The University of Oklahoma
Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy
The Future Begins Now
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Letter from the DeanWelcome to the College of Earth & Energy. The College consists of the ConocoPhillips School of Geology & Geophysics,the Mewbourne School of Petroleum & Geological Engineering, the Oklahoma Geological Survey, and Sarkeys Energy Center. The College was chartered on January 1, 2006 as a response to new challenges in energy and Earth sciences that require a coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach involving academic programs, research centers and institutes, and policy-and service-related organizations. And although our emphasis in the College will be on science and engineering in all forms of energy, in practice the study of Earth & Energy involves many disciplines and colleges at OU. As we have begun this new college, I have benefited from the support and advice of Deans and faculty of various other colleges across the university, in particular, Dean Tom Landers of the College of Engineering and Dean John Snow of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences. Earth sciences and petroleum & geological engineering are in a very dynamic and interesting time, and energy represents an area of opportunity for students, research and service. Geoscientists and engineers are not only working to address society’s growing demand for energy, but are also being asked to protect the environment on which tomorrow’s sustainable society will be built by gaining a better fundamental understanding of Planet Earth. Examples of this are the stronger links that are being forged between energy and water and energy and food. Our goal is to have the College be an academic leader for end-to-end energy education and research. While today’s challenges to the energy industry may appear to demand a narrowly focused approach, in reality, building for the longer term requires a broad base in sciences, engineering and humanities. The Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy provides an academic environment for the development of tomorrow’s academic and industry leaders that contains the full breadth of the OU University educational experience. At the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, we will continue to focus on exploration, exploitation and extraction processes in petroleum geosciences and petroleum and geological engineering, while continuing to provide close ties to engineering fundamentals, and the science base in geology and geophysics. We should remember that the same technologies used by industry to search for and extract energy and mineral resources are also those used to explore and understand Planet Earth. This intellectual atmosphere combining scholarship, research and teaching leads to the creativity needed to address the issues of tomorrow. I welcome you to the College of Earth & Energy and The University of Oklahoma, and assure you that the faculty and staff of the College of Earth & Energy are working to do our part achieve this goal for our OU students. Larry Grillot
ConocoPhillips School of Geology & Geophysics
Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy
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