Lee Hunt - 2012
CSEG Meritorious Service Award Recipient Citation for Lee Hunt
Citation by Dr. Mauricio Sacchi
Lee received a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Alberta in 1990, after which he joined PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. He was part of innovative efforts for deconvolution and short period multiple attenuation at the celebrated PanCanadian Center of Excellence. In this position, he was instrumental in developing connections with academics and contractors to solve the ubiquitous problem of multiples generated by coals; a problem that still obstructs the proper interpretation of seismic images of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB).
Since PanCanadian, Lee has participated in a series of enterprises where his seismic interpretation abilities have contributed to many discoveries. His investigations have guided the drilling of over 300 wells. These drilling experiences have included most WCSB targets: heavy oil, Peace River Arch, Saskatchewan and Manitoba plays, including vertical and horizontal drilling. Lee focuses on the application of quantitative methodologies to invert seismic data, the estimation of fluids, porosity and fracture attributes for both the exploration and development of known prospects. Throughout his career, whenever possible, he has shared his technical findings with the larger CSEG community through talks, papers and articles.
Lee has served our society by volunteering in various capacities, including:
- 2000 CSEG Convention, Technical Committee member
- 2001 CSEG Convention, Technical Committee Chairman. This included the memorable Greek theme that Lee and Jim Stenhouse spearheaded.
- 2008 CSEG Convention Technical Committee member
- CSEG MLA Committee (2000-2001)
- APEGA Practice Standard for Quality Inspection of Geophysical Data (2001-2002) Committee. This standard grew from the work on the CSEG MLA, and serves CSEG members.
- APEGA Guideline for Ethical use of Geophysical Data (2007- 2010). This document is the final APEGA extension of work that began with the CSEG MLA, and further serves CSEG members as well as practicing professionals.
- 2012 CSEG Symposium Committee member
- Numerous session chair positions at CSEG conventions
- 2011-2012 CSEG Distinguished Lecturer
Lee has delivered three CSEG Technical Luncheon talks, all of which were very well attended because of his amazing communication skills and his focus on the useful application of scientific methods:
- 2008, 5D Interpolation / AVO
- 2011, Fracture estimation
- 2012, Quantitative Interpretation
Lee and co-authors won the best oral presentation awards for the 1997 SEPM convention, the 2000 CSEG Convention best CSEG paper, the 2008 CSEG convention best abstract, and the 2008 best technical Luncheon talk. He also received the best CSEG paper in 2010 and honorable mention for best paper in the TLE in 2011. The TLE paper subject matter was short period multiple attenuation, and was an extension of some of Lee's earliest technical work.
Lee has been very proactive in connecting contractors with research groups to advance many aspects of quantitative interpretation. He has been particularly instrumental in bringing to light the importance of 5D seismic data reconstruction prior to imaging, AVO and AVAz inversion for fluid prediction.
It is also important to highlight Lee’s role as 2011/2012 CSEG Distinguished Lecturer. He visited 22 institutions, including 17 Canadian universities, creating enthusiasm that has no doubt enticed many undergraduates to join our profession.
Lee Hunt is an extremely worthy recipient of the CSEG’s Meritorious Service Award, due to his enthusiastic and effective efforts over many years to promote the science of geophysics. He has continually volunteered his time and efforts to help raise the level of technical discussion within the CSEG, thereby creating tremendous value for the CSEG and its members.
