PhD (Geology), BSc(Hons), FGS
Chair in Virtual Geosciences
- About
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- Email Address
- john.howell@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 272606
- Office Address
School of Geosciences
Meston Building,
Kings College,
Aberdeen
AB24 3UE UK
- School/Department
- School of Geosciences
Biography
I am a geologist who focuses on the application of novel techniques for the aquisition of outcrop data.
Originally from Wales, I studied for my first degree at the University of Cardiff, followed by a PhD at the University of Birmingham. I then spent 10 years in the University of Liverpool as a researcher and junior faculty member working with the StratGroup. In 2002 I moved to Norway and lived in Bergen until 2012. During that time I worked in the Department of Earth Sciences and UniCIPR where I founded the Virtual Outcrop Geology Group. I was also one of the founders of Rocksource ASA an independent Norwegian E&P Company. I worked there as a member of the senior management team for 6 years.
Since 2012 I have been a Professor at the University of Aberdeen. Current research focuses on virtual geosciences, including the improved use of analogues for understanding the subsurface for the energy transition. In the past 30 years I have worked on outcrops from all over the World with special focus on the western USA. I have supervised 56 PhD students, published more than a 170 papers and edited 7 books. I am currently running and co-running 5 large JIPs including the fifth Phase of the SAFARI project. Over the past 20 years I have pioneered the use of virtual outcrops, collected using lidar and drones in the geosciences.
I am passionate about outreach in the geosciences. I was a co-host on "The Big Monster Dig", a TV series on geology and palaeontology for C4 and Discovery. I also have numerous other TV and radio credits as a scientific expert. I co-founded the Virtual Outcrops sharing site V3Geo which now hosts over 400 virtual models from around the World.
Qualifications
- BSc Geology1988 - Cardiff University
- PhD Geology1992 - University of BirminghamSedimentology of the Rotliegend of the UK Southern North Sea
External Memberships
Fellow of the Geological Society of London
International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS)
Society of Economic Petrologists and Mineralogists (SEPM)
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Prizes and Awards
Perce Allen Award (highest award of BSRG, 2018)
ExxonMobil Young Researcher Award (2000)
Alaister Pilkinton Award for Excellence in Teaching (2000)
- Research
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Research Overview
Current research areas include:
- The development of digital field methods in the geosciences; especially terrestrial LiDAR, UAVs (drones) and photogrammetry
- The development and implementation of virtual fieldtrips
- The collection of analogue data for better subsurface models for reservoirs, repositories (CCS and H2) and aquifers.
- Large scale studies of modern depositional systems as a key to understanding the subsurface
- Reservoir modelling of geological outcrops.
- The geology of the Colorado Plateau, especially central and southern Utah.
- Clastic sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy
- The Triassic of the North Sea and Mid Norway.
Research Areas
Current Research
Safari Project - Major industry JIP in its 5th Phase. Running since 2007. Current phase includes 2 PhD students and 2 post-doc researchers supported by 9 companies and the Research Council of Norway. Theme of Phase 5 is Analogues and the Energy Transition.
Deep Water Reservoir Analogues - JIP with Wintershall and Universities of Leeds and Manchester. Four year project studying deep water systems from across the world. Two postdocs and 1 PhD
Triassic Reservoirs of the North Sea and Mid Norway. Two JIPs (UK and Norway) funded by 9 energy companies supporting 8 PhDs and 2 postdocs. Joint with Adrian Hartley
Modern and ancient aeolian analogues for the German Rotliegend, PhD funded by Wintershall
Aeolian reservoirs in southern Norway and their Utah analogues. PhD funded by AkerBP. Joint with Keele University
Distal Rotliegend reservoirs and their Utah analogues. PhD funded by Shell.
Transgressive shallow marine systems and bedrock unconformities on intra-basinal highs. PhD funded by research council of Norway.
Automated interpretation of virtual outcrops using machine learning. PhD SAFARI Phase 4
Global distribution of grainstones through the Phanerozoic. PhD SAFARI Phase 4, joint with Alex Brazier
Virtual Outcrop study of carbonate reservoir analogous for the Jurassic Hanifa. PhD, joint with Alex Brazier
Sedimentology of the Triassic in the Ula Field. Funded by AkerBP, joint with Adrian Hartley
Sedimentology of the Devonian of the Clare Field and analogue. Funded by BP, joint with Adrian Hartley
Development and application of Virtual Fieldtrips, joint with Jess Pugsley and colleagues in Bergen
Development of new tools for reservoir modelling (Geopard). Funded by Research Council of Norway. Joint with Norwegian Computing Center and University of Bergen.
Deep Reservoirs. Funded by Research Council of Norway. Joint with University of Bergen and University of Liverpool.
