I have worked in the oil and gas industry for over 10 years as a Senior Geoscientist and I am confident that this will enable me to hit the ground running in your program and excel. My first choice for graduate studies is the Master of Science Program in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Integrated Petroleum Geoscience University of XXXX, in Edmonton, Canada. I keenly look forward to the thrill of academic community with like-minded thinkers from all over the world engaged in similar challenges, with similar ideals and goals in the area of Petroleum Geoscience.

I have just concluded a contract with XXXX, serving as a Geoscientist Advisor, working with a team of five geoscientists in Luanda, Angola. My foremost interest at this time and the area of investigative research in which I hope to distinguish myself as a graduate student and beyond is in the characterization, formation, and evaluation of unconventional reservoirs. I hold a Diploma in Applied Petroleum Geosciences from the Laser Petroleum Geoscience Center in Nigeria (2009) along with my Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Ado-Ekiti, also in Nigeria (2003).

I have extensive practical experience in some of the areas of the oil and gas industry that will be covered in the coursework of your program so I am looking forward to having valuable things to share with my colleagues and peers from all over the world. I received extensive training with Baker Hughes, in particular, in the area of Acoustics and NMR tools plus interpretation. I was working on shallow and deep offshore wells for companies including Exxon Mobil, Total, BP, Statoil, and Repsol. I especially look forward to sharing my wealth of knowledge in the area of acoustic and NMR tools and interpretation.

I grew up surrounded by mountains and rocks as a child and was very curious about their properties and origins. When I discovered that there was a whole science devoted to their study, I was delighted and it has been my central passion ever since. My natural curiosity, diligence and determination have taken me quite far already, having established a reasonably secure and well-paid future. Nevertheless, I want more, principally to acquire the high level skills and knowledge that will ultimately enable me to teach in my field and pass on the torch of cutting-edge theory and practice to new generations of students.

I have adored the study of rocks since childhood and for well over a decade I have made constant progress in every aspect of distinguishing between the kind of rocks on the surface of the earth that I used to play with as a child, and the sedimentary rock which holds over 40% of the world’s oil deposits. This curiosity was one of the primary factors that got me headed into a career in Petroleum Geology. My ambition to teach has developed slowly during ten years as a Senior Geoscientist; it crystallized, however, when I led a team of four on a project in Angola. Leading subordinates through a problem and helping them to identify possible solutions – always carefully weighing the advantages and disadvantages – provided me with a great sense of satisfaction. My team members have even told me at times that I should go into teaching. Now, I am very determined to move in that direction.

I have significant experience not only at overseeing but also training of junior staff. I have personally benefitted greatly from having highly effective teachers and have always noted the characteristics and techniques of the best of them and sought to emulate them when training others. I know that a good teacher is passionate about their subject. I have an inquisitive mind, always thinking and asking questions, generally related to how to solve problems encountered while interpreting geologic data.

I follow recent developments especially closely in the area of fracking. I am intrigued by how unconventional reservoirs are being produced at a good commercial rate. I have extensive experience in using Stoneley waves to characterize formation permeability and cross dipole measurements to determine the magnitude of azimuthal anisotropy and thus the stress regime, fracture density, and the fracture strike in the region surrounding the borehole in sedimentary reservoirs. I look forward to the possibilities of using permeability and anisotropy analysis in a time lapse manner on an unconventional reservoir: before and after hydraulic fracturing. In this way, I am expecting to reveal the positive and negative impact of fracturing with respect to in-situ permeability and fracture network.

My most sublime moments have been spent coaching and mentoring junior geoscientists more than any other aspect of my duties. I am confident that I am gifted with the ability to convey information to others. Earning the MSc. in Petroleum Geology will help me to realize my long term goals of staying engaged with the academy and at some point devoting myself to full-time teaching in my field.

I thank you for considering my application to the Master of Science Program in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Integrated Petroleum Geoscience University of XXXX.