Geologic Website of the Month – October 2008
Michael F. Forlenza, P.G.
Bureau of Economic Geology
www.beg.utexas.edu
The Bureau of Economic Geology website has improved greatly over the last few years. The homepage has an appealing modern look with large photographs, clean graphics, pull down menus, and links to information repositories. Previously, the homepage was a rather uninteresting collection of lists that required the user to have some previous knowledge of the type of information being sought. The redesigned and updated website is more organized and more fun for browsing and exploring.
The Bureau was established in 1909 and is the oldest research unit at the University of Texas at Austin. The Bureau’s mission is to provide research and advice related to energy and environmental issues and to perform the functions of the state geological survey for Texas as requested by the state legislature. As the state geological survey, the Bureau is involved in outreach efforts with the public, state agencies, federal agencies, private foundations, and industry. The Bureau conducts basic and applied research related to: energy resources including oil, natural gas, and coal; mineral resources; coastal processes; Earth and environmental systems; hydrogeology; carbon sequestration; nanotechnology; energy economics; and geologic mapping. The Bureau disseminates scientific knowledge by:
(1) Publishing research results in scientific journals, in Bureau reports, and on the internet;
(2) Conducting technology transfer workshops and schools;
(3) Participating in professional meetings;
(4) Training undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students by providing hands-on research experience with modern datasets; and
(5) Promoting learning in grades K through 12 and through public outreach.
The Bureau, part of the John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, not only curates the largest volume of subsurface core and cuttings in the United States at three world-class centers located in Houston, Austin, and Midland, but also runs a major Texas well log library, with nearly one million well records on file. The Bureau serves as the regional lead organization for the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council or PTTC (www.pttc.org) and as the managing organization for the Advanced Energy Consortium (www.beg.utexas.edu/aec).
The current Director of the Bureau, and State Geologist, is Dr. Scott W. Tinker, a professor holding the Allday Endowed Chair in the Jackson School of Geosciences. The Jackson School traces its origins to a Department of Geology founded in 1888 and subsequently became a separate unit at the college level only on September 1, 2005. The school’s formation resulted from one of the most generous gifts in the history of higher education when the late John A. and Katherine G. Jackson bequeathed endowments and assets to the university that presently are valued at over $300 million. Following the receipt of this gift, the Bureau website was upgraded and expanded.
On the homepage, the seven pull-down menus connect to the extensive geologic resources and information available through the website. The heart of these resources is found in the Research pull-down menu which has listings for Research Programs, Research by Region, Energy Research, Environmental Research, Center for Energy Economics, and Industry Associates Programs. The Energy Research and Environmental Research menus have large sub-menus relating to specific areas of Bureau research. For example, the Clastics page under Energy Research describes five ongoing Bureau research projects and three recently completed projects.
Under the Publications pull down menu, the Publications-by-type page presents a list materials published by the Bureau including: books, reports, cross sections, maps, posters, digital data, open-file reports, and discontinued series. This page is reminiscent of the look of the Bureau homepage prior to the website redesign. The list of printed publications includes puzzling two-letter abbreviations such as: Bestsellers [GA, GB, RI, RK, SM]. Only by going farther does the visitor realize that GA means geologic atlas. Also on this page, are links to geological societies including the HGS. Unfortunately, most of these links are broken and return errors.