Events

Date: Thursday, September 18th, 2025
Time: Wine served at 11:00 am  |  Lunch & Lecture starts @ 11:30 am to 1:30 pm
Venue: Petroleum Club of Houston, 1201 Louisiana St, Houston, TX 77002

Presenter:

Dr. John Castagna

Physics is the backbone of geophysics, yet the universality of physical laws contrasts with the highly local nature of geology. While physics requires universal validity, geophysics gains credibility by incorporating site-specific geological relationships, which can make a method effective in one area even if it doesn’t apply everywhere. Over the past twenty-five years, explorationists have leveraged seismic multi-attribute regression, neural networks, and more recently deeper machine learning approaches to make predictions that physics alone could not achieve. These data-driven tools hold great promise but also carry the risk of misuse when applied without sufficient geological context or with limited training data. The most powerful results come when machine learning is used to uncover hidden relationships that can then be understood geologically and applied geophysically. In this way, science-guided machine learning—demonstrated in Mexico, China, and the Permian Basin—enhances our ability to predict rock and fluid properties from seismic data by going beyond physics and truly putting the “geo” back into geophysics.

Dr. John Castagna holds the Sheriff Chair in Geophysics at the University of Houston.   He has 45 years of experience in oil and gas exploration and development specializing in the quantitative interpretation of seismic data. 

Date: Thursday, September 18th, 2025

Time: Wine served at 11:00 am  |  Lunch & Lecture starts @ 11:30 am to 1:30 pm
Venue: Petroleum Club of Houston, 1201 Louisiana St, Houston, TX 77002

*** 2025 Season Luncheon Pass Holders PLEASE RSVP at bottom of event page along with registration. Cost will be $0 but it lets us know you're coming. ***

**Early-bird registration ends Monday September 15th at NOON.
Late / walk-in registration tickets will be available for $65 for both members and general admission**