Robert Stewart

When asked why he decided to pursue a career in geophysics, Rob Stewart answered simply, “I loved the outdoors as a kid.” A simple sentiment that belies a true renaissance man who, in addition to being a well-respected geophysicist, also participates in archaeology, astronautics, and musical performances.

This University of Houston professor reminds everyone that science can be fun.

One of his greatest contributions to the industry is his insatiable curiosity. Stewart rarely gives a talk that does not veer into imaginings of what could be. The iPhone is a perfect example.

“In a sense, the iPhone is everything we’ve wanted in seismic for the last 20 years,” he said. “It’s three-component and has a microphone; it’s got big onboard processing ability, huge storage, communicates wirelessly, is GPS locatable; and it can order a pizza! What more could we want?”

Stewart currently is a professor of geophysics, Cullen Chair in Exploration Geophysics, and director of the Allied Geophysical Laboratory at the University of Houston. At the laboratory, his group is working on a number of things, including robotic measurements, laser-etched fracture models, 3-D vertical seismic profiling (VSP), time-lapse oil flows, and multicomponent seismic. This is similar to earlier work at the University of Calgary, where he headed up the Consortium for Research in Elastic Wave Exploration Seismology. He has given countless presentations, published hundreds of technical reports, and worked in or visited more than 75 countries.

Stewart graduated from the University of Toronto and has a Ph.D. in geophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to joining the University of Calgary, he worked for Chevron Oil Field Research Co., Arco Exploration and Production Research Center, Chevron Geosciences Co., and Veritas Software Ltd. He also is president of GENNIX Technology Corp., a geophysical consulting company.

Stewart’s current research focuses both on instrumentation and looking at new plays like shales and gas-saturated lakes in Africa. “We’re working on instrument design and sensors and trying to put all their data together with well logs, VSP, and the multicomponent surface seismic,” he said. “The integration and interpretation are tricky but essential to truly describe the subsurface. My target has been to transform our seismic results into something approaching the geologic content of a well log.”

Where he finds time to do this is a mystery since he also is involved in non-oil and gas geophysical projects such as using ground-penetrating radar to find dinosaur fossils and ancient ruins and running a test mission near the North Pole to perfect geophysical measuring systems that might be used on Mars someday.

“We try to communicate to students (and the public) that there are so many exciting things that are happening with geophysics,” he said. “I think the reason that some kids forgo the sciences is that they have the perception that science is hard, lonely, doesn’t pay well, and nobody knows what you’re doing. So we try to dispel all that – geoscience can be enormously fun and satisfying, you’re often with friends, it’s important, can have excellent salaries, and people can appreciate what you’re doing.”

He hopes that his main influence will be on future generations of scientists by encouraging them to explore ways that geophysics can provide prosperity and help the planet. “It’s great to study natural science,” he said. “Think of the big challenges we’re facing – natural hazards prediction, environmental remediation, greater energy use, further resource discovery and recovery – these are all wonderful geophysical problems. I think the future is exceptionally bright for geoscientists – all the way from energy to the environment to archaeology and beyond.”