This month’s column has some good news, some sad news and two announcements asking for your help for members of the geophysical community and their families.
Congratulations to Dr. Steven Lynch for being awarded his Ph.D. That is quite an accomplishment!
On behalf of the RECORDER community I would like to extend our sympathies to the family, friends and co-workers of Diane Lynnes. After Diane’s memorial there is information on a fundraiser to help the family with medical bills.
Under Can you help… is another announcement about challenges that Paul Harvey’s family is facing. I know that any help would be greatly appreciated.
ON THE MOVE...
Mark Danyluk has returned to ConocoPhillips Canada after a 16 month posting at ConocoPhillips Norway. I really enjoyed my time away, and gained valuable experience working on some very interesting exploration licenses and participating in the Norwegian 20th licensing round. I’ve joined the Exploration Services group supporting our local asset teams with attribute analysis. I can be reached at 403- 233-5588 or by E-mail at Mark.A.Danyluk@Conoco Phillips.com.
Complete Exploration Services Ltd. officially opened its doors for business in September 2008. This collaboration of Brock Hassell, Ken Robinson and Cecelia Gowen was off to a running start with ongoing business from clients that have followed these three well known individuals and they have not looked back. Most of the staff that has worked with Brock over recent years followed him and makes up the current core of office and field staff (including the likes of Dr. Graham Millington (3D design) and Darrell Daniels (NE BC office).
Brock has spent thirty years managing permitting, approval and project management services, built a state of the art GIS mapping system and compiled some of the best personalities in our industry to help him do it. Brock is the Managing Director of CompleteXS.
Cecelia brings with her nearly twenty years experience managing government approvals and a loyal following of clients. The relationships Cecelia has cultured during her career are fundamental in proving her ability to secure approvals that help to get programs done on budget and on time. Cecelia manages mapping and approvals as a director of CompleteXS.
Ken Robinson’s technical expertise, his ability to tap into the most experienced industry personnel worldwide, and his hands on operational experience on six continents provides great depth to this company. Ken manages both domestic and international project management as a director of CompleteXS.
CompleteXS truly is “Innovation and Integrity working for you”. You can reach them by email at (first name)@completexs. com or by calling (403) 541-1010.
George Liszicasz, the President and CEO of NXT Energy Solutions Inc., is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Murray Christie as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Christie, reporting directly to Mr. Liszicasz, will assume overall responsibility for NXT’s operational, sales and marketing activities.
“This senior appointment demonstrates our confidence in NXT’s future,” said Mr. Liszicasz. “By separating strategic and operational responsibilities I will be better able to focus my time and energy on growth strategies and the continued development of our SFD technology.”
Mr. Christie’s career includes over 15 years of geological modeling and geophysical survey experience providing leading edge technology solutions to international and domestic oil and gas clients. He offers a track record of impressive revenue growth derived from launching technologies to the oil and gas sector. His personal attributes include strong management, sales, and technical capabilities. Mr. Christie’s previous roles include COO of Geomodeling Technology Corporation and Canadian President of Paradigm, a major international geosciences software and service provider. Mr. Christie holds a B.A. degree in economics.
“This is a really exciting time to be joining a company with a leading edge technology that has applications in the global marketplace,” said Murray Christie.
NXT is in the business of providing wide-area airborne exploration services to the oil and gas industry. The Company utilizes its proprietary SFD Survey System to offer its clients a unique service to rapidly identify sub-surface structures with reservoir potential in sedimentary basins with no environmental impact. The value of the service is providing clients with an efficient, cost effective method of surveying large tracts of land and delivering an inventory of SFD prospects with high potential.
CAN YOU HELP...
The D.L. Memorial concert featuring Lisa Nicole Grace and Shane Yellowbird will be held on March 6th, 2009 at the Bragg Creek Community Hall. Doors open at 7 pm. Tickets are $30. Concert tickets are available via email to Lorrie.Butt@dvn.com.There is also a silent auction being held from 7 – 9:15 pm (pay cash or cheque), so if you are interested in donating or know of anyone who would, please let Lorrie know and she can pass along the details. All proceeds from the silent auction will go towards medical bills. Please read the following from Diane’s family. The D.L. memorial concert is being put on to celebrate the life of Diane Lynnes. We would like to thank her family and friends for their devoted effort in providing her not only with the best care, but for improving the quality of her last year of life.
