Thomas Cronin
I grew up in Knoxville, and really appreciated the natural environment of the area – the lakes, mountains and other outdoor areas made it a great place to live. I enrolled at UT, uncertain of a major, but leaning toward a science. In my second year, on a whim, I took several Geology classes and was hooked. I specifically remember Dr. McSween’s Petrology class and Dr. Misra’s Economic Geology class as two very influential ‘capstone’ courses that helped me to integrate many geologic concepts.
After earning a B.A., I continued into the M.S. program. My thesis investigated the petrology and geochemistry of chromite mineralization in metamorphosed ultramafic rocks in North Carolina. I gained an appreciation for the value of a multi-pronged approach to a project, using geochemical, petrographic and structural approaches towards my thesis problem.
I spent 34 years working in the energy (oil & gas) industry, enjoying a wide range of assignments for Gulf, Amoco, Burlington Resources and BP. Most of my projects involved detailed field development, reservoir delineation, production challenges, prospect generation, risk assessment, geologic operations, and 3D modeling. Other projects were more regionally focused.
I was fortunate to work on and travel to projects around the world, including Gulf of Mexico, Trinidad, SE Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh & China), and parts of onshore U.S. My favorite assignment lasted 16 years, where I was primarily involved with the planning and drilling of 125+ wells in the Arkoma, Anadarko, and East Texas basins. The opportunity to work with and mentor several dozen new hires were highlights of that post. I thoroughly enjoyed working on multidisciplinary teams with reservoir engineers, land negotiators, economists and drilling/completion engineers.
Now I’m involved in many ‘Volunteer’ projects in the Houston area and beyond. One I’ve really enjoyed is working with local elementary and secondary school teachers to get access to Earth Science teaching materials. I also continue working with both AAPG’s Grants-In-Aid committee and the Critical Minerals Committee, as well as serving on the board of a local private high school and the Houston Chapter of the UT Alumni Association. Most of my time though, is spent with the Houston Food Bank and a neighborhood food pantry helping to deal with food insecurity issues for fellow Houstonians.
Dr. Dave L Cantrell
Although a native of central Tennessee, my path has taken me to many different parts of the world – first to Texas for 15 years, then to the Middle East for 20 years, and from there to many different destinations around the globe – and all in all, it’s been a great adventure.
My original ambition in life was to be Indiana Jones, and while I didn’t have all the adventures he did, I’ve been privileged to enjoy a career that’s been exceptionally rewarding – it not only allowed me to work in and travel to some really interesting and exotic locations, but has also allowed me to make some very real contributions to developing a better understanding of some of the most significant hydrocarbon accumulations in the world. These have primarily been large carbonate oil and gas fields around the world, but especially in Saudi Arabia.
I first discovered the “joy of carbonates” while doing an MS degree at UT under Ken Walker, and the pursuit of these most interesting of rocks and sediments has in many ways guided my steps and shaped my career for the next 35 years. I started my career as a research and production geologist at Exxon, where I conducted reservoir characterization and geological modeling studies on reservoirs in the Middle East; the Permian, Powder River, Williston, and Gulf of Mexico Basins of the USA; and the Maracaibo and Barinas Basins of Venezuela – among others.
After 15 years with Exxon, I accepted a position with the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), and worked and lived in Saudi Arabia for the next 20 years. There, I conducted studies on several large carbonate fields (and I do mean large – one of these was Ghawar field, the largest oil field in the world), and led geologic R&D for Saudi Aramco for 8 years of my tenure there. During this time, I was also able to complete a PhD at the University of Manchester (UK), which I found to be a totally enjoyable experience. Toward the end of my time with Saudi Aramco, I took a detour into academia, and served as a professor and Associate Director for a new college that had been sponsored by Saudi Aramco, the College of Petroleum Engineering & Geosciences at King Fahd Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM). There, I found that I really enjoyed working with and mentoring young people in the art and science of geological reservoir characterization, modeling and prediction.
After officially retiring in mid-2017, I returned to the US and started a small consulting company, and have conducted training and mentoring sessions for industry professionals and for students at Stanford University. Even though I’ve retired, the “Indiana Cantrell” adventure continues!
Jake Alexander
I grew up on North Padre Island outside Corpus Christi, Texas which inspired my first passions of earth science – coastal geomorphology and sequence stratigraphy. I attended undergrad at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi where my BS thesis characterized core geophysically and geochemically to correlate hypoxia in the water column with anthropomorphic effects. During my undergraduate studies, I attended Southern Illinois University’s field camp in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming where I made friends with a few good-natured Vols. With their help, I got in contact with Linda Kah who invited me to join her lab group. My Master’s thesis combined stratigraphy, facies analysis, field work, statistics, geochemistry and petrography – “Patterns within centimeter-scale bedding in carbonate rocks in the Archean Transvaal Supergroup, South Africa. I served as the Geology Club’s Alumni Relations Officer to the EPSAB during my second year.
During my time in TN, I had the good fortune to attend an ExxonMobil short course in Athens, GA which ultimately earned me a summer internship as a Geoscientist at their HQ in Spring, TX in 2019. After defending my MS thesis I took another internship as a Field Geologist with LithiumAmericas in which we explored the West for sedimentary lithium deposits based out of Reno, NV. Currently I am working as a Staff Geologist for Burgex Mining Consultants based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. My focus is exploration for minerals across the spectrum of economic geology including gold, silver, copper, battery metals, phosphate, and aggregate. I also perform Land Management to draft, stake, file, and maintain Federal Mining Claims. In my current position I utilize GIS software (ArcGIS/QGIS), sUAS, Exyn Pak (LIDAR), Micromine (3D modelling), and FieldMove/Avenza to gather data and explore for resources.Outside of work I enjoy spending time skiing with my partner Morgan and hiking with our blue-heeler Mississippi (Missy). I enjoy reading non-fiction and science-fiction.
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