Art Donovan
Art Donovan received his PhD at the Colorado School of Mines in 1984, where his dissertation research was one of the pioneering efforts to apply sequence stratigraphic concepts to outcrops and the shallow subsurface.
Upon graduation, he took a position with Exxon Production Research Company where had the opportunity to conduct and manage sequence and seismic stratigraphic studies from basins around the world, as well as conduct research and training for Exxon. In 2000, Art left ExxonMobil to work for BP. At BP, he served sequentially as 1) the Sed/Strat discipline lead, 2) a member of the Global Exploration Assurance Team, and 3) Senior Advisor for BP’s Global Unconventional Exploration/Appraisal Efforts. During his time at BP, he led their entry into the Eagle Ford Unconventional Play in South Texas, as well as well as their research activities on the coeval outcrops in West Texas.
During his career, Art has published numerous articles on the utilization of sequence stratigraphic concepts to explain and predict reservoir distributions, as well as taught sequence stratigraphic short courses, and field seminars, for GSA, AAPG, SEPM, & The Geological Society. After retiring from BP in 2016, Art became a full-time faculty member in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Texas A&M University (TAMU), after serving as an adjunct member of the faculty since 2008. His present research is focused on explaining and predicting the distribution, thickness, and effectiveness of conventional and unconventional reservoirs across their respective play fairways. At TAMU, Art is also the Director of the Unconventional Reservoirs Outcrop Characterization (UROC) Consortium, whose twin missions are to 1) train the next generation of geoscientists for the oil and gas industry and 2) bring the outcrop equivalents of key unconventional plays into the 21st century using modern petro-physical, chemo-stratigraphic, chrono-stratigraphic, and sequence stratigraphic techniques.
As one of the world’s foremost experts in sequence stratigraphy, Art brings a unique perspective to understanding how sea-level variations, climate change, and plate tectonics has impacted the earth over geologic time.
Upon graduation, he took a position with Exxon Production Research Company where had the opportunity to conduct and manage sequence and seismic stratigraphic studies from basins around the world, as well as conduct research and training for Exxon. In 2000, Art left ExxonMobil to work for BP. At BP, he served sequentially as 1) the Sed/Strat discipline lead, 2) a member of the Global Exploration Assurance Team, and 3) Senior Advisor for BP’s Global Unconventional Exploration/Appraisal Efforts. During his time at BP, he led their entry into the Eagle Ford Unconventional Play in South Texas, as well as well as their research activities on the coeval outcrops in West Texas.
During his career, Art has published numerous articles on the utilization of sequence stratigraphic concepts to explain and predict reservoir distributions, as well as taught sequence stratigraphic short courses, and field seminars, for GSA, AAPG, SEPM, & The Geological Society. After retiring from BP in 2016, Art became a full-time faculty member in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Texas A&M University (TAMU), after serving as an adjunct member of the faculty since 2008. His present research is focused on explaining and predicting the distribution, thickness, and effectiveness of conventional and unconventional reservoirs across their respective play fairways. At TAMU, Art is also the Director of the Unconventional Reservoirs Outcrop Characterization (UROC) Consortium, whose twin missions are to 1) train the next generation of geoscientists for the oil and gas industry and 2) bring the outcrop equivalents of key unconventional plays into the 21st century using modern petro-physical, chemo-stratigraphic, chrono-stratigraphic, and sequence stratigraphic techniques.
As one of the world’s foremost experts in sequence stratigraphy, Art brings a unique perspective to understanding how sea-level variations, climate change, and plate tectonics has impacted the earth over geologic time.
Art Donovan
Texas A&M