Guest Speaker(s): Leslie Atkinson (Geophysicist Bass Oil Ltd), Andrew McKerron (Head of Geoscience Beach Energy Ltd), Chris Cubitt (Manager Energy Resources SA Department Energy and Mining) and Kathryn Amos (Chair of GeoEnergy University of Adelaide)

Leslie Atkinson is a geophysicist with 36 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Leslie has worked in a diverse range of small and medium sized E&P companies in multiple exploration, field development and management roles within the major basins in Australia. Her main area of expertise is with seismic interpretation and analysis for exploration, field development and basin analysis.  She currently runs her own consultancy working for companies such as Beach Energy, EnergyQuest, Omega Oil and Gas Ltd, Sabre Energy and most recently Bass Oil Ltd.

Andrew McKerron is a geoscientist with over 34 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Andrew started in the industry with ExxonMobil, where he spent 29 years working a variety of basins in Australia and around the world, in both exploration and development/production settings. During his time at the company, Andrew worked in ExxonMobil’s Melbourne, Jakarta, Houston, and London offices and in their Houston Upstream Research facility. Andrew has spent the last 5 years at Beach Energy in Adelaide, where he is currently Head of Geoscience.

Chris Cubitt graduated from the University of Adelaide with a PhD in Diagenesis and Sedimentology. He has more than 25 years of industry experience in reservoir and regional geology working basins worldwide. Chris has given public and inhouse industry courses on GDE-based play analysis and rock typing (drill cuttings), and given numerous core workshops including, most recently, for PESA SA/NT on cores in the Cooper, Warburton, and Otway Basins. In 2021 he joined Geoscience Australia’s offshore Otway Basin team as a Senior Basin Analyst and in early 2023 started with South Australia’s Department for Energy and Mining as the Manager for Energy Resources. Chris is an author of more than 20 publications and a member of PESA.

Kathryn Amos is Chair in GeoEnergy at the University of Adelaide, and lead cross-disciplinary GeoEnergy research, education, and outreach activities. Previous leadership roles include Head of School for the Australian School of Petroleum and Energy Resources (2020-2022) and Associate Dean (Future Students and Student Experience)(2018-2019). My research expertise is in clastic sedimentology, focusing on understanding the controls behind processes of sediment transport and deposition in a range of environments, from modern environments and the rock record. A key driver for Kathryn is engagement with government and industry to maximise impact of research and teaching outcomes. In recent years, Kathryn has led colleagues across engineering and geoscience disciplines to expand research and teaching focus on the subsurface storage of CO2 and Hydrogen.