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Geosciences Prof Wins National Award

April 17, 2015

Dr. Joseph Satterfield of the Angelo State University geosciences faculty has been selected to receive the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Foundation’s 2015 Professorial Award and will be honored at the AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition May 31-June 1 in Denver, Colo.

According to the AAPG Foundation website, the Professorial Award is given annually as an effort to encourage geoscience professors to stay current on industry trends and cutting-edge technology to share with their undergraduate and graduate students, further enhancing the field of geoscience research. Candidates for the award must be nominated by their students and then complete a competitive application process. Satterfield will receive $1,000 and a commemorative plaque at the AAPG convention. 

This is also just the latest award for Satterfield, who received the 2015 Distinguished Educator Award from the Southwest Section of AAPG at the organization’s annual convention April 13 in Wichita Falls. 

Dr. Joseph Satterfield Dr. Joseph Satterfield A professor of geology in the ASU Department of Physics and Geosciences, Satterfield works closely with colleagues Dr. James Ward and Dr. Heather Lehto in frequently leading groups of geosciences students on extended research field trips to geological sites throughout West Texas.  

“We are really in a prime location for doing field geology, which is what we emphasize,” Satterfield said. “We get students out to look at the oldest rocks in Texas in the Llano Uplift, as well as quite young volcanic rocks in the Big Bend region. Permian rocks on the eastern shelf of the Permian Basic are exposed in the Concho Valley. We are just a few hours away from geology that other schools may have to travel for 12 hours to see.” 

Satterfield is also co-leader, along with Ward, Lehto and Christine Purkiss of the teacher education faculty, of the “Pathways for Inspiring, Educating and Recruiting West Texans in the Geosciences,” or PIER, project. Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, the project is designed to interest local and area junior high and high school students, particularly Hispanics, in geosciences education and careers. 

Also at the Southwest Section AAPG convention, ASU junior Jacob Jarvis of Midland was awarded a $1,600 research grant for his project, “A Detailed Geologic Map and Cross-Sections of the Northern Sand Springs Range, Nevada.” Five other ASU students, Ross Kushnereit of Killeen, Josué Rodriguez of Lenorah, Darren Seidel of Sanderson, Laiza Vera-Lopez of Colorado City and Travis Williams of Boyd, also presented their research at the convention. 

AAPG is an international geological organization with offices in Washington, D.C., London, Dubai and Singapore, as well as in Bogotá, Colombia, and Lagos, Nigeria. It has nearly 100 affiliated societies all over the world, and its members include geologists, geophysicists, CEOs, managers, consultants, university faculty and over 8,000 students. More details are available at www.aapg.org/. More details on the AAPG Foundation are available at http://foundation.aapg.org/.