Deepwater Sedimentary Systems : Science, Discovery, and Applications

Jon Rotzien is President of Basin Dynamics and Adjunct Professor at University of Houston. He specializes in reservoir presence and quality forecasting in conventional and unconventional drilling programs on all oil-producing continents. Prior to his present posts, he served BP and other supermajor and independent operators in a variety of basins and petroleum reservoir technical training programs. As a business owner and scientist, Rotzien has participated in oil and gas exploratory to development drilling, mapping expeditions, technical competency training and consulting and has served as lead geologist in about one-third of those ventures. He is currently serving as Chair of the Houston Explorers Club. Rotzien received a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from Stanford University and a B.A. degree in Geology from Colorado College.

Cindy A. Yeilding served as a leader and technical expert at bp for more than 35 years, most recently as Senior Vice President of BP America, prior to her retirement in 2020. In this role she held numerous positions, including Chair of the coordinating subcommittee of the U.S. National Petroleum Council’s Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage study, bp's Executive Sponsor for Princeton University and as Board Member and Executive Committee member of the Greater Houston Partnership. Previous roles in bp include Vice President, Exploration and Appraisal- Gulf of Mexico; Vice President- Global Basin Analysis and Global R&D Manager. As an exploration and research scientist, Cindy has developed and led geological courses, published technical papers, participated on panels and delivered numerous technical, leadership and keynote presentations for technical societies, universities and leadership.

Ms. Yeilding currently serves as the Board Chair of the Offshore Technology Conference and serves as a Director on the boards of Denbury Inc. and the Center for Houston’s Future. Ms. Yeilding has a Bachelors of Science degree in Geology from Southern Methodist University and a Masters of Science degree in Geology from the University of North Carolina. Additionally, Ms. Yeilding was a founding member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Women’s Committee and conceived of and initiated the Women’s Networking program (WISE) and the OTC High School Energy Challenge at the Offshore Technology Conference. Ms. Yeilding has been recognized as a leader and a scientist across the energy industry, including receiving the AAPG Pioneer Award and being recognized as one of Hart Energy’s “25 Most Influential Women in Energy” and the Houston Business Journal's "Women of Influence."

Richard A. Sears is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Energy Resources Engineering at Stanford University. He began his career as a geophysicist with Shell Oil Company in 1976. During his 33 years with Shell Oil Co. and Royal Dutch Shell, he held technical and managerial positions including exploration geophysicist, technical instructor, economist, strategic advisor and planner, and general management. He spent seven years as Vice President, Global Subsurface Deepwater Technical Services. He was Chief Scientist of the National Oil Spill Commission and is a co-author of the Commission’s Chief Counsel’s Report which details the technical and managerial failures leading to the Deepwater Horizon blowout and spill, and has served on several committees through the National Academy of Engineering, advising the US Government on safety in offshore energy operations. He received his BS in physics and MS in geophysics from Stanford University, is a licensed Professional Geoscientist, and is a National Associate of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

Dr. Hernández-Molina is currently Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL). He is a specialist in sedimentary processes, seismic stratigraphy and basin analysis, and is experienced in core description and sediment structures identification. His research focuses on deep-marine sedimentation and the influence of bottom-current circulation along continental margins as well as the study of contourites and hybrid depositional systems in both low latitude (e.g. Gulf of Cadiz) and high latitude (e.g. Antarctica). He has participated in 67 national and international research projects in marine geology and geophysics. He has worked on different continental margins, and has particular expertise on the continental margin of the Gulf of Cadiz, South Atlantic and Antarctica, where he has been involved in many oceanographic national and international cruises and research projects.

Octavian Catuneanu is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta, with PhD degrees from the University of Toronto and the University of Bucharest. He is the recipient of several distinctions in the field of Geology, including the W.W. Hutchison Medal of the Geological Association of Canada for exceptional advances in earth science research, and best paper awards from the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, the Geological Society of America, and the Romanian Academy of Sciences. Octavian Catuneanu served as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal of Marine and Petroleum Geology, Chair of the Task Group on Sequence Stratigraphy of the International Subcommission on Stratigraphic Classification, Chair of the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, and member of the editorial board of several journals in North America, Europe, and Africa. He is the editor of several books and special issues, author of numerous publications in the fields of sedimentology, stratigraphy, and basin analysis, and instructor of sequence stratigraphy and related disciplines for universities, conferences, and companies worldwide. The first edition of his “Principles of Sequence Stratigraphy” textbook (Elsevier, 2006) received the 2007 “Outstanding Academic Title” Choice Award from the American Library Association and remains a best-selling title.