2017 Recap: CSEG – EPP

In 2017 the CSEG Emerging Professionals Program (CSEG – EPP) set course to bridge the knowledge gap between new graduates and industry professionals. Our goal is to help young professionals develop their soft and technical skills by offering workshops, networking sessions and volunteer events. Our success over the past few years has been possible thanks to the Geoscience Community from those who have offered their time and services to those who have participated in our events. As 2018 begins we would like to take a moment to look back at 2017.

In February, Amir Shamsa from Schlumberger offered a Petrel Velocity Modelling workshop. This workshop gave participants’ an understanding of how velocity models are built, quality controlled and corrected. Participants were introduced to different velocity modelling approaches, such as well and surface based velocity estimation and the nature and modelling of seismic velocities using Petrel. This workshop was followed by the Well to Seismic Correlation and Inversion of a Seismic Volume workshop offered by CGG’s Graham Carter in March. This session comprised hands-on application of well – seismic correlation and the inversion of a seismic volume. Attendees learned about the steps required for inversion, the significance of the inversion background model and the seismic wavelet, together with how to QC inversion results.

In April, the Speaker Effect workshop, delivered by Julie Truong, focused on public speaking. This full day interactive workshop helped participants build on different skills related to public speaking developed around areas of execution, content and design. In this workshop Julie touched on presenting technical material, as well as technical instruction. This workshop was followed by a technical lunch in May, held by Lianabel Selviz from Signature Seismic, which discussed all things related to deconvolution. Our final technical workshop for the year was given by Bob Wytsma and Akshay Gulati from Paradigm, an Emerson Company in November. The topic was Machine Learning for Automated Facies Classification which illustrated advances in Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based seismic facies classification systems. This workshop focused on waveform classification and rock type classification.

The CSEG – EPP recognizes the importance of building community amongst geoscientists, and therefore offers networking events in addition to technical workshops. The Junior Geophysics Forum in October was jointly organized by the CSEG – EPP and CSEG – F Mentorship Committee. This year the event was themed “The Future of Energy” featuring a diverse panel: Dr. Kris Innanen (Professor at the UofC), Amanda Hall (Geophysicist at CNRL), Craig Dunn (Geologist at Borealis), and Alisha Nayani (Analyst at RBC). Following the panel presentation attendees connected with established geophysicists keen to offer mentorship and guidance. As integration is necessary in geophysics, the CSEG – EPP also collaborated with our sister societies, in March for the Intersociety Networking Event with the SPE and AAPG, in May for the Intersociety Networking event with the SPE, AAPG and YPE, and finally in December for the Intersociety Holiday Event with the SPE and AAPG.

The CSEG – EPP also strongly believes in giving back to the community. This past year we have organized several volunteering events which allow our members to give back to the community. We regularly serve lunches and dinners at the Calgary Drop-Inn Centre. We also organized a Community Cleanup as an Earth Day initiative where volunteers came out to clean up the Edgemont Community.

2017 was a very eventful year, but we would not have been able to do it without the support of the Community. A special thank you to Brian Schulte, CSEG – EPP Advisor, for all of his hard work and dedication. Thank you to Schlumberger, CGG, Julie Truong, Signature Seismic, and Paradigm, an Emerson Company for providing training for our members! Thank you all for a wonderful 2017! We have many exciting events planned for 2018. You can join our group by emailing epp@cseg.ca or visit https://cseg.ca/resources/emerging-professionals-program.