INTERVIEW
A geophysicist’s journey Ivan Pires de Vasconcelos has just begun working as an assistant professor of applied geoscience at Utrecht University. He tells us here about his career so far which has involved jobs with Schlumberger, University of Edinburgh (visiting industry fellow), and ION Geophysical. He completed a BSc in geophysics and physics at Universidade de São Paulo followed by a PhD at the Colorado School of Mines. needs, and focusing on top notch communication skills. This of course assumes that their scientific and technical skills are also at a high standard.
Ivan Pires de Vasconcelos.
Do you come from a science family background? No, I don’t. My father is a human resources consultant and my mother is a French teacher after retiring from nursing. What got you into geoscience? All I knew is that I liked physics, maths, natural sciences (biology, geology) and technology. I kind of gravitated from wanting to study physics to geophysics because of the prospect of an international industrial career. How hard was it to transfer from a university in Brazil to the Colorado School of Mines? Well, I didn’t transfer. I finished my Bachelors in Brazil, then pursued my PhD at Mines. The catalyst in that change was Prof Ilya Tsvankin at Mines. He invited me to finish my undergrad thesis with him at Mines, and after my time there, he and the Centre for Wave Phenomena (CWP) offered me the opportunity of doing my PhD there. I’m truly grateful to Ilya and CWP for that: it truly changed my life for the best. Did university life prepare you for your industry jobs with GX Technology and subsequently with ION Geophysical, and are there lessons for students? Yes it did. Firstly, my Bachelor education at USP had a strong focus on the basics of physics, maths, computing, geophysics; the foundations are essential. Then, the education at CWP: there they focus on keeping the science relevant to industry, along with being very thorough in written and oral communication to the highest standards. I think that is what students should keep in mind: how their education and science relates to real
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Including your later research work at Edinburgh University and the Schlumberger research centre in Cambridge, UK, which research projects and results are you most proud of? This is difficult to answer, because I tend to be very critical about my past work in general. But I guess that the overall framework of non-linear imaging and redatuming full wave fields in complex media is the highlight for me. This includes the work on gradient imaging, and Marchenko redatuming and imaging. I have been doing this in close collaboration with my colleagues at Edinburgh, Delft and ETH Zurich. From you perspective what are the most important research areas for geoscientists to pursue? I don’t think there is a straightforward answer to this question. In fact, I think it is a somewhat dangerous question that could potentially lead people away from good science that could lead to important discoveries that end up being relevant in some way. In the end, it is a personal search: every geoscientist should follow her/his gut as to what is an important question in their field of choice. It is probably fair to say there are important questions in every area of geoscience. My only recommendation to researchers starting out is to perhaps go for areas that are scientifically broad as opposed to chasing ones that cater to a restricted niche of people/interests. It’s early days, but how will you balance research and teaching obligations in your new position of assistant professor of applied geoscience at Utrecht University? That will definitely be a challenge: I don’t have an answer yet, because I have not started teaching! Maybe ask me again in 1-2 years’ time…. Do you think you will remain in academia? If so, what is the attraction? It is early days for me in academia, but I do hope to stay, if I can. The attraction is firstly,
the talent and enthusiasm of up and coming students: they are the ones fuelling new and growing science and the scientific community. The second attraction is the pursuit of a broader range of science topics, as I hope to still work on seismology, both exploration and global, but also on radar imaging for cryosphere and planetary studies, as well as some medical imaging. You have been very active in SEG education and communication affairs. What do you see as the value in this, and now you are only a few kilometres from EAGE’s HQ near Utrecht, will you be lending some support to EAGE initiatives? My experience with the SEG was not only personally rewarding, but I think it is important for most geoscientists to get involved in some level with professional societies, simply because they are made of scientists for scientists. I would love to get involved with EAGE. Do you feel comfortable encouraging students to pursue a career in the oil and gas industry in the current economic and social environment? This is also a personal choice every individual needs to make on their own. All I have to offer is my own (restricted) experience: I left the O&G industry because I wanted to focus on science and education, and because I wanted to pursue a broader range of scientific research, not because I felt there was no place for me in the industry anymore. Although times have been bad for the industry and many have been laid off, the O&G industry will continue to be one of the main employers for geoscientific talent for many years to come. However, the way some companies have treated professionals has been less than ideal in some cases (though definitely not in mine), and I wonder as a community what more we can do to support those affected by this, and to mitigate it in the future. I recently heard a very experienced industrial researcher say, ‘If you decide to work for industry, you must take in the good with the bad…’, that is not only a truth of industry but of any profession and employer.
EAGE NEWSLETTER STUDENTS ISSUE 2 2016