Through the Eyes of a Student

After a short hiatus for final exams and the summer break, I am back at the keyboard. I hope you enjoyed the guest columns that were submitted in my absence. A lot has happened in that time and I am really excited to tell you all about it. So much has happened in fact, that this column is going to be a two part series.

A few months ago I was asked by my friend and mentor, Luc Gravel, if I would like to do some job shadowing at his processing company, Earth Signal. As you can probably tell from my previous columns, I strongly believe in learning “the tricks of the trade”, so needless to say I was eager to accept his offer. I felt that the things I would learn in a real world setting would only strengthen the fundamental theories taught in class. After a few phone calls and a bit of pleading, I was able to secure some data to work on from my mentor Kelly Hrabi. The idea was to familiarize myself with the steps involved in processing a 2D line and gain experience using the required filters for processing data.

With all of the details sorted out and a few days off for Reading Break, my training began. I was paired up with a young processor named Erin Corrigan so we could get started inputting the geometry parameters based on the field records and setting up the data for first-break picks. Once we completed the setup and QC it was time to start picking. Erin showed me how to run the software and let me loose. Given that this was a four day crash course in seismic processing I really feel that I was given an opportunity to see how “the real world” operates.

Once my final exams were complete, I immediately began my summer internship at TAQA. After spending time there last summer, it was really nice to see the old gang and I was eager to get started on my project. I was paired up with the Chief Geophysicist at TAQA, Peter MacGillivray. The goal for the summer was to use inversion techniques in an attempt to correlate impedance values with production. My first week began with a rather large stack of papers regarding inversion being dropped on my desk and was followed with a number of lectures which were offered at the Geoconvention. Once again there were no breaks for the summer student, but what better way to learn! Stay tuned next month where I will get into the details of the unique opportunity I have been given at TAQA.

I would like to thank Luc Gravel, Erin Corrigan and all of the people at Earth Signal for allowing me the opportunity to broaden my horizons. Your dedication to the betterment of the student population is greatly appreciated.