity Exploration & Production, Fifth Creek Energy, and Highpoint Resources. He began his career as a geoscientist with Woodard & Curran, Inc., an environmental consulting firm, in Cheshire, Connecticut. Ben holds an AB magna cum laude from Bowdoin College in Geology and Russian Language, an MBA in general management from Texas A&M University, and a PhD from Dartmouth College in Earth Sciences. He is also an Affiliate Professor in the Geology & Geological Engineering Department at Colorado School of Mines and a Collaborating Professor in the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences at Iowa State University. He serves as the President Elect of RMAG and on the board of the Denver Earth Resources Library. He is a past member and chair of the Academic and Applied Geoscience Relations Committee of the Geological Society of America. He enjoys gravel cycling, alpine skiing, and, very occasionally, whitewater kayaking. From an early age, he is a hobbyist-level lunar and planetary astronomer.
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Publish with… Publish with…
Expanded geologic focus: Why c • Entire greater Rocky Mountai • Rea • Qu • West Texas and New Mexico • Per • Great Plains and Mid-Contine • Qu
• Expanded geologic focus: • Entire greater Rocky Mountain area of North America Expanded geologic•focus: Why contribute? West Texas and New Mexico to northern British Columbia • Entire greater Rocky Mountain of Northregion America • Great Plains andarea Mid-Continent • Reach a broad industry and • • • •
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• Westaudience Texas and New Mexico to northern British Columbia academic Quarterly reviewed • Greatpeer Plains and contribute? Mid-Continent region Why journal https://www.rm • includes Reach a broad industry and academic audience Permanent archiving AAPG Datapages • Quarterly peer-reviewed journal Quick turn around •timePermanent archiving includes AAPG Datapages https://www.rmag.org Every subdiscipline in the • Quick turn-around time geosciences • Every subdiscipline in the geosciences
Expanded geologic focus: • Entire greater Rocky Mountain
rea of North America area of North America northern British• Columbia West Texas and New Mexico to northern British Columbia region • Great Plains and Mid Continent region
Email: mgeditor@rmag.org
https://www.rmag.org/publications/the-mountain-geologist/
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HYBRID LUNCH TALK Speaker: Mitch Schneider Date: December tdtdtd | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Quantifying Rock Characteristics in the San Andres Formation that Promote CO2 Sequestration Permian Basin, USA By Mitch Schneider a methodology for ranking these reservoirs into permanent CO2 sequestration sites. Using field-emission scanning electron microscopy, we document the mineralogy and porosity network at the micron scale to quantify pore dimensions, pore-lining minerals, and pore-network heterogeneity between different facies and stratigraphic intervals of the San Andres Formation. Integration of this data with existing core-plug porosimetry and field-wide production data, we will quantify the CO2 trapping capability of the San Andres Formation, and thus the viability for a particular field to be converted to a site for CO2 sequestration. This newly collected data and methodology can help make informed economic decisions on the future utilization of depleted carbonate petroleum reservoirs, not only in the Permian Basin, but globally.
The San Andres Formation is a conventional carbonate reservoir on the Central Basin Platform that has been a prolific producer of oil and gas, but vertical and lateral heterogeneity within and between fields make reservoir characterization and thus recovery difficult. Carbon dioxide (CO2) flooding has long been used for enhanced oil recovery operations within the San Andres Formation, and some fields unintentionally sequester large volumes of CO2. However, the rock characteristics that allow effective CO2 sequestration (e.g., lateral geological heterogeneity, diagenetic evolution, pore-network dynamics, fluid-rock interactions) are still uncertain. There is a desire to transition these reservoirs into permanent CO2 sequestration sites due to existing infrastructure and the history of CO2 injection. Using thin-section data from the Goldsmith Field on the Central Basin Platform, we quantify heterogeneity within pore networks to provide
MITCH SCHNEIDER has a B.S. in Geology from Grand Valley State University and is currently pursuing an M.S. Degree in Geology and a Graduate Certificate in Data Science from Colorado School of Mines. His thesis project is focused on quantifying rock-fabric characteristics that promote CO2 sequestration in the San Andres Formation, Permian Basin. His research interests involve the viability of transitioning depleted oil and gas reservoirs to carbon sequestration sites, and how data science can be utilized together with advanced petrography techniques and core description. Mr. Schneider has worked with FourPoint Energy, Ovintiv, and multiple consulting firms. Outside of his studies, he enjoys archery and spending time outdoors. OUTCROP | November 2022
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IN THE PIPELINE NOVEMBER 15, 2022
NOVEMBER 1, 2022 RMAG Women’s Group Coffee. Vibe Coffee & Wine, 10am NOVEMBER 2, 2022
DWLS Luncheon. Vanessa Simoes, “Deep Learning for MultiWell Automatic Log Correction.” Wynkoop Brewery, 11:20am-1:30pm
RMAG Luncheon. Speaker: Ben Burke, “Geothermal Systems in Sedimentary Basins.” Maggiano’s Little Italy, 12pm-1pm.
