About the Award
The A.I. Levorsen Memorial Award was established as a result of contributions from many individuals and societies who wished to contribute a lasting memorial to Dr. A.I. Levorsen. A plaque is given at the section meetings of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists for the best paper, with particular emphasis on creative thinking toward new ideas in exploration.
Previous Winners
2023
“Pedogenic enrichment of rare earths in lignites during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum, Williston basin, ND”
Levi D. Moxness, Edward C. Murphy, and Ned W. Kruger (North Dakota Geological Survey)
Levi Moxness is a surface geologist with the North Dakota Geological Survey where he specializes in the Cenozoic sedimentology and stratigraphy of western North Dakota, with a focus on mineral mobilization via paleopedogenesis. Levi earned his B.S. degree in Geology from North Dakota State University and his M.S. in geology from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His conference presentation titled: “Pedogenic enrichment of rare earths in lignites during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum, Williston basin, ND” highlighted new findings from an 8-year study to understand the mechanisms controlling rare earth element and other critical mineral enrichment in Williston Basin lignites.
2022
“Using Pore System Characterization to Subdivide the Burgeoning Uteland Butte Play, Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah”
Riley Brinkerhoff, Michael D. Vanden Berg, and Mark Millard
Riley Brinkerhoff is the Exploration Manager at Wasatch Energy Management, a company targeting lacustrine rocks in the Uinta Basin. His research interests are lacustrine sedimentology, fault and fracture geomechanics, and oil and gas focused geochemistry.
2021
A. I. Levorsen Award is not awarded for meetings held in conjunction with the ACE AAPG meeting.
2020
The 2020 RMS-AAPG Annual Meeting was cancelled due to the Covid Pandemic.
2019
Jeffrey W. Bader won the A.I. Levorsen Award for the best oral presentation with his paper titled, “Structural Inheritance and the Role of Basement Anisotropies in the Laramide Structural and Tectonic Evolution of the North American Cordilleran Foreland, Wyoming: Towards a Unified Hypothesis.” This award is given by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and emphasizes creative thinking toward new ideas in exploration. Jeff is a geologist with the North Dakota Geological Survey and is Director of the Wilson M. Laird Core and Sample Library in Grand Forks. The A.I. Levorsen Memorial Award was established in 1966 by many individuals and societies who wished to create a lasting memorial to Dr. A.I. Levorsen. A diamond-shaped crystal is given at the section meetings of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists for the best paper, with emphasis on creative thinking toward new ideas in exploration.
2018
Chris R. Fielding, for the best oral presentation at the 2017 RMS-AAPG Meeting in Billings, MT, titled: Tectonic controls on Cenomanian and Turonian deltaic successions in the western cordilleran foreland basin of Wyoming and Utah, USA: Christopher R. Fielding, Andrew J. Hutsky, Jesse T. Korus. Chris Fielding is a Professor and Coffman Chair of Sedimentary Geology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His research interests are in the sedimentology and stratigraphy of continental, coastal and shallow marine clastic depositional systems, with a focus on applications for exploration of hydrocarbon resources.
2017
Cat Campbell and Mark Tobey, for the best oral presentation at the 2016 RMS-AAPG Meeting in Las Vegas, NV: “Hydrogen Index as a maturity proxy – some pitfalls and how to overcome them.”
2016
Mark Millard, for the presentation, with co-author Tim Ruble, titled, Utilizing Hydrocarbon Yield Determinations to Evaluate Source/Reservoir Relationships in the Bakken/Three Forks of the Williston Basin, ND. This award, given by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), recognizes the best oral paper presented at the annual meeting of each AAPG Section, with particular emphasis on creative thinking toward new ideas in exploration. Mr. Millard presented their talk at the 2014 annual meeting in Denver, Colorado. Mark is a Senior Exploration Geologist at SM Energy in Billings, Montana where he has been since 2011. Prior to that, he worked for Pioneer Natural Resources in Dallas, Texas. He received his M.S. in Geology from Baylor University in 2007 where he studied seismogenic faults in Malibu, California, and received his B.S. in Geology from Brigham Young University-Idaho in 2005. He recently served as the President of the Montana Geological Society and is on the advisory board for the Geology Department at BYU-Idaho. He was the recipient of the Frank Kottlowski Memorial Award by the Energy Minerals Division at the 2014 American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Convention. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his two boys, building mandolins and other musical instruments from upcycled materials, and performing in a folk duo with his wife Erica.
2015
A. I. Levorsen Award is not awarded for meetings held in conjunction with the ACE AAPG meeting.
2014
Mark A. Millard (Speaker), SM Energy, and Timothy E. Ruble, Weatherford Labs, for the presentation Utilizing Hydrocarbon Yield Determinations to Evaluate Source/Reservoir Relationships in the Bakken/Three Forks of the Williston Basin, ND.
2013
2013 award presented in 2014 to Robert L. Baskin by AAPG President Randi Martinsen. Robert L. Baskin, University of Utah Baskin, Microbialite Distribution in a Lacustrine Rift Basin, Great Salt Lake, Utah
2012
Timothy Nesheim (speaker) and Stephen Nordeng, North Dakota Geological Survey, for the presentation “Examination of Source Rocks within the Tyler Formation (Pennsylvanian), North Dakota”.
(2012 Award presented in 2013 to Timothy Nesheim, by RMSAAPG President Michael Vandenberg.)
2010
Charles E. Bartberger, Questar E and P, Denver, Colorado and Ira Pasternack, Encana Oil and Gas (USA) Inc., Denver, Colorado for the Presentation: Spontaneous Potential, Keys to Understanding Continuous and Conventional Gas in Upper Cretaceous Sandstones, Deep Eastern Greater Green River Basin, Southwest Wyoming.
2008
Rex D. Cole, Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, Mesa State College, Grand Junction, CO and Matthew J. Pranter, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO for the paper title: Stratigraphic variability of sandstone-body dimensions in the Williams Fork Formation: Outcrop data from the southwest Piceance Basin, Colorado
2007
Vincent G. Rigatti of Questar Exploration and Production and co-authors Tony LeFevre, Richard Newhart, Kimberly Kaiser, Scott Goodwin all also of Questar Exploration and Production and Robert Parney of Tricon Geophysics Inc. for the paper titled The Vermillion Basin of SW Wyoming/NW Colorado: Structural Styles and Seismic Pore Pressure Prediction Through Over-Pressure