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“If you keep training on what people have already discovered and what’s already been identified, then you’re gonna be limited in what you can actually come up with.” AI is very good at finding patterns in seismic data. The harder question is whether those patterns make geological sense. Nancy House remembers looking at a Gulf of Mexico seismic line after years of working in an overthrust regime and initially seeing a thrust fault. It wasn’t. Her regional experience had shaped what she saw. That is exactly the kind of mistake AI can make if pattern recognition gets separated from geological context. Nancy connects that problem to two years of work with the GeoGPT governance committee, where the questions are just as unsettled: what knowledge trains these systems, how proprietary data is protected, and who should set the boundaries as the technology keeps changing. QUESTIONS THIS CONVERSATION ANSWERS > How can interpreters tell when AI has recognized geology and when it has only recognized a familiar pattern? > Could training AI on existing interpretations limit the ability to identify genuinely new geologic possibilities? > What role should professional societies play in governing geoscience AI? ABOUT SEISMIC SOUNDOFF Seismic Soundoff showcases conversations addressing the challenges of energy, water, and climate. Produced by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and hosted by Andrew Geary of 51 features, these episodes celebrate and inspire the geophysicists of today and tomorrow. Three new episodes monthly. See the full archive at https://seg.org/resources/podcast/.

“The goal is not cheaper data. The goal is to spend less on everything that does not add value to the decision one is trying to make.” Low-cost monitoring is becoming less about cheaper sensors and more about designing geophysics around the decision that needs to be made. Guest editors Erkan Ay and Joël Le Calvez use the The Leading Edge special section, "Low-cost monitoring for oil and gas production and emerging energies" to show what that looks like in practice, from DAS that makes fracture monitoring viable without a dedicated monitoring well to targeted measurements that act as an early-warning system. Their argument is especially relevant in a tight-budget environment. Monitoring can become more routine and accessible, but only if geophysicists measure the right physics, automate intelligently, and remember that data itself is not the product. Decisions are. Read June's The Leading Edge special section at https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/tle/issue/45/6. QUESTIONS THIS CONVERSATION ANSWERS > How can monitoring shift from repeated full-field imaging to targeted, decision-driven measurements? > When can DAS and simpler monitoring systems make projects observable that otherwise would go unmonitored? > Why should monitoring cost be judged by the actionable information it produces rather than acquisition cost alone? ABOUT SEISMIC SOUNDOFF Seismic Soundoff showcases conversations addressing the challenges of energy, water, and climate. Produced by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and hosted by Andrew Geary of 51 features, these episodes celebrate and inspire the geophysicists of today and tomorrow. Three new episodes monthly. See the full archive at https://seg.org/resources/podcast/.

“Machine learning over the last few years has become revolutionary. But we still need, and maybe even more so, the constraint and knowledge of rock physics and QI as an integral part of those workflows.” Stephan Gelinsky describes quantitative interpretation as the place “where science meets business impact.” That idea anchors this conversation with Stephan and Per Avseth, built around the May quantitative interpretation special section of The Leading Edge. Elastic FWI and machine learning are moving quickly into QI, but both guests argue that better algorithms make rock physics, geology, and judgment more important, not less. Per also points to a broader challenge. Some students are turning away from reservoir geophysics because they associate it with petroleum, even though the same science is needed for CCS, geothermal, critical minerals, natural hydrogen, and other subsurface problems tied to the energy transition. The question is not whether QI still matters. It is how the field keeps its physics, communicates uncertainty, and shows the next generation where that science can take them. Read May's The Leading Edge special section at https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/tle/issue/45/5. QUESTIONS THIS CONVERSATION ANSWERS > How are elastic FWI and machine learning changing the role of QI specialists? > What makes a QI result trustworthy enough to support a real decision? > Why does QI remain foundational to CCS, geothermal, critical minerals, and other energy-transition problems? ABOUT SEISMIC SOUNDOFF Seismic Soundoff showcases conversations addressing the challenges of energy, water, and climate. Produced by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and hosted by Andrew Geary of 51 features, these episodes celebrate and inspire the geophysicists of today and tomorrow. Three new episodes monthly. See the full archive at https://seg.org/resources/podcast/.