RMS-SEPM Luncheon. Dr. Kurt Sundell, “Global records of hafnium isotopes in zircon shed light on earth’s deep past.” Rock Bottom Brewery, 11:30am
NOVEMBER 10, 2022
NOVEMBER 16, 2022
WOGA Virtual Lean-in Circle. 11am-12:30pm on Zoom
WOGA Technical Lunch Fireside Chat with Trisha Curtis. DERL, 730 17th St B-1, 11-12:30pm
WOGA Holiday Party. Liberty Energy, 4:30pm-7:30pm
NOVEMBER 24-25, 2022 Thanksgiving Holiday. RMAG offices closed.
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MEMBER CORNER
Meet Christophe Wakamya Simbo PhD Candidate, Colorado State University, and Recipient of the 2022 RMAG Foundation Gary Babcock Memorial Scholarship
My eager attraction to nature and, more importantly, the geological diversity of the place I grew up in played a significant role in choosing a career in the Geosciences. Many of the realities that surrounded my childhood were geologically relatable. Some of these geological features, such as the Nyiragongo Volcano with the world’s largest lava lake. or the seismic activities related to the tectonically unstable East African Rift System (EARS), were spectacular and triggered fascination and horror in me. Along the EARS, there are several lakes and mountain ranges and, on top of this, the region is richly endowed with the 3Ts (Tin, Tungsten, and Tantalum) mineral resources. The volcanic and seismic activities were the first that sparked my interest in the Geosciences. Following the 2002 eruption of OUTCROP | November 2022
the Nyiragongo Volcano, a 10-page booklet was given to me by my uncle explaining volcanic activities and their advantages and disadvantages. I was truly captivated not by the damages caused by the volcanic eruption but by the natural wealth described in
HOW DID YOU END UP INVOLVED IN THE GEOSCIENCES?
RMAG’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee is featuring a monthly Member Corner. We hope you’ll enjoy learning about the diverse community of Earth scientists and wide variety of geoscience disciplines that comprise our membership. If you would like to appear in an upcoming column, or if there is someone you would like to nominate, please contact staff@rmag.org.
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the Front Range was influential in my decision to come to Colorado State University.
the booklet, which was interesting and eye-opening. Needless to say, I could not escape the temptation of learning more about the geological processes that shaped my surroundings and realities.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS?
Success is the part of the iceberg seen and cherished by people who don’t know the “successful” person you are. It also is the part of the iceberg built on sustained and relentless work, giving inspiration to people who have watched you fail and get up again and keep pushing forward.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB AND HOW HAS THIS SHAPED YOUR VIEW IN YOUR CURRENT AREA OF INTEREST IN GEOLOGY?
After my Bachelor’s degree in Hydrogeology and Geotechnical Engineering, I worked in copper mining in the Congolese Copperbelt. Later, I became familiar with mineral resources (Economic Geology) in sedimentary environments. My interest in the subject was solidified when I was awarded two scholarships focused on Economic Geology and Geochemistry. In 2015, under the Unesco/Poland co-sponsored program, I did a 6-month research project in Poland on Cu-Co mineralization in the Central African Copperbelt. In 2017, I was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study in the US, and I was fortunate to work on another type of sedimentary ore deposit, the Mississippi Valley Type ore deposits. Whereas I was primarily interested in the geochemical aspects of economic enrichment of metals in sedimentary systems, I realized later that I was missing one important aspect of the whole mineralizing system —transport. It was only when I stumbled upon papers discussing groundwater transport in sedimentary basins and hydrothermal mineralization that I felt a keen interest in Hydrogeochemistry.
