Robert L. Bolin Graduate School of Petroleum Geology

Distinguished Professorships
Programs and Courses

Jonathan Price
Chair, Kimbell School of Geosciences

Andrew Katumwehe
Graduate Coordinator

Graduate Faculty:	Elsharafi, Katumwehe, Meddaugh, Price
Emeritus Faculty:	Dodge

The Master of Science with a major in Geosciences has two pathways for completion:

Five year path leading to a combined Bachelor of Science/Master of Science with a major in Geosciences. This path allows academically focused students to earn both the Bachelor of Science and the Master of Science Degree with a major in Geosciences in 5 years of full-time study. Students who are admitted to the combined degree path in the Geosciences may opt out in their fourth year and receive the Bachelor of Science degree provided that all requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree in the Geosciences have been satisfactorily completed. Candidates that do not complete both degrees before their eleventh long semester may be reverted to the B.S. program until completion of that degree. Reverted students will need to be reinstated to the graduate program to pursue the M.S.
A two-year, traditional Master of Science with a major in Geosciences for those with a Bachelor of Science degree in geology or related fields. Note that students with Bachelor of Science degree in fields other than geology may be admitted once course deficiencies are removed.

Admission Requirements

All applicants should have a satisfactory overall GPA of at least 3.00 and satisfactory scores on the GRE (e.g. Verbal ≥ 150; Quantitative ≥ 155). Three letters of recommendation by faculty members for admission to graduate studies are required. Students not meeting these requirements may be admitted on a conditional basis.

Students who wish to complete the combined degree (five-year path) must apply for admission to the Billie Doris McAda Graduate School and the Combined Bachelor of Science/Master of Science Degree with a major in Geosciences by the end of their junior year. One of these letters may be from faculty outside of the geosciences program. Students must complete all required academic core and non-GEOS program requirement courses prior to admission to the combined degree path. Students should have a satisfactory overall GPA of at least 3.00 and satisfactory scores on the GRE (e.g. Verbal ≥ 150; Quantitative ≥ 155). All applications are reviewed by the Admissions Committee of the Combined Bachelor of Science/Master of Science with a major in Geosciences and by the Dean of the Billie Doris McAda Graduate School. Students not meeting these requirements may be admitted on a conditional basis.

Completed applications will be distributed by the Geosciences Department Graduate Coordinator to the other members of the Geoscience Graduate Faculty for their consideration.

Applications for fall admission will be evaluated beginning March 1st. Should positions remain open after the March 1st evaluation, applications will be evaluated as received. Although applications received or completed after these deadlines will be considered, no guarantee can be made that processing will be finished in time for registration or that remaining positions will be available. Early applicants will receive first consideration for admission, competitive scholarships, out-of-state tuition waivers, as well as financial aid.

Degree Completion Requirements

The minimum degree requirements for both pathways are identical: 31 semester hours of approved courses including GEOS 6983 , GEOS 6993 , 4 semester hours of GEOS 6001 , and 21 semester hours of GEOS courses or other related courses approved by advisor (of which 6 semester hours may be approved 3000/4000 level courses taken for graduate credit). Graduate minors may be taken in conjunction with the M.S. with a major in geosciences, but the semester hours will not count towards both.

Thesis

Thesis must be of an appropriate length and depth detailing original research in an applicable subject area. The Master of Science thesis must be publically presented and “defended” before the Graduate Advisory Committee. It is anticipated that there would be several primary focus areas for graduate study. Based on current faculty areas of expertise, these foci include:

Petroleum geology
Igneous petrology and geochemistry
Sedimentology, stratigraphy, and paleontology
Environmental geosciences
Geophysics and tectonics

Distinguished Professorships

Prothro Distinguished Professorship of Geological Science

The Prothro Distinguished Professorship of Geological Science was established in 1986 to support the work and research of a professor in the Geosciences program.

In 2015, Dr. Jonathan D. Price was awarded this professorship in recognition of his teaching, research, and administrative efforts. Dr. Price’s research interests lie in high-temperature geochemistry and igneous petrology and their application to tectonism. He studies Earth processes that affect the development of continental crust, particularly those surrounding magmatism in extensional settings. These interests are applied to geologic problems both globally and regionally, including an emphasis on the processes that shaped north Texas and southern Oklahoma and the Texas Trans Pecos. As a course of his research, Dr. Price has fostered numerous undergraduate research endeavors; he has been annually involved in the UGROW summer research experience and has mentored several EURECA projects. The results of his research have been presented at national and international meetings and published in extensively-cited scientific journal articles.

Robert L. Bolin Distinguished Professorship of Petroleum Geology

The Robert L. Bolin Distinguished Professorship of Petroleum Geology was established in 2012 by Ms. Beverly Bolin to honor her husband, Mr. Robert L. Bolin. The professorship will be used to support the work and research of a professor in the field of Petroleum Geology.

Dr. W. Scott Meddaugh, the professor holding this position, is a recognized international expert in the fields of petroleum reservoir characterization, modeling, and forecasting. Dr. Meddaugh joined Midwestern State University in 2013. He has over 32 years of major oil company experience with Chevron and Gulf including many years of supervisory and technical project management experience, including international major capital projects. In 2012, he received a Chevron award for career Excellence in Reservoir Management. He has worked on major reservoir projects worldwide including projects in the Permian Basin, California, Louisiana, Texas, and Wyoming as well as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Argentina, Angola, Nigeria, the North Sea, Canada, and Australia. He has led numerous public and internal short courses in geostatistics, reservoir geomodeling, uncertainty analysis, and reservoir simulation. He received a PhD in geology from Harvard University in 1983.

Dr. Meddaugh is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), the European Association of Geologists and Engineers (EAGE), the Geological Society of America, and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. He serves as an Associate Editor of the peer-reviewed SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Evaluation Journal and is a technical editor for several other leading industry journals. In 2014, he received a Distinguished Technical Editor award for his work on another peer-reviewed SPE journal, the SPE Economics & Management Journal. He served on the program committees for the 2011 SPE Forum on Uncertainty Management and Risk Mitigation over Asset Lifecycles, the 2012 EAGE Innovation in Reservoir Modeling Conference: Integrating Data for Optimum Reservoir Management, and the 2014 Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Gussow Conference on Geomodeling. He has authored or co-authored over 30 peer reviewed and SPE technical papers on industry topics ranging from reservoir characterization and modeling to oil shale characterization; from soft rock to hard rock geology, as well as isotope geochemistry, and ore deposits. He has presented over 100 technical talks at AAPG, EAGE, and SPE national and international meetings and has chaired numerous technical sessions for AAPG, EAGE, and SPE conferences. In 2013, he was appointed to the Energy Sector, Critical Infrastructure Working Group of the Texas Office of Homeland Security. In 2014, he served as a preliminary judge for the earth sciences for the 2014 Jackson Hole Science Media Awards.

Programs and Courses

Programs

Major

Geosciences, M.S.

Courses

Geosciences

GEOS 4013, 4034, 4134, 4154, 4233, 4243, 4533, and 4534 are undergraduate courses which may be taken for graduate credit with permission (see Undergraduate Catalog for course descriptions). For additional information, see Graduate Credit for 3000-4000 Level Courses .