“We really need to be able to explain in clear language and with vivid examples just what geophysics can do here.” Michael B. Helgerud and Manika Prasad approach CCUS monitoring from two useful angles: Mike as an operator and Manika as an academic. Using their The Leading Edge special section on geophysics for CCUS as a starting point, they examine what monitoring must prove to operators, regulators, and communities as projects scale. Mike emphasizes containment, pressure, storage capacity, and fit-for-risk surveillance. Manika points to major gaps in shared calibration data, basin-wide stress models, and especially the willingness to share mistakes and lessons learned. Together, they argue that better technology alone will not settle the challenge. Geophysicists must combine different measurements more effectively, plan for decades of stewardship, and understand that communities may experience storage risk very differently from the scientists and operators evaluating it. Read April's The Leading Edge special section at https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/tle/issue/45/4. QUESTIONS THIS CONVERSATION ANSWERS > What must geophysics demonstrate for operators, regulators, and communities to trust CO2 storage? > Why is sharing calibration data, mistakes, and lessons learned essential to scaling CCUS monitoring? > How should monitoring change when CO2 storage must remain secure for decades rather than a single project phase? ABOUT SEISMIC SOUNDOFF Seismic Soundoff showcases conversations addressing the challenges of energy, water, and climate. Produced by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and hosted by Andrew Geary of 51 features, these episodes celebrate and inspire the geophysicists of today and tomorrow. Three new episodes monthly. See the full archive at https://seg.org/resources/podcast/.

Geoscience needs more people who can solve problems across energy, water, climate, critical minerals, and the subsurface, yet departments are losing students, funding, and in some cases the field experiences that help build strong geologists. Esther Oyedele and Dolores van der Kolk discuss what they heard across IMAGE about that disconnect and why solving it will take more than recruitment. Students need to see a wider range of geoscience careers, universities need flexibility without weakening the fundamentals, and industry and professional societies need to help support the training, field work, and access that make those careers possible. The workforce problem is visible. Many of the solutions are visible too. The question is whether the geoscience community is willing to support them. Listen to the complete Inside IMAGE Podcast Series at https://www.imageevent.org/podcast.

“We always aim for 60 percent. The other 40 percent, we are ready to make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, and then move forward.” A 600-meter carbonate platform forced Dr. Ahmad Riza Ghazali and his PETRONAS team to reconsider a basic assumption in their seismic workflow. Acoustic FWI and reverse time migration could not adequately image the layers beneath it, while 3D distributed acoustic sensing revealed extensive P-to-S mode conversion at the carbonate boundary. That evidence led the team toward multiparameter elastic FWI. And images that Ahmad says helped support successful drilling. His SEG Pacific South Honorary Lecture, Next Generation Seismic Imaging Elastic FWI and Wavefield Solutions for Seeing Through Complex Carbonates, turns that experience into a regional argument. As exploration moves toward deeper Miocene carbonates, better physics may expose plays conventional imaging misses. The remaining challenge is economic and organizational because elastic FWI costs substantially more, requires teams to learn together, and asks decision-makers to invest before the outcome is certain. See Ahmad's upcoming schedule and register at https://seg.org/education/lectures/seg-honorary-lecture-ahmad-ghazali/. QUESTIONS THIS CONVERSATION ANSWERS * What does mode conversion reveal that acoustic FWI misses beneath thick carbonates? * How did 3D DAS change the team’s understanding of a failed imaging result? * What gives decision-makers enough confidence to drill from an emerging workflow? THIS EPISODE PROUDLY SPONSORED BY HART ENERGY SUPER DUG Conference & Expo is Hart Energy's premier shale event and the largest event of its kind. If you're looking to stay ahead of what's next in U.S. shale, don't miss the 2026 SUPER DUG, happening September 15-17 in Houston. Join the industry's top operators, executives and investors for three days of market outlooks, strategic discussions and unmatched networking focused on the trends shaping the future of oil and gas. Register today at https://hartenergy.com/SUPERDUG26. Be sure to use promo code SD26-SEG at checkout to save on your registration. Be part of the conversations shaping the future of U.S. shale. ABOUT SEISMIC SOUNDOFF Seismic Soundoff showcases conversations addressing the challenges of energy, water, and climate. Produced by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and hosted by Andrew Geary of 51 features, these episodes celebrate and inspire the geophysicists of today and tomorrow. Three new episodes monthly. See the full archive at https://seg.org/resources/podcast/.

