AAPG Student Programs

AAPG Sustainable Development in Energy Competition 2026

🎉 Third Place: Team AquaVolt
Venture: Geo-Hydraulic Electrification: Harnessing Confined Aquifer Pressure for Sustainable Energy and Salinity Control
$2,000 Grant Winner

Team AquaVolt was also awarded The Phoenix Award for scaling through the program with determination, courage, and an unbreakable spirit.
The coastal region of Dholera faces critical challenges of unreliable
electricity supply, groundwater depletion, and salinity intrusion, all of which directly impact agriculture and rural livelihoods. The proposed Geo-Hydraulic Electrification project aims to address these interconnected issues by harnessing subsurface hydrogeological conditions for decentralized energy generation and salinity control.

We are excited to be a part of the future of sustainable energy being built by these young innovators. Congrats!

AAPG Sustainable Development in Energy Competition 2026
🎉 Second Place: Team Graphene
Venture: StrawToShield - Engineering Agricultural Residue into Passive Thermal Insulation for Sustainable Rural Cold Storage
$3,000 Grant Winner

Team Graphene was also awarded The Iteration Hero Award for your willingness to listen, refine, and evolve, showing that great ideas are born through feedback and shaped through persistence.

Straw-to-Shield project inverts the garbage into a useful, safe, and sustainable building material. Our non-load-bearing thermal board was made out of a mixture of rice straw and a ternary alkali-activated binder, which we designed based on rock-mechanics principles to tune the density and porosity. The outcome is a thermal conductivity that is as good as synthetic insulators on the market, but with an entirely bio-sourced foundation already available and neglected. Using the fundamentals of Rock Mechanics, such as the definition of porosity and compressive strength, in the engineering of bio-composites, we have created a structural material that combines biomass technologies and civil engineering.

We are excited to be a part of the future of sustainable energy being built by these young innovators. Congrats!

🎉 After months of learning, mentorship, and innovation development from Industry faculty, the 2026 AAPG Sustainable Development in Energy Competition (SDEC) has crowned its winners!

First Place: Team TwinStream Nexus
Venture: TwinWaste to GreenFuel
$5,000 Grant Winner

Team TwinStream Nexus was also awarded The Spirit of Sustainability Award for championing sustainability in every step, from design to delivery, and reminding us that real change starts with real commitment.

TwinWaste to GreenFuel will construct a pilot-scale microalgae system at Duliajan using pre-treated produced water as the nutrient medium and a controlled fraction of flare gas CO₂ as the carbon source. The algae strip nitrogen and phosphorus from the produced water (target ≥65% removal per 21-day cycle), fix CO₂ (~1.8 kg per kg dry biomass), and accumulate lipid-rich biomass processed into biodiesel feedstock. The post-extraction residue is distributed as biofertilizer to farming families adjacent to the oilfield — timed to reach them before the Kharif sowing season so they can apply it directly to their paddy fields at maximum agricultural benefit.

We are excited to be a part of the future of sustainable energy being built by these young innovators. Congrats!

Professional development opportunities are coming to Houston this August.

Amalia Olivera-Riley (Subsurface Consultants & Associates, LLC (SCA)) leads this short course at IMAGE '26 on the strategic skills that drive outcomes in complex joint venture environments.

Here's what you could be learning:
• How to build influence across organizational and cultural boundaries in JV settings
• Communication and negotiation strategies that work at every level
• Frameworks for navigating uncertainty and driving alignment in partnerships

📅 Mon, 17 Aug | Houston
Learn more: https://bit.ly/4g8ohl5


AAPG SEG

Looking for your next role in energy?

The Career Advancement Network (CAN) Hiring Event at IMAGE '26 connects experienced professionals with employers actively hiring across oil and gas and the broader energy industry.

Upload your resume for advance review. Get expert volunteer support. Network your way into your next opportunity, all in one afternoon.

