Academics

Geosciences team wins regional competition, advances to international finals

The Penn State Geosciences team won first place in the regional Imperial Barrel Award program and advanced to the finals. From left to right, are, Gabriella Arroyo, Jake Hagedorn, Nate Stevens, Tramond Baisden and Scott Karduck. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

A team of Penn State geosciences graduate students outperformed nine other university teams to win first place in the Eastern Section of the Imperial Barrel Award competition. As winners of the Eastern Region, the team will advance to compete in international finals at the American Association of Petroleum Engineers (AAPG) annual convention scheduled for May 29-30 in Denver.

The team, led by faculty adviser Elizabeth Hajek, assistant professor of geosciences, included Gabriella Arroyo, Tramond Baisden, Jake Hagedorn, Scott Karduck and Nate Stevens — all master’s degree students in geosciences.

Organized by AAPG, the Imperial Barrel Award Program pits university teams against each other in a rigorous exercise to assess the petroleum potential of a given geographic basin. Each team is given eight weeks to analyze a provided dataset and then recommend a “drill” or “no drill” plan for future exploration based on prevailing technical and economic conditions. The experience culminates with a 25-minute presentation to an industry panel, and the top performing team wins a scholarship for their school.

The five Penn State students will take on 11 international competitors including teams representing Africa, Asia and the Pacific islands, Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and five additional regional teams from the United States. 

Last Updated May 8, 2015

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