WHERE WAS YOUR FAVORITE FIELD TRIP IN SCHOOL?
My favorite field trip was the one organized by the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) to visit operating gold mines in Ghana back in 2018. It was an enriching experience as it was my first time traveling to West Africa and learning about gold mineralization in the Birimian Supergroup and Tarkwaian Group in the Birimian greenstone belt.
WHAT GEOLOGIC PERIOD WOULD YOU TRAVEL TO IF YOU WERE GIVEN A TIME MACHINE?
As a geochemistry aficionado, I’d definitely go back to the Precambrian and watch the Great Oxidation Event and how the 4 spheres interacted.
WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DO YOU ENJOY LISTENING TO?
I like Reggae music and I mostly listen to two singers, Bob Marley and Lucky Dube. Obviously, I also listen to Congolese (rumba) songs! Papa Wemba, Franco Luambo, and Lokua Kanza are among my favorite Congolese singers.
WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY?
After my MS degree in Geology at the University of Arkansas, I was looking for a Ph.D. opportunity in low-temperature Geochemistry. I was specifically looking for a project that would combine both the knowledge of the sedimentary environment and geochemical simulations to predict the behavior of trace elements mobilized from water-rock interaction. When looking at the department directory detailing professors’ research areas, I was particularly interested in Dr. Sutton’s field of interest and wide range of publications including sedimentology, sedimentary geochemistry, economic geology, and groundwater geochemistry. Additionally, the proximity of Fort Collins to scenic mountains, hiking opportunities, and the geology of
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WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE, FABLE, OR PROVERB?
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The Indian fable of the blind men and the elephant. The underlying wisdom of this fable calls us all, especially scientists, for humility and acceptance of a different opinion. Not all we know is the ultimate truth! Every fact drawn from a different lens, just like every part of the elephant, is a new and potentially missing part or expansion of ideas to advance science and society.
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RMAG’s 100th Anniversary Celebration On September 22, 130 RMAG members and guests gathered at the Denver Athletic Club to celebrate the organization’s 100th anniversary. Highlights of the evening included an exciting live auction, eighteen RMAG past presidents, a photo booth complete with hard hats and a rock hammer, a champagne toast and birthday cake. The event raised over $7000 for the organization. Thanks to everyone who came out to support RMAG and here’s to another century!
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LEFT: Back row: Jerry Cuzella, John Robinson, Larry Rasmussen, Tom Sperr, Ira Pasternack, Jim Rogers, Ben Burke, Steve Sonnenberg Middle row: Donna Anderson, Jim Mullarkey, Jane Estes-Jackson, Terri Olson, Debra Higley-Feldman, Jim Lowell, Marv Brittenham, Lou Bortz Front row: Dudley Bolyard, Susan Landon ABOVE: The 2022 RMAG Board of Directors. From left to right: Matt Bauer, Mark Millard, Ben Burke, Courtney Beck Antolik, Sandra Labrum, Ron Parker and Anna Phelps. Not pictured: Jeff May, Mike Tischer and Rob Diedrich. RIGHT: A lively auction hosted by Garnetfunkel (Mark Millard) and Simonite (Bridget Crowther).