Julian Chenin calls IMAGE “Disneyland for geoscience,” and after walking the exhibition floor it is easy to understand what he means. But for ROGII, the real value is what happens when people stop at the booth, pull out a notebook, and start sketching an idea together. Julian describes it as innovation happening in real time, with people from different parts of the subsurface workflow suddenly in the same conversation. Those conversations have mattered as ROGII has grown from a company focused mainly on geosteering into a much broader part of the subsurface workflow. This year Julian is hearing renewed interest in older assets, northern Brazil, Guyana, Africa, the Gulf of Mexico, and underdeveloped unconventional plays. His point is that exhibiting is not simply about showing what you already built. Sometimes the conversations on the floor help determine what you should build next. LINKS * Attend IMAGE '26 - www.imageevent.org/ * Listen to Inside IMAGE Podcast Series - www.imageevent.org/podcast

Companies have spent years storing more and more data, but Amii Rozell and Hana Kabazi make an important distinction: saving the final answer is not the same as saving why you made the decision. Three years later, the interpretation may still be there while the lease problem, environmental concern, rejected idea, meeting discussion, or uncertainty behind it has disappeared. AI can help recover that context, but it can also sound very sure of itself when the record has holes. That leads to one of the most useful AI conversations I heard at IMAGE. Amii says companies are doing plenty of explaining about what AI is, but not enough training on how employees should actually use it. Hana’s advice is essentially the same thing teachers have always asked for: prove it. Ask where the answer came from, ask what the model does not know, understand the difference between public tools and protected enterprise systems, and do your own research before turning an AI inference into an operational decision. LINKS * Attend IMAGE '26 - www.imageevent.org/ * Listen to Inside IMAGE Podcast Series - www.imageevent.org/podcast

Geoscientists Without Borders starts with a simple idea: geoscience can improve someone’s life. Jim Funk has seen what access to clean water can mean in African communities, while Craig Beasley talks about projects that help people prepare for earthquakes and volcanoes, recover forgotten burial sites near Houston, and give students the experience of using geoscience for something deeply human. Twenty years in, GWB does not have a shortage of ideas or need. Craig and Jim say dozens of proposals can arrive when only a handful can be supported. That makes funding one of the central challenges now. More money could mean larger grants, longer projects, and work capable of reaching far more people. GWB has already shown what geoscientists can do. The question is how much more becomes possible if the profession and industry chooses to back it. LINKS * Geoscientists Without Borders - https://seg.org/programs/geoscientists-without-borders/ * Attend IMAGE '26 - www.imageevent.org/ * Listen to Inside IMAGE Podcast Series - www.imageevent.org/podcast

This one is personal for me. I worked with Reinaldo Michelena, Lucía Torrado, and Sergio Chávez-Pérez on this project for years, and after more than a decade of effort, seeing a printed Spanish edition of Robert Sheriff’s Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Geophysics at IMAGE was genuinely moving. More than 140 volunteers helped turn thousands of technical terms and hundreds of figures into a book for geoscientists who work in Spanish every day. And this was intentionally human work. No AI translation. People from across the Spanish-speaking world debated terminology, challenged regional bias, redrew figures, wrote code, and kept showing up until the book was real. Some of the people who helped make it possible, including Sven Treitel, Héctor Alfonso, and Susan Stamm, did not live to see the finished book. That gives this accomplishment a weight that goes far beyond publishing a dictionary. By the end of the conversation, Reinaldo, Lucía, and Sergio are reflecting on friendship, professional growth, and what it means to spend years working on such a meaningful project. You can now buy the book at https://seg.users.membersuite.com/shop/store/d0d8e919-00ce-c66d-7897-0b4a1c8da055/detail!

