EDUCATION

 

Ph.D. in Geology, Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin (8/90 - 12/95).

Dissertation: Depositional cyclicity of the Cisco Group (Virgilian and Wolfcampian), Eastern Shelf, north-central Texas. Research on outcrop and subsurface sedimentology, cyclostratigraphy, paleoclimatology, and isotope geochemistry of marine and nonmarine carbonate and siliciclastic rocks, using qualitative and quantitative techniques. Dr. M. Kominz was supervisor.

 

MS in Geology, Geology Department, California State University, Fresno (1/88 - 8/90).

Thesis: Structural and Stratigraphic Analysis of Multi-Channel Seismic Reflection Data, Offshore Monterey Bay, West-Central California. Thesis research on neotectonics, tectonostratigraphic terrane analysis, and seismic sequence stratigraphy. Other researches include field and petrographic facies analysis of carbonate rocks, and field and statistical experiments on field clast counting methods. Dr. F. Harmsen of California State University and Dr. G. Green of U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, were supervisors.

 

MS study in Exploration Geophysics, Geology Department, Northwestern University, China (5/85-11/87)

Thesis: Transmission losses and lithofacies prediction. Coursework on partial differential equations, advanced statistics, liner algebra and vector analysis, signals and systems, statistical pattern recognition, advanced applied geophysics. Prof. S.L. Zhao was supervisor.

Thesis not defended and degree not awarded due to departure to the U.S.

 

BS in Petroleum Geology, Geology Department, Northwestern University, China (9/80 - 7/84).

Thesis: Characteristics and forming mechanisms of abnormal compaction, Kongdian Oilfield, Huanghua Basin, Eastern China. Wireline log and core data are the major data source. Graduated with honors.

 

 

PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT AND RELATED EXPERIENCES

 

Associate Professor (8/2010 – present): Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering, Missouri S&T.

 

Research Associate Professor (8/2010 – present): Department of Geology, Wichita State University.

 

Adjunct Research Scientist (2006 – present): Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

 

Chair (7/07 – 7/2010), Associate Professor (8/05 – 7/2010), Assistant Professor (8/99 –3/05), Graduate Coordinator (8/01-6-07): Department of Geology, Wichita State University.

 

Adjunct Research Scientist: Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics of the Ministry of Education, Northwestern University, Xian, China, 2002-2006.

 

Emission Evaluator: Texas Natural Resources and Conservation Commission, State of Texas, Austin, Texas (5-7/99).

 

Associate Research Scientist: Bureau of Economic Geology, The Univ. of Texas at Austin (11/97 – 4/99).

 

Exploration Geologist: Division of International Exploration and Production, Phillips Petroleum Company, Bartlesville, OK (9/95 - 11/97).

 

Geological Consultant:

1.      Tu-Ha Petroleum Bureau, PetroChina, 2007-2008. “Seismic stratigraphy and reservoir rocks of Permo-Triassic strata, Taibei and Tainan depressions.”

2.      Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina, 2006. “Sedimentology, depositional environments, and cyclostratigraphy of Cambro-Ordovician carbonates, Ordos Basin.”

3.      Clayton Williams Petroleum Company (spring, 2005): Sequence stratigraphy, basin-filling history, and petroleum systems, Jurassic to Cretaceous deepwater strata, East Texas Basin, Gulf of Mexico.

4.      Division of North America Exploration and Production, Phillips Petroleum Company (2001): Sequence stratigraphy, depositional systems, and petroleum systems, Triassic to Cretaceous strata, Northern Louisiana Salt Basin, Gulf of Mexico.

 

Research Assistant: The Univ. of Texas at Austin (1-8/91, 9-12/93, 6/94-8/95).

Major fieldwork includes:

1)      Cycle delineation and correlation, and shelf-to-basin sequence stratigraphic analysis of mixed carbonates and siliciclastics, Upper Pennsylvanian Holder Formation, central Sacramento Mountains, southeastern New Mexico (summer of 1994).

2)      Cyclo- and sequence stratigraphic and sedimentologic studies of Upper Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian Cisco Group in Colorado River valley and Brazos River valley areas, Eastern Shelf, north-central Texas (summers of 1991, 1992, 1993).