📅 Wednesday, 19 August | 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Pre-registration is required. Learn more: https://go.seg.org/4dYJb4Z

Register for IMAGE '26!

The future of energy and geoscience starts here. Four days to connect with the global applied geoscience and energy community. To learn from the researchers defining what comes next. To find the partners, customers, and collaborators who will shape your year ahead.

📍 17 to 20 August 2026, Houston

Register and save: https://go.seg.org/4u4w1ZA

Connecting Ideas to Power the World.

The 2025–26 AAPG Distinguished Lecture (DL) series continues with two presentations by Heather Bedle, a geophysics professor and director of the Sustainable Energy Systems Program at the University of Oklahoma. Each presentation will be followed by a live Q&A session.

Nov 4, 2025 12:00 PM
Register here: https://aapg.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6z-Kut1OTQyJU8i5IAFrVg
Accurate subsurface characterization is essential for both conventional and sustainable energy projects, yet traditional methods often fall short.

Join this expert-led session on advanced seismic attributes and machine learning, featuring real-world case studies from the AASPI consortium at the University of Oklahoma.

Learn how to:
• Enhance seismic facies classification and fault detection
• Reveal subtle subsurface features with machine learning
• Apply techniques to hydrocarbons, carbon storage, and geothermal systems
• Select attributes and implement ML approaches effectively
Gain actionable insights to improve reservoir characterization, reduce uncertainty, and make informed decisions across diverse geologic settings.

Nov 11, 2025 12:00 PM
Register here: https://aapg.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Rrnpac5IQgeaOGdJtQAhsg
Machine learning is revolutionizing seismic interpretation—but its “black box” nature can leave interpreters uncertain.

Join us to learn how SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) brings transparency to complex models, showing which seismic attributes drive facies predictions.

What You’ll Learn:
• Local and global insights from SHAP values
• How to spot misclassifications and optimize attributes
• Real-world case studies across varied geologic settings
• Strategies to integrate SHAP into your workflows for more confident decisions
Empower your seismic interpretation with practical machine learning insights to improve accuracy and reliability.

The AAPG Foundation Field Camp Scholarship program will provide eligible and deserving undergraduate-level geoscience students with a one-time $3,000 grant.

Thanks to generous contributors, including L. Austin Weeks and Marta Weeks-Wulf, the Foundation will proudly grant more than $90,000 in funds to geoscience students and student associations annually.

Accepting applications November 1, 2025 – February 1, 2026

Apply here: https://aapgfoundation.submittable.com/submit/337211/aapg-foundation-field-camp-scholarship-2026

Hosted in Houston's Energy Corridor, the 2025 Houston Geological Society Student Expo is the largest geoscience student career fair in North America. Last year, 300 students representing 30 states and 70 universities had the opportunity to network with, present their resumes to, and interview with 20 companies for internship and full-time positions in applied geosciences.
Registration is open and ongoing for students and sponsors. We're excited to have you join us on Sept. 15!
For more information and to register for the event, visit us online at studentexpo.org before Aug. 29.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Sustainable Energy Development Competition Pitch Contest is almost here.
AAPG Venture Lab 2025 finalists
Register here to attend: https://lnkd.in/dnad-KVX

The ten finalists of the AAPG Venture Lab 2025 are putting the final touches on their pitches, dotting every "i" and crossing every "t."

These are not intangible ideas or hypothetical science projects. These are practical, scalable solutions that the world urgently needs.

From converting animal waste into clean cooking energy, to powering rural homes with water-driven micro-turbines, to cutting millions of tonnes of CO₂ through green chemistry.

From Colombia, India, the Philippines, Malawi, and Indonesia, these young innovators are proving that energy solutions can be both sustainable and impactful. They are leveraging the AAPG Venture Lab, a global innovation space where energy meets sustainability, to build what tomorrow depends on.

Demo Day is June 12, 2025. We are excited. And we want you in the room.

Secure your seat by registering at https://lnkd.in/dnad-KVX