Knowledge Exchange
Developed and Manage V3Geo - A public repository for Virtual Outcrop data which hosts over 500 models www.V3Geo.com
Wrote and presented "Drone vs Volcano - Extreme 3D mapping" for Aberdeen University Youtube (375k views)
Onscreen Expert - 1000 Years of Scottish History for Channel 4
TEDx Aberdeen - Drone mapping volcanos
Onscreen Scientist and drone pilot - Worlds Deadliest Jobs. 1 x 1hr Discovery USA
Scientific consultant - The Burrowers for BBC 3 x 1hr for BBC
Presenter - Big Monster Dig 7 x 1hr Channel 4 and Discovery
Onscreen Expert - Dinosaur Detectives 1 x 1hr for Channel 4
Numerous TV and Radio appearances as expert
Numerous public science lectures
Collaborations
Current Collaborations
- Simon Buckley and Nicole Naumann, Bergen. Virtual Outcrops and databases
- David Hodgson and Aurelia Privat, Leeds. Deep water systems
- Steve Flint, Manchester. Deep water systems
- Atle Rotevatn and Christian Eide, University of Bergen, sedimentology and structural geology
- Ivar Midkandal and Alvar Braathen, University of Oslo, sedimentology
- Miguel Poyets-More, University of Barcelona, sedimentology
- Teaching
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- Publications
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Page 4 of 6 Results 76 to 100 of 149
Two centuries of map-making – from William Smith’s survey to satellites
The ConversationContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesFrom Depositional Systems to Sedimentary Successions on the Norwegian Continental Margin
Wiley-Blackwell. 698 pagesBooks and Reports: Books- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118920435
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Distribution of discontinuous mudstone beds within wave-dominated shallow-marine deposits: Star Point Sandstone and Blackhawk Formation, Eastern Utah
AAPG Bulletin, vol. 98, no. 7, pp. 1401-1429Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAnalysis of fluvial architecture in the blackhawk formation, wasatch plateau, UTAH, U.S.A., using large 3d photorealistic models
Journal of Sedimentary Research, vol. 84, no. 2, pp. 72-87Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2014.12
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Drones offer 360° vision for oil-hunting geologists
The ConversationContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesTerrestrial lidar and hyperspectral data fusion products for geological outcrop analysis
Computers & Geosciences, vol. 54, pp. 249-258Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2013.01.018
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Close-range hyperspectral imaging for geological field studies: Workflow and methods
International Journal of Remote Sensing, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 1798-1822Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2012.727039
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Computer-aided image geometry analysis and subset selection for optimizing texture quality in photorealistic models
Computers and Geosciences, vol. 52, pp. 281-291Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2012.11.004
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Controls on large-scale patterns of fluvial sandbody distribution in alluvial to coastal plain strata: Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation, Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah, USA
Sedimentology, vol. 59, no. 7, pp. 2226-2258Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2012.01342.x
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Recent developments in the use of outcrop analogues for building better models of subsurface reservoirs
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3997/2214-4609.20142850
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Close range hyperspectral imaging integrated with terrestrial lidar scanning applied to rock characterisation at centimetre scale
Contributions to Journals: Conference Articles- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Integration of panoramic hyperspectral imaging with terrestrial lidar data
Photogrammetric Record, vol. 26, no. 134, pp. 212-228Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-9730.2011.00632.x
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
An Outcrop-Based Comparison of Facies Modelling Strategies in Fan-Delta Reservoir Analogues from the Eocene Sant Llorenç Del Munt Fan-Delta (NE Spain)
Petroleum Geoscience, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 65-90Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/1354-079309-021
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
3D seismic imaging of lower delta-plain beach ridges: lower Brent Group, northern North Sea
Journal of the Geological Society , vol. 167, no. 6, pp. 1225-1236Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492010-053
Quantifying clinothem geometry in a forced-regressive river-dominated delta, Panther Tongue Member, Utah, USA
Sedimentology, vol. 57, no. 7, pp. 1750-1770Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2010.01164.x
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Re-created early oligocene seabed bathymetry and process-based simulations of the Peïra Cava turbidite system
Journal of the Geological Society, vol. 167, no. 5, pp. 857-875Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492009-005
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Terrestrial laser scanning for use in virtual outcrop geology
Photogrammetric Record, vol. 25, no. 131, pp. 225-239Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-9730.2010.00585.x
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Combining Aerial photogrammetry and Terrestrial lidar for reservoir analog modeling
Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, vol. 76, no. 8, pp. 953-963Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Controls on stratigraphic architecture in contemporaneous delta systems from the Eocene Roda Sandstone, Tremp-Graus Basin, northern Spain
Sedimentary Geology, vol. 229, no. 1-2, pp. 9-40Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2010.03.013
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Control of Aptian palaeobathymetry on turbidite distribution in the Buchan Graben, Outer Moray Firth, Central North Sea
Marine and Petroleum Geology, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 412-434Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2009.10.014
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Impact of deltaic clinothems on reservoir performance: dynamic studies of reservoir analogs from the Ferron Sandstone Member and Panther Tongue, Utah
AAPG Bulletin, vol. 94, no. 2, pp. 139-161Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1306/07060908112
Virtual fieldtrips for petroleum geoscientists
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/0070019
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Modelling facies belt distribution in fan deltas coupling sequence stratigraphy and geostatistics: The Eocene Sant Llorenç del Munt example (Ebro foreland basin, NE Spain)
Marine and Petroleum Geology, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 254-272Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2009.08.009
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
A comparison of facies modelling strategies in fan-delta reservoir analogues, Sant Llorenç del Munt, Eocene, ne Spain
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
An improved workflow for image - and laser-based virtual geological outcrop modelling
Contributions to Journals: Conference Articles- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus