Tooney (Anthony) Fink - 2009
CSEG Meritorious Service Award Recipient Citation for Tooney (Anthony) Fink
by Stan Lavender
It gives me tremendous pride to have been granted the opportunity to write and present this meritorious citation to my good friend and colleague Tooney Fink. Tooney is being recognized today for his lengthy and significant contribution to both the energy industry and the CSEG.
Tooney has been involved in the Canadian energy industry as a geophysicist for over thirty-five years, and has demonstrated tremendous commitment to Gulf Canada Resources and several heritage companies which have since joined together to become ConocoPhillips Canada where he is now the Chief Geophysicist and Supervisor of Geophysical Services.
Tooney was raised on a farm near Merritt, British Columbia where he developed a keen interest in collecting rocks, minerals and fossils, a hobby which has lead to an impressive collection that continues to be a source of fascination for friends, co-workers and youth who are interested in developing their own interests in geoscience. Tooney has a passion for sharing his knowledge with others and takes delight in quizzing anyone willing to be tested on his extensive collection of black mineral specimens.
After graduating from the University of British Columbia in 1974 with a combined honours degree in geology and geophysics, Tooney's career in the Canadian energy industry involved seismic field acquisition in the Mackenzie Delta and Parsons Lake, seismic processing, exploration in many of Canada's frontier basins, several International projects and an endless number of projects in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin where his contributions in both geological understanding and geophysics have been an invaluable contribution. His mentors included Carl Nyberg, Harry Carlyle, Ray Prudholme and Dick Cote.
A longtime supporter of our local research consortia, Tooney has particularly been an advocate for CREWES (Consortium for Research in Elastic Wave Exploration), CHORUS (Consortium for Heavy Oil Research by University Scientists), FRP (Fold-Fault Research Project) and the Prairie Meteorite Search. Since his involvement with the development of the Steen River gas field, a trap formed by a buried meteorite impact crater, Tooney has been intrigued with meteorite features. Over the past 4 years he has championed ConocoPhillips support for the Prairie Meteorite Search and volunteered as part of Professor Alan Hildebrand's University of Calgary led search for the Buzzard Coulee meteorite which fell near Lloydminster in November 2008.
Tooney has been a tremendous mentor to geoscientists, and encourages everyone he comes in contact with, through his thoughtful and positive approach to learning and development. Tooney continually provides technical and career guidance to students, new graduates, junior and senior staff, inside and outside of ConocoPhillips. All it takes is an invitation for coffee at Tim Horton's! In both Gulf Canada and ConocoPhillips Tooney has been actively involved in the recruiting, interviewing and hiring efforts for University students.
Since joining the CSEG in 1974, Tooney was an active member in the CSEG DoodleSpiel committee from 1984 to 1988 (in fact he attended his 33rd DoodleSpiel this January in Lethbridge). He was the field trip organizer for the CSPG Second International Symposium on the Devonian System in 1987 and the CSEG Technical Co-Chair at the 1994 CSEG/CSPG Joint Convention. Tooney has been an active member of the CSEG Chief Geophysicists Forum from 2001 to present, and helped compile the "Practice Standard For Use Of Geophysical Data". In 2008, Tooney was the CSEG General Chairman at the very successful CSEG/CSPG/CWLS joint convention. Tooney also serves as the APEGGA responsible member representing the discipline of Geophysics for ConocoPhillips Canada and he also holds membership in NAPEGG and the SEG.
In conclusion, as a friend and a colleague, I sincerely believe that Tooney Fink is well deserving of the CSEG Meritorious Service Award and we can look forward to having him continue not only as an active and contributing member of our society but also as an inspiration to others for many years into the future.
