Steve’s 40+ years of learning geophysics and applying the trade has been far more than a job, it has been a hobby and passion. To see new technology come along and achieve early implementation in projects has been the driving force behind years of successful cutting edge data processing.

New-hire interpretation followed by an extended assignment in data processing and research created a desire to make seismic data come alive. Each data set provides opportunities to see into the earth and let it talk back. That happens more in the prestack domain than in final attributes consumed by the interpreter. From early AVO and early 2D velocity work for Gulf of Mexico subsalt exploration to early prestack depth migration to advanced depth migration as a standard tool, the journey has been a joy.

Recent years have focused on high fidelity, controlled phase, amplitude and AVO processing for both land and marine. Delivered data sets have provided excellent seismic simultaneous elastic inversion results and 4D inversion results. The recognition of azimuthal anisotropy and the opportunities it provides has propelled new applications.

In 2014 Steve chose to leave the oil company segment of the business and joined a small seismic processing company that offered the opportunity to move to Colorado a few years before “retirement”. A large company purchased that small company. The experience of working in both a large and small processing company provided many insights into some of the challenges encountered while managing processing projects for oil companies, and has confirmed a set of practices that can bring a win-win to challenging projects when managed properly.

After “retiring” three times the definition of retirement has become putting new rubber on the wheels. Steve looks forward to several more years of working with seismic data, looking for the best relationships from seismic processing provider-consumer interactions while sharing experiences with the next wave of geophysicists.