3)      Field investigation of Jurassic eolian deposits, southeastern Utah (8-9/1993).

4)      Field investigation of depositional cyclicity of the Upper Cretaceous Rock Springs Formation, Rock Springs, Wyoming (7/1994).

 

Student Geologist: California State University, Fresno (6-8/88).

Conducted two projects in sedimentology and stratigraphy:

1.      Outcrop and microscopic facies analyses of peritidal carbonates, Devonian Lost Burro Formation, Death Valley, California, under supervision of Dr. F. Harmsen.

2.      Field experiments and statistical and sedimentologic analyses of clast counting methods, under supervision of Dr. R. Brady.

 

Teaching Assistant: The University of Texas at Austin (Fall of 1990 and1991; Spring of 1992 and 1994).

Graduate courses: Quantitative Stratigraphy, Carbonate Petrography.

Undergraduate courses: Mineral Resource Exploration, Introductory Geology for Engineering Students.

 

Field Geology Consultant: California State University, Fresno (Summer, 1990).

Co-taught “Advanced Field Geology" with Dr. F. Harmsen. Subjects include stratigraphic and sedimentologic studies of Paleozoic rocks and structural mapping and analysis, White-Inyo Mountains, Inyo County, Eastern California.

 

Teaching Assistant: Cal. State Univ., Fresno (Fall, 1988; Spring and Fall, 1989; Spring, 1990).

Courses: Computer Applications in Geology, Introductory Geology.

 

Lecturer in Geophysics: Faculty of Geophysical Exploration, Department of Geology, Northwestern University, China (9/84 - 11/87).

Conducted four research projects:

1.      Derived coefficients from the seismic wave-equation to establish a model for transmission-loss correction and lithofacies prediction.

2.      Programmed on IBM-XT for seismic wave-equation migration. Program was part of a project to establish a PC system for conventional and special processing, interpretation, and display of wireline log and seismic data, Zhongyuan Oilfield, China.

3.      Conducted seismic data acquisition, conventional processing, and interpretation, Changqin Oilfield, China. Completed structural and isopach maps, and a geologic report.

4.      Interpreted equal-interval time-cuts of 3-D seismic data to delineate the structural evolution of a coal field. Research was part of a joint project on color display and interpretation of 3-D seismic data, as the first Chinese experiment on 3-D seismic technology.

 

Co-taught "Exploration Geophysics" and "Introduction to Computer Application in Geostatistics" with Profs. S.L. Zhao and Y.H. Yang.

 

Student Geologist:  Dagang Oilfield, Petroleum Ministry, China (5-7/83 and 5-7/84).

 

 

HONORS

 

1. Awards

 

1.      J.R. Berg Faculty Fellowship, 2006-2008, Wichita State University.

2.      Honorable mention for best paper in 2004, Journal of Sedimentary Research. “Yang, W., Mazzullo, S.J., and Teal, C.S., 2004, Sediments, facies tracts, and variations in sedimentation rates of Holocene platform carbonate sediments and associated deposits, northern Belize – Implications for “representative” sedimentation rates: Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 74, p. 498-512.”

3.      Faculty Sabbatical Leave, Wichita State University, 2005. For the period of Aug.-Dec., 2006.

4.      Nomination for the 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2001 Academy for Effective Teaching Award and Board of Trustees Excellence in Teaching award. Wichita State University.

5.      A. I. Levorsen Award: 10/2001, for best oral session “Yang, W., Bruemmer, M., Turner-Williams, 2001, Deltaic progradation during maximum marine transgression, the Heebner Shale member of the Oread Limestone Formation (Virgilian), Southeastern Kansas and Northeastern Oklahoma” at the 2001 AAPG Mid-Continent Section Meeting, in Amarillo, Texas.

6.      Scientific Research Excellence Award: Bureau of Higher Education, Shannxi Province, China (1986). For excellence in a group project "Prediction of Long-term Hydrocarbon Exploration Based on Analysis of Oil Migration, Southern Kongdian Area, China".