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Review of the Powder River Basin Symposium Lakewood, Colorado, September 14th and 15th, 2022 By Lisa Wolff, Senior Geoscientist, Robert L. Bayless, Producer, LLC and Ronald L. Parker, Senior Geologist, Borehole Image Specialists, LLC The Powder River Basin Symposium was held at the Sheraton Denver West hotel on Sept 14 and 15 and it did not disappoint. The quality of the content and the cores shared with the attendees was exceptional. If you came into the symposium not knowing anything about the Powder River Basin, you left with a solid foundation of the targeted formations, lithofacies, ichnofauna, basin structure, and geochemistry. Simply stated, the PRB Symposium was a th
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th
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huge success. Day one started off with opening remarks about RMAG’s history and activity by Rob Diedrich. Jeff May kicked off the technical session with a presentation on the depositional processes and sequence stratigraphic framework of the Mowry Shale, highlighting that the middle Mowry has the highest TOC, Shc, and fracability. The second talk, by Alexa Socianu, also focused on the Mowry and showed how permeability and porosity of the Mowry is greatly influenced by maturity. Then we took a deep dive into the geochemistry of volatile compounds in the Mowry in the Wind River and Big Horn Basins with Christopher Smith and how they relate to the fluids contained in fractures present in the immature and early maturity Mowry. After a coffee break, we transitioned to the Wall Creek formation where Rich Gibson walked us through an explanation of how the deep basin accumulation is a structurally inverted stratigraphic trap. Then we moved to the Turner Sandstone (the eastern equivalent to the Wall Creek) and went through the challenges of correlating the Turner and Wall Creek and how paleo data is needed to sort this puzzle out. Catherine Donohue then took us through the Cretaceous Oils of the Niobrara and the Mowry and that rounded out the morning session. Following lunch that was sponsored by Rockies Resources, Jason Eleson gave us a basin wide activity summary showing us that 80% of the horizontal wells drilled last year were Niobrara B, Turner, and Parkman and that AFE costs have dropped by 23% in the basin. Clearly, the Powder is a great place to be! Rich Bottjer then took us through the stratigraphic architecture of the tight-oil hybrid Sussex Sandstone
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in the Hornbuckle-Spearhead trend. Rebekah Parks switched things up with a talk on machine learning to accelerate thin-section point counting of the Shannon Sandstone. Martin Quest from Core Labs then took us through low-resistivity/low-contrast pay in Upper Cretaceous tight oil reservoirs, describing how thin beds can throw petrophysical evaluations off and the warning us about the dangers of using default Archie parameters in this environment. Frank Morgan presented a regional overview of the horizontal Muddy Sandstone play. The Muddy will certainly garner more attention in the near future because, even though the Muddy has historically been targeted vertically, the horizontal results are very encouraging. To round out day 1, Jason Eleson presented the CCUS EOR project at Bell Creek where Denbury Resources began sequestering CO2 in the Muddy in 2012. Jason that detailed and accurate reservoir characterization is necessary for successful CO2 sequestration projects. Then it was on to networking with a happy hour that was sponsored by WRC Energy. A special thank you to our coffee break Vol. 71, No. 11 | www.rmag.org
sponsors that kept us going, the Denver Earth Resources Library (DERL) and the RMAG Foundation. The 2 day of the symposium consisted of a morning session of talks, most of which were built on describing the characteristics of individual cores. Morning talks were followed by a catered lunch with a Keynote Address and an afternoon session devoted nd
» CONTINUED ON PAGE 44
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POWDER RIVER BASIN SYMPOSIUM
» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 43
The group broke for lunch, once again sponsored by Rockies Resources, LLC. During our meal, we listened to the Keynote address by Keith Shanley. Keith took us on a deep dive into the multi-faceted complexities of acquiring, compiling and evaluating Thermal Maturity data. The resounding message of this excellent talk was that thermal maturity data must be thoroughly vetted to minimize uncertainties to assure the correct input to models and maps. The afternoon session moved into the expansive ballroom that was set up with an enormous footage of PRB cores. The extensive core display was surrounded by inquisitive RMAG members. The Powder River Basin Symposium and Core Workshop was a resounding success. Initially limited to 120 attendees, the total number was expanded to accommodate more people. Special thanks are due to the organizing committee (Peter Kubik and John Ladd), to the sponsors, and the individuals who submitted abstracts and gave presentations.
to inspecting PRB cores. Keith Shanley opened the morning session with a description of the Turner A and B in cores from the Powell 3670-4-T2XH and the Bridger State 3570-36-T1H. Dawn Hayes then gave a detailed walk through on the reservoir properties of the Turner Sandstone and the Niobrara from the JFW Fed 31-303970-1XTLH core. Dave Richey presented an analysis of the Turner 2nd and 3rd from the Stoddard Federal 1-H core. Robert Sterling then presented a talk comparing the Mowry in 2 cores on the western side of the PRB located ~90 miles apart. These wells are the Cirque Resources Educated Guess 11-1H (to the NW) and the Devon Ponderosa 215-1NH (to the SE). Rebecca Parks led the group through a discussion of the Shannon recovered from the Diamond Shamrock Anniemary #31-24 Federal in the southwestern PRB. The Day 2 morning session concluded with a talk by Alex Zumberge on the utility of a new technique for analyzing crushed rock samples.
WELCOME NEW RMAG MEMBERS!