Here is our story:
In November 2007, Diane was diagnosed with stromal sarcoma of the uterus, a very aggressive and very rare form of cancer. Under the direction of the doctors at the Tom Baker cancer centre, she underwent surgery and chemotherapy. Although the treatments were initially successful, in September 2008 her cancer came out of remission and progressed very rapidly. With no more options available in Canada, Diane and her husband made the decision to fly to Switzerland to seek out further treatment. With no financial support, they made the trip to Switzerland and admitted Diane to the Paracelsus clinic, a naturopathic clinic. Although the clinic had success in treating this type of cancer, by the time they arrived in Switzerland her cancer had progressed too rapidly and she was unable to undergo many of the treatments. Within a week she was admitted to the Swiss hospital. With her health rapidly decreasing, the decision was made that she needed to be with her family for the last few days of her life. Due to her condition, Diane could not fly home on a commercial flight, so with obvious time constraints there were few options left. David spent many long hours trying to find her a way home. After overcoming many barriers, Diane had a flight booked with an air ambulance company. Her flight touched down in Calgary on December 8th, 2008. After all of the effort of those close to her and especially to the devoted work and attention of her husband, Diane was able to see her family one last time. She passed away peacefully with her entire family in the room on December 13th, 2008.
So thank you, thank you Diane for touching so many lives and loving us all unconditionally. Thank you to all her friends and family for making Diane’s life so full of life and love. And thank you to David for sharing your life with Diane and giving her 100% of your time, effort and love to make sure that no treatment options were overlooked.
I received this through Michael Enachescu the Director of Communications for the CSEG. CS
A few members of the CSEG and I, want to let you know about a friend and colleague who is facing a very serious family challenge and needs the support of the community. The friend I refer to is Paul Harvey, Senior Petroleum Geophysicist of the Nova Scotia Department of Energy. To many of us working in the oil and gas business Paul Harvey has been a go-to guy on numerous issues that affect our business, and has always been receptive and helpful with a ready smile and a willingness to do whatever he can to assist. This he has done for more than 25 years and continues to do so today. One of the very important accomplishments in Paul’s resume is that he co-authored a paper that outlined the potential he saw for the Deep Panuke “reef-like play”, several years before it was drilled. It is this kind of dedication and foresight by hardworking people like Paul and others from both Industry and Government that really make a difference to the economy of East Coast.
The challenge he and his wife face is that their son has a medical problem for which the treatment will cost $8600CDN per month for an expected 6 to 8 months (at least). Paul and his wife are ordinary hardworking folks like most of us. They have already spent a great deal of their life savings in a search across North America for someone who can help their son Donald. For information on the challenge they face please access this website: http://www.harveytrust.org/
MEMBER UPDATE...
Dr. Steven Lynch receives his PhD from the University of Calgary
In November of 2008, after five years of study, I was granted my PhD from the University of Calgary. I realized, as I walked off the stage after receiving my degree, that the steps I was taking were the final steps along a path that had begun 30 years before. The path began in January 1978 when I sustained a serious head injury in a soccer game. For the next thirteen years, its misdiagnosed consequences would plunge me into a nightmare of chronic pain, permanent migraine and mental illness. When I finally started on the long path to recovery in January 1991, I had lost virtually everything that made me who I was. I lost my personality, my intellect, my career and was in danger of loosing all of the other things in life that made life worthwhile. I decided that I would never be satisfied and that I would never rest until I got them all back. That single goal has driven me ever since.
I conceived of the idea of working towards my PhD because I realized that to finally succeed in my goal, I would have to challenge myself beyond anything I had ever done. By the time I first thought of it, I knew that I had come a long way back. I also knew, however, that there was still a very long way to go. Of the things that had come back, most of them had come back by default and I knew that I would have to earn the rest. Over the years I have given many reasons for why, at the age of fifty, I returned to University but the truth is very simple; I went back because it was simply the hardest thing I could think of to do at the time. I intended to use it to push myself harder and farther than I envisaged was possible and only when I did, did I find the things I was looking for.
Motivation not withstanding, beginning a PhD at any age is not for the faint of heart and completing it would not have been possible if not for the tremendous support that I received at home from my family and at the office from Divestco. When I first conceived of the idea in 2002, it seemed almost surreal and if anyone had pointed me back towards reality I think I would never have started. Three people in particular, Peter Ciavarella, Stephen Popadynetz and Mat Hepton, had the opportunity to do just that. If any of them had taken a short term view or if any of them had placed road blocks in my way, then success would have been beyond anyone. They did not though and from the first moment that I discussed this with Peter in the fall of 2002, I received nothing but unqualified support not just from the three people I mentioned but from Divestco in general.
I want to take this opportunity to express my most sincere and heartfelt appreciation first to my wife Jan who was my only friend for so many years and second to Peter, Stephen, Mat and to Divestco. I would never have succeeded without your support over the past five years and I will be forever in your debt.
Dr. Lynch’s thesis is titled “More than Meets the Eye: A Study in Seismic Visualization”. It can be downloaded from www.crewes.org/ResearchLinks/GraduateTheses/theses.php?year=2008. Steve can be reached at steve.lynch@ divestco.com, 403.537.9894.
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