The SEG & AAPG Women’s Network brought together six leaders for a conversation on technical leadership and decision-making in complex energy environments. The panel focused on what happens as technical experts take on greater responsibility, where decisions cannot wait for perfect information and leadership increasingly depends on understanding people as well as the work. A few ideas that stood out from the panel: * Patricia de Lugão: Good managers are people who know the subject. * Rachael Moreland: Even a degree in neuroscience has helped shape her path in geoscience. * Lorena Moscardelli: Procrastinate. Sometimes what first looks like noise becomes signal. * Marianne Rauch: You cannot get to 100 percent certainty. At some point, you have to say, “Enough.” * Allison Kennedy Thurmond: Be intentional. Be ready with Plan B and Plan C. * Tai Prince: Not everyone thinks like you. Remember that when dealing with a difficult challenge or colleague. After the panel, I continued the conversation with Patricia de Lugão and Allison Kennedy Thurmond. This is a true Inside IMAGE episode, as Patricia, Allison, and I built on what was shared on the panel in real time. Even with that impromptu feel, there are meaningful tips and well-earned wisdom throughout. For the full description of the Women’s Network Executive Panel and biographies of all six panelists, visit https://www.imageevent.org/special-events/special-session-panel-session/high-impact-technical-leadership-executive-decision-making-in-complex-energy-environments. And a special thanks to the moderator of the panel, Maria Angela Capello. LINKS * Attend IMAGE '26 - www.imageevent.org/ * View the Inside IMAGE '26 Podcast Schedule - public.3.basecamp.com/p/LETDMZk3GvZ42PzjQMdmY7in * Listen to Inside IMAGE Podcast Series - www.imageevent.org/podcast

Tom Ewing and Mike Forrest join me ahead of the AAPG and SEG Honors and Awards ceremonies for a conversation that quickly becomes less about the awards and more about what kept them engaged for so many decades. Tom talks about the career turns that moved him from tectonics into the Texas subsurface, consulting, regional geology, and a long habit of publishing work other geoscientists could actually use. Mike keeps coming back to something even simpler: seismic interpretation is still fun, curiosity still matters, and he still enjoys learning alongside students and colleagues. What gives the conversation its energy is that neither sounds finished. They talk about saying yes, giving back, staying useful, and making room for the next generation in a profession that looks very different from the one they entered. LINKS * AAPG Honors and Awards - https://www.aapg.org/news-and-media/explorer/announcing-aapg-s-honors-and-awards-for-2027/ * SEG Honors and Awards - https://seg.org/news/society-of-exploration-geophysicists-announces-2026-honors-and-awards-recipients/ * Attend IMAGE '26 - www.imageevent.org/ * View the Inside IMAGE '26 Podcast Schedule - public.3.basecamp.com/p/LETDMZk3GvZ42PzjQMdmY7in * Listen to Inside IMAGE Podcast Series - www.imageevent.org/podcast

As IMAGE 2026 gets underway, we return to two conversations from last year that feel even more relevant now. Peter Duncan explains why asset turnover can create openings for smaller oil and gas companies. In today’s opening address, ExxonMobil’s John Ardill said the company is quicker to sell acreage it no longer plans to pursue rather than hold onto it. Peter described the opportunity on the other side of that process: experienced people leave or form new companies, acquire properties the majors no longer want, and become a new group of customers looking for geophysical technology and expertise. Peter also shares a very different example of how unexpected opportunities emerge. A company approached MicroSeismic at IMAGE about monitoring sinkholes after a costly event in Florida. That conversation became several million dollars a year in ongoing work, in a market MicroSeismic would never have thought to pursue on its own. Susan Nash picks up that theme from another direction. She sees growing need for subsurface knowledge across natural gas, geothermal, lithium, produced water, and energy storage. She also left IMAGE thinking differently about AI after hearing an approach that starts with rocks and geologic data rather than only the language geoscientists have already written, raising questions about how much interpretation and bias may already be built into training material. Together, these 2025 conversations offer a useful way into IMAGE 2026: opportunity can emerge when assets change hands, when familiar technology finds an unexpected application, and when people put ideas next to each other that they would not have connected otherwise. LINKS * Attend IMAGE '26 - https://www.imageevent.org/ * View the Inside IMAGE '26 Podcast Schedule - https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/LETDMZk3GvZ42PzjQMdmY7in * Listen to Inside IMAGE Podcast Series - https://www.imageevent.org/podcast