 

2. Awards won by students under my supervision in Wichita State University

 

1.   Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation, April, 2010, to Jonathan Obrist-Farner for presentation “Comparison and contrast of fluvial and deltaic sandstones of the Oread Cyclothem, NE Oklahoma.” 2010 Annual Undergraduate Student Research Forum, Wichita State University. Prize of $150.

2.   Robert D. Cowdery Award for Best Poster Student Paper, September, 2007, to M. Turner-Williams for presentation “M. Turner-Williams and Wan Yang, 300-Million-Year-Old Soils and Their Implications on Predicting Ancient Climate Conditions,” AAPG Mid-Continent Section meeting, Wichita. Prize of $2,500.

3.   Eugene Dehner Award, Kansas Academy of Science, April, 2006, for poster presentation “Runnion, M.T., and Yang, W., Fluvial and lacustrine depositional systems and cyclostratigraphy of Upper Permian Wutonggou Formation, Southern Bogda Mountains, Northwestern China.” Kansas Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting, Wichita, Kansas.

4.   Austin A. Sartin Poster Paper Award: Oct. 2002, Awarded to M. Turner-Williams, for a first-place prize in Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, by Sigma Gamma Epsilon. $100. “Micro-variability of floodplain paleosols in the Snyderville Shale Member, Oread Limestone Formation (Upper Pennsylvanian), Southeast Kansas”, co-authored with W. Yang and M. Bruemmer.

5.   Best student oral presentation: March 2002, Awarded to M. Bruemmer for a third-place prize in American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Meeting, Houston, Texas. $300 individual, $600 department. “Where layer-cake stratigraphy breaks down ­- The coeval development of highstand deltas, condensed sections, and platform carbonates of the Virgilian Oread Cycle, southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma”, co-authored by M. Turner, M. Summervill, and W. Yang.

6.   Nomination for the SEPM Student Poster Award Session: Nov. 2002, by M. Turner-Williams, for an abstract submitted to 2003 SEPM-AAPG National Meeting in Salt Lake City. Awarded $400 travel grant by SEPM Foundation. “Micro-Variability of Floodplain Paleosols in the Snyderville Shale Member, Oread Limestone Formation (Late Pennsylvanian), Southeast Kansas”, co-authored with W. Yang and M. Bruemmer.

7.   Eugene Dehner Award: Kansas Academy of Sciences, 2001, for poster presentation “Dynamic Evolution of Fluvial Environments – Preliminary Results of the Ninnescah River Monitoring Program of Department of Geology” coauthored by Bruemmer, M., M. Turner-Williams, H. Burke, K. Dimmick, J. Hall, D. Sellers, K. Stair, M. Williams, W. Yang, at the 133rd Kansas Academy of Science Annual Meeting, Lawrence, Kansas.

 

AFFILIATIONS AND SERVICES

 

Professional services:

1.      Member, the Pettijohn Medal Selection Committee, Society of Sedimentary Geology, 2008-present.

2.      Session Chair, “Exploration activities in China, SE Asia, Australia,” 2008 AAPG Annual Meeting, San Antonio.

3.      Poster session chair and field trip leader, 2007 Midcontinent AAPG Biennial Meeting.

4.      Associate Editor (Announcement): Journal of Sedimentary Research, Society of Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) (2003 – 2006).

5.      Co-Chair: SEPM Technical Program, 1999 AAPG/SEPM Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas.

6.      Member: Society of Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) (1/97 - present).

7.      Member: American Association of Petroleum Geologists (12/88 - present).

8.      Member: Kansas Geological Society (1999 – present).

9.      Member: American Geophysical Union: (2003 – present).

10.  Member: Geological Society of America: (1999 – present).

11.  Member: Limnogeology Division, Geological Society of America: (2002 – present).

12.  Member, Sedimentary Division, Geological Society of America: (2008 – present).

 

Paper, book, and proposal reviews:

1.      Journal reviews: Journal of Sedimentary Research, AAPG Bulletin, Geophysical Research Letters, GSA Bulletin, Sedimentology, Palaeogeography, Palaeoecology, Palaeoclimatology, Journal of Petroleum Geosciences, Geosphere.

2.      Proposal reviews: ACS Petroleum Research Fund, US Civilian Research and Development Foundation, NSF.

3.Textbook reviews: Chapters of four textbook of physical geology.