UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A multidisciplinary team of Penn State students participated in the 2025 Society of Exploration Geophysicists' (SEG) EVOLVE program, a mentor-guided, six-month virtual internship that uses commercial data to give students real-world experiences on energy exploration and carbon solutions. The team presented their results on a prospective gas reservoir at the SEG IMAGE Conference, held Aug. 25-28, in Houston, Texas.
The Penn State team, named Nittany Explorers, was composed of six graduate students from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Three team members were from the John and Willie Leon Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering: Kawthar Babatunde, Khalil Buckmire and Ianna Gomez; and three team members were from the Department of Geosciences: Mingxi Hu, Joseph Miller and Jackson Saftner. The team was one of 15 to participate in the select program.
This year was the first time a Penn State team participated in the program, and Jim White, CEO of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, who graduated from Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in geosciences, was excited to finally see a team from his alma mater.
“As a proud Penn State alumnus, I was thrilled to see a full team from Penn State participate in SEG EVOLVE,” White said. “Their dedication, creativity and technical expertise showcase exactly what this program was designed to foster — bridging academic excellence with real-world applications. Watching them present at IMAGE 2025 was both personally meaningful and a testament to the bright future of geophysics.”
The team’s objective was to evaluate the Matagorda Island Large Block Offshore area located offshore from Texas for a prospective gas and oil reservoir. To begin, the team needed to interpretate the 3D seismic and well data of Matagorda Island to understand the characteristics of the petroleum system in the regions. By integrating these interpretations with historical production data of the region, the team evaluated the characteristics of the reservoirs in terms of structure and petrophysical characteristics like porosity and saturation. According to the team, one key aspect of the data integration is called seismic to well tie, which links the seismic signal, collected in time, with the well logging, collected in depth, through velocity models, which helps relate horizon maps with geological layers of interest.
Interpretating the 3D seismic data with a geological meaning usually fell under a geoscientist’s role. According to Jackson Saftner, understanding the makeup of the formations though horizon mapping and fault picking is fundamental because it determines the main risk elements of the evaluated petroleum system. Saftner added, combing through the data and looking for things like faults and different layers can get tedious, but it is essential to get it right.
“At the moment, there is no AI option to work through this data because of its complexity,” Saftner said. “Without someone with geological intuition examining everything, the resulting data could be of poor quality. It can be challenging, but it is the foundation for understanding what is happening under the surface.”
Khalil Buckmire, who was involved in seismic to well tie and horizon mapping, said the team’s camaraderie made long hours more bearable. Buckmire participated in the SEG Evolve program before, but this was his first chance to work on a Penn State team.
“A project of this magnitude involves a lot of data and ideas coming together, so it was fun to share the experience when things fell in place,” Buckmire said. “I remember the happiest moment was when Joe, the other geophysicist, and I identified the lead area after spending all Saturday together in the lab. Having everyone here at Penn State working as a team made this the easiest project in the program for me.”
Once the horizon mapping was complete, Ianna Gomez, the team’s petrophysicist, worked to interpret the well logging data and characterize the reservoir, aiming to evaluate the rock and fluid properties of the potential formations. Kawthar Babatunde then applied her analysis to examine historical production data of the region, using it to understand potential production, potential risks, carbon mitigation and whether the chosen location was economically feasible.
“In the broader sense, my role in understanding the production data and working on the carbon mitigation plan actually overlapped with my research,” Babatunde said. “The program was also a good deviation because I got to work with the risk analysis software and conduct the economic analysis, which was exciting, working with a broader range of inputs and the ambiguity of markets.”
By the end of the project, the team reviewed the prospective leads portfolio to select the least risky and more likely prospect, which they nicknamed Salacia, after the dwarf planet, and presented their findings to a board of potential investors.
On average, the team worked 30 hours a week, reviewing data, meeting with mentors, attending workshops and reading research publications and software manuals. Gomez, who served as the team leader, helped manage the entire operation.
“In my Ph.D. research, I investigate subsurface reservoirs by conducting laboratory experiments of fluids flow through rock cores, and my undergraduate degree was in geophysics, so I went into the program excited for the opportunity to consolidate my knowledge about petrophysics because it is very specialized,” Gomez said. “But one of the most significant learning experiences was being the leader, delegating all the tasks, making sure the team was communicating, and even just making sure the correct software was installed and available. I now have a better understanding of the many sides of a project, which is great preparation for my career.”