Jack Pashin

I am Regents Professor and Devon Chair of Basin Research in the Boone Pickens School of Geology. Prior to coming to OSU, I was an Associate Director of the Geological Survey of Alabama, and managed the survey's energy research program.

My focus is on multidisciplinary studies of sedimentary basins directed at energy resources and geologic carbon storage. An important lesson I have learned is that the career paths and disciplines that awaited me upon graduation did not exist when I was a student. For this reason, I encourage students to be as broad-based and flexible as possible. The only constant to be expected is change!

I have been fortunate to have been at the ground floor of major revolutions in energy development and technology, including coalbed methane, shale gas, ultra-deep offshore oil and gas development, and geologic carbon storage. To me, learning how to recognize opportunities and how to sieze them is essential to maintaining relevance and security as a scientist in today's world.

Research Interests:

Stratigraphy
Sedimentology
Structural geology
Plate tectonics
Paleoclimate
Sedimentary basin analysis
Petroleum systems and carbon storage systems
Paleontology
Geochemistry
Geochronology
Basin hydrology

These interests are at the core of ensuring resource sustainability and the security of the energy transition, which began when humans fist huddled to keep warm and continues with accelerating technological advances.