"I wish people understood that the pace of change across this region is not gradual anymore. It's moving very quickly and in many cases faster than traditional global markets expect." Conflicts and disrupted energy flows have put energy security back at the center of the conversation, and Yogaani Bhatia is seeing what that means for geophysics across the Middle East and beyond. Exploration is gaining renewed attention, Saudi Arabia is building out a major mining sector, and countries such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are investing in geological knowledge and new resource development. Behind all of it is the same need: understand the subsurface well enough to make better decisions. And as investment accelerates, the challenge is not simply having better technology. It is having the people who know how to use it. KEY TAKEAWAYS > Energy security is making subsurface knowledge strategic again: Pressure on energy flows is reinforcing the need for secure, diversified resources. Exploration is increasingly viewed not only as a commercial activity, but as a strategic capability tied to long-term energy and resource security. > Some of the fastest change is happening across the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa, and Asia Pacific: Saudi Arabia is expanding mining, Central Asia is investing in geological knowledge, Africa is seeing renewed frontier exploration, and Asia Pacific is advancing offshore energy, CCS, and geothermal. > Energy and minerals draw on many of the same geophysics skills: Imaging, interpretation, data integration, and other subsurface expertise developed in oil and gas are increasingly crossing into mining, critical minerals, geothermal, and carbon storage. > Better technology still depends on people who know how to use it: The AI and digital conversation is shifting from whether the tools have value to how they improve workflows and decisions, while organizations also face a growing need to develop talent and transfer knowledge. THIS EPISODE PROUDLY SPONSORED BY HART ENERGY SUPER DUG Conference & Expo is Hart Energy's premier shale event and the largest event of its kind. If you're looking to stay ahead of what's next in U.S. shale, don't miss the 2026 SUPER DUG, happening September 15-17 in Houston. Join the industry's top operators, executives and investors for three days of market outlooks, strategic discussions and unmatched networking focused on the trends shaping the future of oil and gas. Register today at https://hartenergy.com/SUPERDUG26. Be sure to use promo code SD26-SEG at checkout to save on your registration. Be part of the conversations shaping the future of U.S. shale. LINKS * Find upcoming events at https://seg.org/events. * Read about GEOMIN 2025: A Global Debut in Mining Innovation and Collaboration at https://seg.org/news/geomin-2025-a-global-debut-in-mining-innovation-and-collaboration/. * Learn more about IMAGE '26 and register today at https://www.imageevent.org/. ABOUT SEISMIC SOUNDOFF Seismic Soundoff showcases conversations addressing the challenges of energy, water, and climate. Produced by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and hosted by Andrew Geary of 51 features, these episodes celebrate and inspire the geophysicists of today and tomorrow. Three new episodes monthly. See the full archive at https://seg.org/resources/podcast/.

"We have to absorb and analyze more data than ever in shorter amounts of time. Spending a day thinking about these workflows can bring you insights into practical ways to integrate the model and data across disciplines." Subsurface teams have more data than ever, but that does not guarantee better decisions. Maisha Amaru explains why geology and geophysics need to connect early, before uncertainty leads to weak models or repeated work. Her DISC course, Using All Your Data: Integration of Geology and Geophysics, offers a full day on August 16 to step back and think through these workflows before IMAGE ’26 begins. The course and accompanying book provide practical ways to improve integration, use new tools carefully, and make better use of the information already available. KEY TAKEAWAYS > More data does not automatically produce better answers: Teams need time to test what the data support, where uncertainty remains, and what matters for the decision. > Integration works best when it begins early: Connecting geology and geophysics before models are finalized can reduce rework and reveal problems sooner. > A day away from routine work can create long-term value: The August 16 DISC course gives attendees space to learn, make connections, and begin IMAGE ’26 with integration already in focus. LINKS * Register for the August 16 session of Using All Your Data: Integration of Geology and Geophysics at https://www.imageevent.org/short-course/using-all-your-data-integration-of-geology-and-geophysics * Learn more about Maisha's course and see the full schedule at https://seg.org/education/courses/maisha-amaru-disc/ * Learn more about IMAGE '26 and register today at https://www.imageevent.org/. ABOUT SEISMIC SOUNDOFF Seismic Soundoff showcases conversations addressing the challenges of energy, water, and climate. Produced by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and hosted by Andrew Geary of 51 features, these episodes celebrate and inspire the geophysicists of today and tomorrow. Three new episodes monthly. See the full archive at https://seg.org/resources/podcast/.