Distinguished Lecture Series: Dr. Mark Zoback

The Opportunities and Challenges of Shale Gas Development

Benjamin M. Page Professor of Earth Science and Professor of Geophysics

Dept. of Geophysics, Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-2215 Tel.

About the Lecturer
My principal research interests are in the fields of crustal stress and geomechanics. I work on these problems at a variety of scales and in different geologic settings. I was one of the principal investigators of the SAFOD project (San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth) investigating the physics of faulting and I have been involved in projects studying active faulting in Taiwan and in the deep mines of South Africa. I also work on regional tectonic problems in various parts of the world. My students and I are pursuing a number of research projects in reservoir geomechanics, especially in regard to production from shale and tight gas reservoirs. I have also extended my interest in geomechanics to research on environmental problems such as the geologic sequestration of CO2 and coastal subsidence in Louisiana. My book, Reservoir Geomechanics,  was published by Cambridge University Press and is now in its fifth printing. The book integrates the fields of structural geology, rock mechanics and petroleum engineering with application to problems in the oil and gas industry.

Teaching
I teach both undergraduate and graduate students. Reservoir Geomechanics is a graduate class for students in the departments of Geophysics, GES, and ERE, and Tectonophysics, a graduate class for students principally in Geophysics and GES. I co-teach a Freshman class entitled Sustainability and Collapse with Professor Ursula Heise of the English Department. I also help lead two graduate seminars each week and frequently attend and participate in other seminars.