In 2015 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 2019 begins we would like to take a moment to look back at the past. The CSEG – EPP committee began with strong leadership led by co-chairs Stephen Kotkas and Daniel Loas. Following in their footsteps was Jeffrey Calvert (Chair – 2016), Hassan Odhwani (Chair – 2016/2018) and Elizabeth Ramsey (Chair – 2018). We would like to thank each one of them for their hard work, time and commitment. We would also like to thank Brian Schulte (past advisor), and Stephen Kotkas and Wendell Pardasie (current advisors). Without these individuals the Committee would not be where it is today. There are many others that we would like to thank but have not named, you know who you are, and we apologize for not naming everyone!
In 2018, we held a variety of technical events. Starting with the Introduction to Depth Migration course taught by Sam Gray in March. This course helped participants gain a better understanding of depth migrating. In April, Nawras Al-Khateb from Schlumberger offered a Petrel Fundamentals course which covered the basics of Petrel. This was followed by the two-day customized Petrel Geophysics workshop in June. Taught by Amir Shamsa (Schlumberger), the course covered a variety of more advanced geophysics topics such as neural networks, velocity modeling, etc. More recently – in November, Alexandria Shrake gave a very informative talk on Canadian Energy. Alex highlighted the relevant issues with the Canadian Energy industry and presented data that she and her team at ENERGYminute compiled. She reminded us that it is important to ask questions and to stay informed!
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 – FMentorship Committee. This year’s event format flipped the script on its participants, who were transformed from event attendees to idea-sharers. Four topics of discussion were decided upon by the JGF planning committee – New Data Tools, Canadian Energy Policy, The Future of Work, and Economic Value in Geophysics. JGF participants were then split into smaller groups to discuss their topic of interest. The smaller group interaction overflowed with discussion points, challenges to be addressed, and unique solutions to many of the problems facing our industry today. Following the topic discussions 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 December for the 4th Annual Inter-Society Young Professional Holiday Social with the SPE, YPE, YPAC, WPC, CSPG 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-In Centre. We also organized a Community Cleanup as an Earth Day initiative where volunteers came out to clean Prince’s Island Park. After the clean-up, volunteers met up at the Garage for a brief presentation and networking. The presentation was given by David Robinson (Clean Harbors) on acquisition foot print and how design and technologies have changed over the past 30 years to limit the impact on the environment.
2018 was a very eventful year, but we would not have been able to do it without the support of the Community – a special thanks to Sam Gray, Schlumberger – Nawras Al-Khateb and Amir Shamsa, Alexandria Shrake, and David Robinson. Thank you all for a wonderful 2018! We have many exciting events planned for 2019. For more information on our committee or to join our mailing list please go to: https://cseg.ca/resources/emerging-professionals-program. You can also follow us on LinkedIn – CSEG Emerging Professionals Program (EPP) and on Instagram – cseg.epp !
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