Dr. Juan M. Sánchez, UT Vice President for Research, was presented with a framed Lidar-image poster of downtown Austin by Director Scott W. Tinker during the Friday morning seminar on November 30, 2001. The large, 2.5 x 5.25 ft image was produced by the Bureau's Coastal Group using its state-of-the-art Optech Airborne Laser Terrain Mapping system.11/30/01

Bureau Researcher Ramón Treviño presented "Stratigraphy, Structure, and Reservoir Characteristics of the Block 889 Area, Offshore Texas" to attendees of the Friday morning seminar on November 30, 2001. [Abstract] 11/27/01

A well-deserved promotion was bestowed upon Computer Illustrator Patricia Alfano to a packed audience at the Friday morning seminar on November 30, 2001. Pat's work has earned four awards since she returned to work at the Bureau in 1997. 11/30/01

The Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) recently announced 2002 medal and award recipients for research presented at the 2001 SEPM Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado. Three Bureau researchers were chosen to receive awards during the 2002 SEPM Annual Meeting scheduled for March 10-14, 2002, in Houston.

Bureau researchers Dr. Julia F. Stowell (Gale) and Dr. Stephen E. Laubach, together with Dr. Randall Marrett, Dr. Jon Olson, and Dr. Jon Holder, received one of two 2001 Honorable Mention Oral Presentation awards for their research titled “Understanding Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs.”

Dr. Stephen E. Laubach and Dr. Lesli J. Wood both received 2001 Honorable Mention Poster Presentation awards. Steve’s research is titled “Degradation Beyond the Emergent Threshold.” Lesli received the award for her study titled “Predicting Tidal-Bar Architecture within a Sequence Stratigraphic Framework: Examples from Ancient and Modern Systems.” 11/28/01

The Bureau’s Friday morning seminar speaker for November 16, 2001 was Chris Zahm, Ph.D. Candidate at the Colorado School of Mines. He presented “Deformation of Ductile Strata: Implications for Reservoir Compartmentalization in Foreland Structures.” [Abstract] 11/12/01

Senior Bureau Researcher Dr. Shirley P. Dutton gave a talk at the monthly meeting of the South Texas Geological Society on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2001, in San Antonio. The title of her presentation was "Reservoir Characterization of a Permian Deep-Water Sandstone, East Ford Field, Bell Canyon Formation, Delaware Basin, Texas." [Abstract] 11/13/01

Senior Research Scientist and Senior Technical Advisor Dr. Charles Kerans spoke at the weekly Bureau seminar on Thursday, November 8, 8:30. The title of his presentation was “Evolving Technologies and Opportunities in Carbonate Systems. [Abstract] 11/06/01

On November 8, 2001, Bureau geologists Eddie Collins and Sigrid Clift, together with Student Assistant Zach Rogers, visited two of the quarries owned and operated by the southwest division of Martin Marietta Materials located in New Braunfels and San Antonio. The group was hosted by Michelle Lee, a geologist and division Land and Resource Manager for the company, which produces aggregate and chemical lime from the Edwards Formation in these quarries. Michelle graciously permitted the Bureau to collect chert, limestone, and calcite for Bureau rock kits. [Photos] 11/14/01

The Geological Society of America (GSA) held its annual meeting in Boston on November 4–8, 2001. Bureau researchers
Dr. Alan Dutton, Dr. Shirley Dutton, and Dr. Tim Wawrzyniec attended the meeting and delivered presentations; Dr. Bridget Scanlon taught a well-attended short course. The current President of the GSA is Dr. Sharon Mosher, Professor in the UT Department of Geological Sciences. 11/14/01

The Bureau was highly visible at the 4th Joint AMGP/AAPG International Conference, Exploration and Development of Gas Plays, in Veracruz, Mexico, November 4–7, 2001. The meeting provided an excellent opportunity for the Bureau to roll out its latest research (conducted for PEMEX) on the Veracruz and Macuspana Basins that is now in the concluding phase. [more...] 11/09/01

Techniques for Quantifying Groundwater Recharge
A short course for hydrologists and advanced hydrology students

Senior Research Scientist Dr. Bridget R. Scanlon, together with Rick Healy of the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver, presented a short course titled "Techniques for Quantifying Groundwater Recharge" on November 4, 2001, at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Boston. This course reviewed the theories, assumptions, uncertainties, advantages, and limitations of different approaches for estimating recharge rates as well as the use of physical, tracer, and numerical modeling techniques based on data from surface water, unsaturated zone, and saturated zone studies.

For more information, contact Bridget Scanlon or Rick Healy; click here for meeting information. [PDF short course announcement] 08/22/01

The 2001 CAST (Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching) conference, held at the Austin Convention Center November 2–3, 2001, is an annual statewide conference for the Science Teachers Association of Texas that offers professional development opportunities to its 4,000+ members. The Bureau provided two short courses, a field trip to McKinney Falls State Park, and sessions with the Virtual Reality Lab. The Bureau also collaborated with UT’s Institute for Geophysics, Department of Geological Sciences, and Environmental Science Institute to provide an exhibit booth titled Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. [Photos] 11/12/01

3-D scan of Guadalupe Mountains outcrop east of El Paso, Texas

The Bureau, through its Reservoir Characterization Research Laboratory, is the new owner of an ILRIS 3-D ground-based Lidar scanner. This state-of-the-art tripod-mounted scanner will enable researchers to scan vertical targets such as outcrops with centimeter point spacing to produce 3-D grayscale and intensity images that will significantly enhance the speed and scope of outcrop studies. ILRIS 3-D surveys of deep-water carbonates of West Texas, paleokarst systems, and Cretaceous rudist reef facies, as well as outcrops in Spain and Chile, will be conducted in 2002.

The ILRIS scanner, together with the airborne ALTM Lidar scanner acquired in 2000, gives the Bureau the unique capability to acquire, process, and interpret both airborne and ground-based high-resolution Lidar data. ALTM and ILRIS 3-D are both products of Optech, a high-tech company specializing in manufacturing laser-based ranging and detection systems. Visit the Optech Website for detailed information about laser radar applications. 11/27/01

A paper co-written by Bureau Researchers
Dr. Jim Jennings and Jerry Lucia and presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference in New Orleans was selected as a highlight article for the November 2001 issue of the Journal of Petroleum Technology (JPT). The paper, titled “Predicting Permeability from Well Logs in Carbonates with a Link to Geology for Interwell Permeability Mapping,” was also chosen to be a “Best of SPE” paper for the March 2002 AAPG convention in Houston. 11/14/01

Senior Research Scientist Robert G. (Bob) Loucks received second place in the Thomas A. Philpott Excellence in Presentation Award for his poster session at the 2001 Annual Convention of the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies. The title of his session was "Modern Analogs for Paleocave Sediment Fills and Their Importance in Identifying Paleocave Reservoirs." 11/09/01

The DOE’s National Petroleum Technology Office has selected Bureau research to receive co-funding through the PUMP program, which is designed to assist independent oil and gas producers in the United States. Senior Research Scientist Dr. Shirley P. Dutton and Research Associate Dr. Eugene M. Kim will pursue “Play Analysis and Digital Portfolio of Major Oil Reservoirs in the Permian Basin: Application and Transfer of Advanced Geological and Engineering Technologies for Incremental Production Opportunities.” [Details] 10/31/01

Visiting Scientist Juan Guevara, from Petroleos de Venezuela, the state oil company of Venezuela, is working with the Fracture Research and Application Consortium on techniques for the characterization of fractured reservoirs and deeply buried siliciclastic reservoirs. Mr. Guevara will be at the Bureau until the middle of November. 10/31/01