3 BOONE PICKENS SCHOOL OF GEOLOGY Message from the Interim Head Greetings from Stillwater, USA, The latest seismicity you felt wasn’t an earthquake, the dean simply decided to make me interim department head for the Boone Pickens School of Geology. I joined the department in the Fall of 2000 with a younger Jim Puckette as tenure track faculty. He will be abandoning me this summer after a 75th anniversary party and Puckette Palooza party at field camp on the weekend of June 9th (http://okla.st/field-camp75th). I am always amazed to be working at Oklahoma State as it is in the center of the geologic universe. This region of our country saw the development of exploration seismic, hydraulic fracturing, and the tricone drill bit. Oklahoma State trained famous oilmen Boone Pickens and Herb Davis. One of my fond memories at Boone’s Ranch was having a drink with Herb Davis about three in the morning after other alums packed it in for the evening. I plan to try to follow the lead of V. Brown Monnett and Wayne Pettyjohn in steering the department ahead. As Wayne would say, “I have some good troopies working with me.” We currently have ~19 active faculty teaching courses and are in the process of hiring three additional faculty for the fall. The additional faculty will add strength in environmental geophysics, energy transition and online education. The other great strength of our department is the alumni support. This year I have been greatly supported as I stepped into this role by the alumni board and its chair, Mike Gaskins. Barrett Cieutat has been steering a new banquet committee that will bring a fantastic new energy to our annual celebration. Join us on Saturday, April 13th for a great evening including a new silent auction of donated minerals. Our guest speaker for the evening will be Allie Kennedy Thurmond, Ph.D. of Equinor US. Our students have been managing the exit from Covid with help from the faculty, staff, and alumni. The labor rules were tested in all directions, and we are navigating the waters to create hard working students who “know what a rock is”. Come by one of our events and meet them. They have lots of questions! Looking forward to your visiting the campus or field camp this year. Will be a lot of fun! Best Regards, Todd Halihan Interim Head 12 March 2024
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