On Thursday, January 28, 2016, Dr. Michael Ed. Hohn will present “Geology Underlies It All: The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey in Service to the Public for over a Century” in the Archives and History Library of the Culture Center in Charleston. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey was created in 1897 for “examination of the geological formations of the State with especial reference to their economic products . . . classification of soils and a study of their adaptability to particular crops . . . of the forests and timber lands . . . with reference to the economic utilization of the same . . .” Originally under the direction of a commission, the Survey is now a division of the Department of Commerce. The primary purpose of the agency remains the study of the mineral and energy resources of West Virginia and related issues such as karst, seismicity, hydraulic fracturing, and resource assessment. The big change in recent years has been in how information is delivered to the public served, from numerous traditional reports in print to web resources, including publically accessible interactive databases and maps.
Hohn will discuss the early history and purpose of our state’s Geological Survey; principal activities such as mapping all coal beds in the state, an extensive oil and gas data system, and Geographic Information Systems; and how the agency provides information to the public.
Hohn joined the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey in 1978 and was appointed State Geologist and Director in 2006. He holds a B.S. in geology from Binghamton University (New York), and a Master’s and Ph.D. in geology from Indiana University. He has published more than fifty papers on energy resources and a book on geostatistics. Research interests include geostatistics, resource assessment, and study of oil and gas reservoirs. He has been principal investigator for projects funded by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of Energy, the former Gas Research Institute, and the U.S. Forest Service. He served as treasurer, secretary general, and president for the International Association for Mathematical Geology (IAMG); secretary, vice president and president for the Eastern Section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG); deputy editor of Natural Resources Research; editor-in-chief of Mathematical Geology; and treasurer for the Association of American State Geologists. His most recent research has been assessment of recoverable oil and gas volumes from the Utica and Marcellus shales in West Virginia.
For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
