A former graduate student working on a CMC-funded research project, Virginia Vera is the newest member of the exploration team at Apache Canada Ltd.
Vera started her position as a junior geophysicist at Apache in February and is currently training under her mentor, Apache senior geophysicist Greg Purdue. Vera accepted the position after working with Apache as a geophysicist on the Ojay seismic interpretation project in the Rocky Mountain Foothills area last summer.
“We had Virginia come in one summer and felt she was a bright student and would be a valuable addition to our staff”, says Purdue.
CMC experience was valuable
Vera reflects on her involvement with Carbon Management Canada (CMC) as a great opportunity that has enabled her to enter the workforce with a background in carbon management. She learned a lot in terms of geophysics and can apply this knowledge to the oil and gas industry.
“I understand that the project I have been a part of since I joined the University of Calgary couldn’t be possible without an organization like CMC and I hope future researchers have the same opportunities that I had,” says Vera.
Supervised by CMC Theme Lead Dr. Don Lawton, Vera worked on the secure carbon storage project,Storage Geophysics and Monitoring. The goal of the project is to monitor injection of CO2, determine if it’s possible to track the plume in the reservoir, and to monitor possible leaks from the storage reservoir. The research team is involved in seismic monitoring for several gigaton-scale CCS projects in Alberta.
“I applied to the University of Calgary and wanted to do something seismic related. I felt enthusiastic about Dr. Lawton’s project. I believe in it and want to be part of the solution,” says Vera.
Network facilitates collaboration
Vera is also enthusiastic about the CMC network. She says it facilitates research collaboration between professionals from diverse fields.
“CMC helped me to realize that we’re all part of the same community. I met a lot of people at last year’s conference and we are talking about meeting at the upcoming conference in May. We wouldn’t have thought to contact researchers at other institutions in Canada,” says Vera.
Vera will recommend CMC to other students and professionals.
“There is a girl who will be working with Dr. Lawton. I told her to choose CMC because the project was industry-related. I told her she will have a thesis she enjoys and will want to work on”, says Vera.
Vera is graduating this spring from the University of Calgary with a Master of Science in geophysics and has a Bachelor of Science in geophysical engineering from the Universidad Simon Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela.
About Apache Canada Ltd.
Apache Canada Ltd. is a Calgary-based, wholly owned subsidiary of Apache Corporation. Apache aims to grow a profitable global exploration and production company in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. Apache’s exploration and development activity in Canada is concentrated in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan. Apache supports the identification and development of cost-effective emission-reduction projects.
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