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Director and State Geologist
New Mexico Bureau of Mines & Mineral Resources
New Mexico Tech
801 Leroy Place
Socorro NM 87801-4796
(575) 835-5302
(575) 835-6333 fax
email

Born: Sept. 1944, New York, N.Y

Family: married (Dana Ulmer-Scholle); three children

Education:

• Yale University, 1961-1965; B.S. in Geology, 1965. Honors thesis research involved mapping of a portion of the Southbury Quadrangle, CT — a high-grade metamorphic area.
• University of Munich (Germany) 1965-1966; DAAD-Fulbright Fellowship. Studied European regional sedimentology and worked on potential thesis projects including Solnhofen limestone diagenesis.
• University of Texas at Austin, 1966-1967. Coursework with Bob Folk and Hoover Mackin.
• Princeton University, 1967-1970; M.S. in Geology, 1969; Ph.D. in Geology, 1970. Ph.D. dissertation examined deep-water Cretaceous carbonate turbidites in the northern Apennine Mountains of Italy, with comparisons to sections in Austria and coastal Spain. .

Employment History:

• Cities Service Oil Co. Research Lab, 1970-1971
  • Conducted applied research projects on chalk diagenesis and hydrocarbon potential of chalk reservoirs in the North Sea and more general studies on porosity evolution of carbonate rocks in a variety of environmental settings; conducted carbonate training schools (field and laboratory) for regional operations personnel
• University of Texas at Dallas, Assistant Professor, 1971-1974
  • Taught a variety of courses in sedimentology, stratigraphy and regional geology; conducted research on grain size analysis of clastic strata, magnetic fabrics of sediments, quartz-grain surface textures, deeper-water carbonates (including chalks), and other topics.
• U.S. Geological Survey (Reston, VA), 1974-1977
  • Project leader for analysis of COST-wells (stratigraphic/exploration test wells)on the U. S. Atlantic continental margin; Project leader for research on chalks of the Western Interior and Gulf Coast; ran training courses in carbonate sedimentology for USGS personnel
• U.S. Geological Survey (Denver, CO), 1977-1983 (including 1.5 years as Deputy Branch Chief and 3 years as Chief of the Branch of Oil and Gas Resources)
  • Management and supervisory responsibility for USGS hydrocarbons research and resource evaluation efforts. First line supervisor and finacial responsibility for more than 220 employees in 17 cities across the United States.
• Gulf Resarch Co. (Houston), Chief Scientist for Carbonates, 1983-1985
  • Managed a group of about 25-30 scientists engaged in research in carbonate sedimentology and organic geochemistry.
• Southern Methodist University, Albritton Professor of Geology, 1985-1999
  • Academic activities included teaching sedimentology, oceanography, and environmental science classes as well as social-issues seminars in environmental problems. Research focused mainly on Permian carbonates and evaporites of the world as well as deeper-water carbonates.
• New Mexico Bureau of Mines & Mineral Resources, Director & State Geologist, 1999-present
  • Manage a group of about 65 scientists and support staff engaged in mineral, fuels and water resource investigations, geologic mapping, and data dissemination activities. Serve as State Geologist of New Mexico, act as representative on various state mining and water commissions and on the Cabinet of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech). Additionally, I have an adjunct faculty position in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at New Mexico Tech

Fellowships, Honors and Awards:

• Belknap Prize and High Honors in Geology, Yale 1965
• Fulbright, D.A.A.D. and Bavarian Government Fellowships, 1965-66
• National Defense Education Act Fellowships, 1966-70
• AAPG Distinguished Lecturer, 1975-76
• Best Paper Award, South Texas Geological Society, 1975-76
• AAPG Continuing Education Series Lecturer, 1976
• AAPG President's Award (Best Special Publication), 1980
• AAPG Certificate of Merit, 1978
• AAPG Sproule Memorial Award (Best Paper Award), 1979
• AAPG President's Award (Best Special Publication), 1981
• Permian Basin Section SEPM Best Paper Award, 1984-85
• SEPM Excellence of Oral Presentation Award (with R. Halley), 1985
• Honorable mention SEPM Excellence of Oral Present., (w/ L. Melim) 1990
• Visiting Erskine Fellowship - University of Canterbury, Christchurch, N.Z., 1991
• SEPM Best Poster Presentation Award (with Dana S. Ulmer), 1992
• SEPM Honorary Membership, 1995
• West Texas Geological Soc. Best Paper Award 2003
• AAPG Dott Award (best special publication) 2005

Professional Organization Memberships and Service:

• SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology) (Chairman, Research Committee, Twenhofel Medal Committee, Goals and Strategies Committee; Nominations Committee; Associate Editor, 1980-1984; Vice-President, 1983-84; National President , 1988-89; Special Publications Editor, 1993-97)
• Geological Society of America, Fellow
• American Association of Petroleum Geologists (Distinguished Lecture Committee, Research Committee, Associate Editor 1983-1989)
• West Texas Geological Society
• Association of American State Geologists (Treasurer, 2002-04; President-Elect, 2004-05; President, 2005-06)
• New Mexico Geological Society
• International Association of Sedimentologists (Associate Editor, 1987-1990)
• National Science Foundation, Advisory Committee for Earth Sciences (1985-88)

University Courses Taught:

• Graduate-level stratigraphy and sedimentology
• Graduate seminars in sedimentology and stratigraphy
• Carbonate sedimentology (graduate and undergraduduate level)
• Sedimentary petrography/carbonate petrography
• Freshman Seminar: Global Environmental Problems
• Senior Discussion classes in Global Environmental Problems
• Field Studies: Caribbean Geology and Reef Ecology — held in diffferent years in Bahamas, Florida, Barbados and Cayman Islands
• Introduction to environmental science
• Introduction to oceanography
• Regional Geology of the U.S. and Europe
• Current Course: Oceanography (Geology/Geophysics 120)

Selected Student Projects:

• Asahiko Taira (Ph.D.) - studies on grain orientation, magnetic fabrics, and grain-size relations in sandstones
• Kelton Cloud (M.S.) - thesis on the Cretaceous Austin chalk in Texas
• David Hoyt (M.S.) - stratigraphic studies in the middle Paleozoic of Nevada
• Eduardo Aguayo (Ph.D.) - studies of the Cretaceous reef complex in Mexico
• Terry Thonen (M.S.) - physical and isotopic stratigraphy of the San Andres Formation, southern Algerita Escarpment, New Mexico
• E. (Gene) Colgan (M.S.) - physical and isotopic stratigraphy of the San Andres Formation, southern Algerita Escarpment, New Mexico
• Leslie Melim (Ph.D.) - studies of dolomitization patterns and controls in the Capitan Fm. of the Guadalupe Mtns.
• Mike Shields (Ph.D.) - studies of Late Devonian carbonates in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta
• Jolanta Bednarczyk (Ph.D.) - studies in the Devonian of the Holy Cross Mtns, Poland

Special Meetings Organized:

• GSA Symposium on Indicators of Thermal Maturation, (1976)
• SEPM Research Conference on Stable Isotopes in Sedimentary Geology (1981) with M. Arthur and R. Halley
• SEPM Research Conference on Spar Cements and Secondary Porosity (1985) with L. Land and M. Harris
• Sessions on Pelagic Carbonates at AAPG and European Geophysical Society Meetings (1980's)
• AAPG Research Conference on Secular Variations in World Oceans (1987) with M. Arthur and T. Loutitt
• SEPM Research Symposium on Marine Diagenesis (1999) with Noel P. James and Craig Glenn

Publications:

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