Abstract: “Quick-Look Deterministic Approach for Evaluating Shale Distribution in Sandstone Reservoirs”
James J. Willis, Ph.D.
Willis School of Applied Geoscience
St. Martinville, Louisiana
Bio: Richard Ball
James J. Willis received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Geology from the now University of Louisiana-Lafayette in 1989 and 1990, respectively, and his Ph.D. as a National Science Foundation fellow at Baylor University, Waco, Texas, in 1993, graduating with an overall university gpa of 4.0. From 1994-1996, he studied planetary tectonics as a NASA-funded postdoctoral fellow at Southern Methodist University. In 1996, he returned to UL-Lafayette, where he was awarded in 1997 the Hensarling-Chapman Endowed Professorship in Geology. He began independent consulting activities in 1991, and in 2001 he left academia for full-time consulting for clients ranging from one-man shops to supermajors. James has been an active researcher, receiving several million dollars in grants from federal, state, and industry sources, has presented numerous talks, and has published on a diversity of geoscience topics, including two best paper awards with GCAGS. He has been the GCAGS Publisher since 2006 and Managing Editor since 2011. In 2018, he founded the Willis School of Applied Geoscience, reformulating decades of industry training and networking to provide fast-track industry-ready training for graduate students at zero cost—he graduated his first student this past Spring. He is presently founding a new professional organization, the Association of Applied Geoscientists.
