EES Departmental Seminar: Sustainability and Innovation in Seismic Data Acquisition

Dr. Andrea Crook
CEO of OptiSeis

Title: Sustainability and Innovation in Seismic Data Acquisition

Abstract: Accurately imaging the subsurface with seismic, whether for traditional energyprojects or in emerging cleantech areas such as geothermal, critical mineralexploration, carbon capture and storage, or nuclear waste management, requires theacquisition of a seismic survey. Generally, this involves deploying seismic sources andsensors in various patterns optimized to avoid surface exclusions and ensureoperational efficiency. However, for more sustainable seismic solutions, these surveyscan also be optimized for reduced environmental impact and lower greenhouse gasemissions. This can be accomplished by incorporating ecological data into the seismicplanning and utilizing new innovations such as alternative sampling methods andequipment miniaturization. When combined with advances in seismic processingalgorithms, the same subsurface data quality can be achieved, but with a significantlyreduced environmental footprint.Through extensive collaboration between multiple disciplines (ecology, biology,geoscience, and engineering), the EcoSeis project has developed sustainable seismicsolutions which can reduce both the surface land footprint and emissions associatedwith seismic acquisition by up to 50%. This case study will highlight lessons learnedthroughout the development, including best practices for acquiring and analyzingunbiased seismic experiments and applications of the technology in CCS monitoring.

2024-2025 CSEG Distinguished Lecture Tour: This national tour is sponsored by the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG) Foundation andpresented by a distinguished member of the society. The goal of the tour is to promote the science andapplication of geophysics and to highlight a topic of current interest.

Andrea Crook is the CEO of OptiSeis, a company she co-foundedin 2011 to provide innovative solutions for accurate subsurfaceimaging. Andrea graduated from the University of Manitoba witha B.Sc. Honours in Geophysics and began her career at ShellCanada in seismic processing and geophysical operations. Basedon her extensive contributions to the field of geophysics, shereceived the 2019 CSEG Technical Achievement Award and wasthe Society’s 2023 Symposium Honouree. She is also on theBoard of Directors for the Clean Resource Innovation Network(CRIN). Through active collaboration with industry and academia,she and her team continue to develop innovative solutions forenvironmentally sustainable subsurface imaging.  

Time

Location

LSC-812, 8th floor of the Biology/EES wing of the Life Sciences Centre