Geology Ph.D. Student Wins First Place in Student Poster Competition at AAPG Convention


Poster Covered Study of Deepwater Petroleum Potential of Mexican Offshore Area in Western Gulf of Mexico

Jack Kenning, a second-year Ph.D. student in University of Houston’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, won first place in the student poster competition at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Annual Convention and Exhibition held in San Antonio, May 19-22. Kenning received $2,000 from the AAPG Foundation along with $750 given to the AAPG student organization in the EAS department.

Jack Kenning
Related Link – AAPG Explorer

Kenning's poster, entitled “Controls of Cenozoic Mass Transport Deposits on Hydrocarbon Prospectivity of the Mexican Ridges Fold-Belt, Western Gulf of Mexico,” presented a three-panel summary of a chapter of his Ph.D. dissertation that included his interpretation of seismic reflection and well data to predict the presence of hydrocarbon reservoirs in the offshore area of Mexico.

The study is timely due to recent hydrocarbon discoveries in this deepwater area of the western Gulf of Mexico. Subsurface data for his study were kindly provided by Spectrum and TGS.

The 15 posters in the student competition were selected by a panel of judges from over 100 student poster entries. First, second, third and fourth place awards were given.

The posters were scored by the judges based on the overall appearance of the poster, quality of data and interpretations, oral summary of the poster by the presenter, and responses of the presenter to questions posed by the judges.

At the 2018 AAPG Annual Convention, Kenning won a fourth place poster award for his poster entitled “Tectonic Controls on Along-strike Variations in the Bathymetry, Width, and Structural Style of the Mexican Ridges Deepwater, Fold-thrust belt, Western Gulf of Mexico.”

EAS graduate students have excelled in this AAPG Annual Meeting competition in 2013 (first, second and third places), 2014 (third and fourth places), 2015 (second place), 2016 (second and third places), and 2017 (first place).

List of UH Faculty and Student Oral and Poster Presentations at the 2019 AAPG Meeting

All Best Student Poster Award Winners