ESE MSc Course Director recognised as "Distinguished Educator" in petroleum geoscience

Professor Howard Johnson, the Director of the Petroleum Geoscience MSc course, has been awarded the 2012 Distinguished Educator Award by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG).

Professor Howard Johnson, the Director of the Petroleum Geoscience MSc course in the ESE Department, has been awarded the 2012 Distinguished Educator Award by the world's leading professional society for petroleum geosciences, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). The award recognises the sustained academic excellence of our Petroleum Geoscience MSc course, and Professor Johnson's role in training almost 1000 MSc students for geological careers in the oil industry in his role as Course Director over the last 18 years. The citation for the award (http://www.aapg.org/explorer/2012/02feb/spotlighton0212.cfm) highlights Professor Johnson's instrumental contribution to developing two key aspects of the MSc course, which help to bridge the gap between academia and industry for our graduates.

Firstly, the course contains two major team projects that mimic the way that industry geoscientists apply their technical knowledge in the exploration and production of oil and gas resources. The aim is that our students "learn through doing". The exploration-oriented Barrel Award project was the brainchild of Professor Johnson's predecessor, Professor Richard Selley, and involves student teams evaluating the hydrocarbon potential of a frontier basin using industry-standard data and software (and deadlines!). The project format has been adopted by the AAPG for their flagship student outreach event, the Imperial Barrel Award, which now involves over 100 teams from universities around the world. This year's MSc class in the ESE Department start the Barrel Award on 21st February, under the leadership of Dr. Chris Jackson, Professor Al Fraser and Professor Johnson.

Secondly, the Petroleum Geoscience MSc course is fully integrated with sister MSc courses in Petroleum Engineering and Petroleum Geophysics, most notably in the production-oriented Field Development Project undertaken by teams of geoscience, geophysics and engineering MSc students. Such close integration of technical disciplines lies at the heart of the modern oil industry, and the breadth of expertise in the ESE Department means that we are uniquely placed to provide similar cross-disciplinary education to our MSc students. Next year will be the centenary of this holistic ethos to petroleum-oriented science and engineering training in the ESE Department and its predecessors, with the founding of the pioneering Oil Technology course in 1913.

Perhaps the greatest testament to Professor Johnson's influence as an educator is the huge impact of Petroleum Geoscience MSc graduates in the global oil and gas industry, not just through the high quality of their technical work but also in their vision and drive to contribute more widely to their profession. Recent graduates have initiated and grown Young Professional arms of societies such as AAPG and the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain (PESGB), which reinvigorate their host organisations to the benefit of all. The engagement of our MSc graduates in their professional community is keenly encouraged and fostered by Professor Johnson's own example; they can have no better role model. The 2012 AAPG Distinguished Educator Award will be presented to Professor Johnson at the AAPG Annual Convention in Long Beach, California on Sunday 22nd April