Geophysicist, Glass Nomad

Diana Khandilyan

Diana Khandilyan is a geophysicist with over 25 years of international professional experience working across diverse geological environments, subsurface systems, and energy-related disciplines. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Geophysics, an MBA from Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, and a degree in Clean Energy Engineering from NOVA University. Her technical background includes extensive work with carbonate and sedimentary systems, physical rock properties, and the applied interpretation of geological and geophysical data.

Diana has been actively engaged with SEG and IMAGE for more than 15 years, both as a conference participant and contributor. Over the past three years, she has served as a short course instructor, delivering professional education on energy efficiency, decarbonization, and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). This longstanding involvement provides her with a deep understanding of the IMAGE audience, conference culture, and expectations for technical rigor and educational value.

Her career has taken her across multiple regions worldwide, providing hands-on exposure to a wide range of rock types, basin architecture, and geological processes. This experience underpins her practical understanding of how mineral composition, structure, porosity, permeability, and thermal behavior influence real-world outcomes—expertise that forms the scientific foundation of her educational work.

Through her professional platforms Glass Nomad, Pour Across America, Diana develops and delivers educational programs that connect geology, terroir, and culture through wine as an applied Earth system. Glass Nomad is positioned as an educational platform rather than a lifestyle brand, using wine as a case study to translate complex Earth science concepts into accessible, analytically grounded learning experiences for professional and technical audiences. She is a certified WSET Level 3 wine professional.