Learning
Geology students, faculty attend conference, gain field experience
A group of Muskingum University students and their faculty had a busy autumn, first attending the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Eastern Section meeting in Lexington, Kentucky and then gaining some valuable field experience.
Attending the AAPG conference were Chase Lash, a junior Petroleum Geology major from Canal Fulton; Dustn Bennett, a junior Petroleum Geology and Political Science major from Byesville; Landis Bates, a junior petroleum geology and environmental science major from Mantua; Ryan Lewton, a junior petroleum geology major from Martins Ferry; Michael Kennedy, a junior geology and petroleum geology major from Wooster; Ian McGougan, a sophomore petroleum geology major from Pickerington; and Kayla Maze, a junior petroleum geology major from Belpre.
Accompanying them were Associate Professor of Geology Dr. Eric Law and Associate Professor of Geology Dr. Stephen Van Horn.
In addition to the group’s attendance, Bates, McGougan, Gerdau and Dr. Law made a poster presentation titled The Formation of Diagenetic Trap in the Squirrel Sandstone.
Founded in 1917, the AAPG is considered one of the cornerstone organizations in the field of geology, with offices in London, Dubai, Singapore, Bogotá, Lagos and Washington, DC. It has more than 40,000 members worldwide, including 8,000 students.
Back in Ohio, a group of from Muskingum joined some of their peers from Kent State University to go on a field tour of oil and gas producing sites in southeastern Ohio. The tour was conducted by 1980 Muskingum alumnus David R. Hill, who is president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association and the second generation of his family to run David R. Hill, Incorporated, an oil and gas exploration company based in Byesville.
The tour included PDC Energy’s Utica Shale production pad near Senecaville, a visit to a Clinton Sandstone well and concluded at a Class 2 injection well.
Taking that experience from the group that traveled to Kentucky were Bennett, Bates, Lash and Kennedy. Joining them were fellow Muskingum students Kole Smith, a sophomore petroleum geology from Powhatan Point; Nathan Paddock, a first year from Middletown; and Kyle Gannon, a sophomore petroleum geology major from Pataskala. They were accompanied by Dr. Van Horn.