Wayne Allen
Annabelle Cunningham
is Chief Development Officer at Hydroacoustics Inc. and lives in Littleton, Colorado.
is VP - Geoscience at Kimmeridge and lives in New York, New York.
lives in Rock Springs, Wyoming.
John Benton
Joseph Boreman
is Geologist and Business Development Manager at Ikon Science and lives in Denver, Colorado.
Jeffrey Bugbee
is a Principal Data Analyst at IHS-Markit and lives in Centennial, Colorado.
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lives in Houston, Texas.
Neal Dannemiller Chris Gardner
is a Sr. Geologist at Javelin Energy Partners and lives in Golden, Colorado.
Alina Kalfsbeek
is VP Subsurface and Growth at Own Resources and lives in Breckenridge, Colorado.
Douglas McLeod
is a Geologist at Petrogulf Corp and lives in Denver, Colorado.
Aaron Otteman
works at Camino Resources.
Meaghan Pascual is a student and lives in Cypress, Texas.
Jeffrey Rollins
is a Staff Geologist at Ninyo and Moore and lives in Lakewood, Colorado.
Chris Sutton
lives in Morrison, Colorado. 44
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RMAG Foundation Announces its 2022 Fundraising Drive
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The 2022 RMAG Foundation Fall Fundraising drive will start on Giving Tuesday, November 29. This year’s theme is “Let’s pave the way to the future of the geosciences…” The theme is appropriate to the mission of the Foundation since it was founded in 1975, as we encourage scholarship as well as public outreach. We will fund $40,000 over 10 different scholarships which will support diverse research in topics ranging from petrophysics and study of structural geology in the Rockies, and for support for undergraduates attending summer field camp at four Colorado colleges and universities, to name a few. Two of the scholarships do not require a focus on the Rocky Mountain region and can be applied to studies in any part of the world. For example, last year we funded research on outcrop reservoir analogues in Chile. A particular emphasis of this year’s campaign will be expanding the Cluff Scholarship endowment. The Foundation will be implementing a donation match program to triple contributions to the Cluff Scholarship! Historically, scholarships have been the most prominent way the Foundation supports the Geosciences. The Foundation also funds programs that reach out to the general public, such as Dinosaur Ridge, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Colorado K-12
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Science & Engineering Fair, to name a few. The programs help demonstrate the impact that the understanding of our physical world has on our lives. Although historically related, the Foundation receives no funding support from the RMAG. All of our resources are from generous donors (past and present) and returns on investments. Donations have been decreasing over the past several years and we ask that you consider the Foundation in your philanthropic plans. We particularly appeal to younger members of the community to become first time donors. All donations to the RMAG Foundation are tax deductible (consult your tax advisor). To learn more about the RMAG Foundation and ways you can give, please visit our website at www.RMAGFoundation.org or scan the QR code above to go directly to our PayPal page. Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn!
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WANTED: Colorado Rocks! RMAG’s Educational Outreach committee wants to create a collection of Colorado rocks that can be paired with the Colorado geological map. The committee will use these rocks as an educational tool to teach elementary, middle, and high school students about the geology of Colorado, geological processes, and Colorado mineral resources. While you are on your summer vacations to the many wonderful areas in Colorado, please consider picking up rocks for our collection. We ask you note where you collected the rocks and the formation name. ROCKD is a great app that uses your location and geological maps to “map” the formation under your feet. Keep in mind to collect rocks where it is allowed. Some examples of rocks from formations that we would love in our collection:
• Maroon • Leadville • Chinle • Green River
• Navajo/Nugget • Entrada • Lodore • Dakota
• Sawatch • Igneous and Metamorphic rocks • Wasatch • Volcanics (San Juan – Flat Tops)
When your rocks are ready, contact us at edoutreach@rmag.org Thank you! OUTCROP | November 2022
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CALENDAR – NOVEMBER 2022 SUNDAY
MONDAY
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1 RMAG Women’s Group Coffee.
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RMAG Luncheon.
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WOGA Virtual Lean-in Circle. WOGA Holiday Party.
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15 DWLS Luncheon. RMS-SEPM Luncheon.
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WOGA Technical Lunch Fireside Chat with Trisha Curtis.
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24 Thanksgiving Holiday.
Thanksgiving Holiday.
RMAG offices closed.
RMAG offices closed.
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