Tim DoréӰרs geology career has taken him from Lafayette to Houston to Calgary, Alberta and back to Houston Ӱר where he's now working Deepwater Gulf of Mexico as a geologist for BP.
ӰרI work on the reservoir management team of one of our largest deepwater assets. ItӰרs a field that we call Atlantis,Ӱר Tim said. ӰרItӰרs a really big oil field and my job is working within a multi-disciplined team to find new places to drill wells, both new producers and water injectors.Ӱר
Tim came to UL Lafayette without a clear idea of where he wanted his life to go. That quickly changed.
ӰרI was undeclared, and I was struggling to figure out where my interests lay. I ended up taking a physical geology course as an elective, and two weeks in I knew I was going to be a geologist,Ӱר he said. ӰרIt was effortless Ӱר I didnӰרt have to think hard about things, it came more natural, and I found myself looking forward to lectures and labs.Ӱר
ӰרWhenever you find what you love, itӰרs not really work, as they say. After changing to geology, college got a lot easier for me, after finding what I was meant to do,Ӱר Tim said.
When he found his major, he also found a close-knit group of students and faculty.
ӰרThe department was relatively small. Everybody knew everybody, and there was a lot of camaraderie among the students and the professorsӰר he said. ӰרThe professors had a big impact on all of us. They kept the lectures interesting and offered up fantastic road trip opportunities over school breaks to get out and see interesting geology.Ӱר
Learning Valuable Skills
Even in his current job, Tim still uses the knowledge and skills he got from his classes.
ӰרWhenever I was an undergraduate, I took lots of classical geology courses but also picked up practical skills you could apply on the job,Ӱר he said. ӰרIn one class we were actually correlating logs and making maps, and I donӰרt think a lot of schools were doing that.Ӱר
ӰרThe skills I learned both in labs and field course assignments allowed me to hit the ground running, so to speak, when I landed my first job as a geologist.Ӱר
Tim decided to pursue his after graduation to improve his marketability for the job search. For his masterӰרs thesis, he examined heavy metal partitioning in bottom sediments in Bayou Trepagnier, near Norco, La.
ӰרI sampled sediments up and down the bayou to understand the level of pollution, identify the main contaminants, and understand how those contaminants were held and potentially available to be released into the environment,Ӱר Tim explained.
ӰרAt the end of the day, I think completing a thesis shows that you can undertake a big project and see it to completion, hopefully making some valid conclusions and perhaps even advancing the subject matter along the way.Ӱר
Making Connections through Networking
As a student, Tim was involved in the Lafayette Geological Society, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies, and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Ӱר organizations that helped him make valuable connections that ultimately led to his first job.
ӰרYou get to network and meet lots of professional geologists in the area. That networking eventually led to an interview and my first job,Ӱר he said.
ӰרI think thatӰרs one of the reasons people should join their local societies Ӱר you get to meet a lot of like-minded people and build your network and make lifelong friends. There are also plenty of ways to give back to the society, as well.Ӱר
A Rewarding Career
Tim began working in Lafayette as a geologist for Vastar in 1997 right after he graduated with his masterӰרs in geology. When BP purchased Vastar and its parent company in 2000, Tim moved to Houston to continue working with BP.
ӰרI always loved the Cajun culture and I never thought I was going to leave Acadiana until BP offered me a great opportunity,Ӱר Tim said.
TimӰרs work initially focused on oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico shelf, and then in 2006 he moved to Calgary, Alberta, as an expatriate for BP.
ӰרI had a four-year assignment working in Calgary, which was a highlight of my career Ӱר working in a different hydrocarbon basin and getting to play in the mountains every weekend,Ӱר he said.
After his assignment in Calgary was over, he moved back to Houston and started working in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
The field where he works now Ӱר called Atlantis Ӱר is about 17,000 feet below sea level, sitting in over a mile of water depth.
ӰרItӰרs very challenging operating conditions,Ӱר he explained. ӰרWe rely on the latest technological advances and the brightest minds to continue safely extracting oil and gas from Atlantis field.Ӱר
With continued advances in technology, Tim is able to help BP find and invest in new well locations.
ӰרItӰרs a lot of fun working on such a high value field,Ӱר he said. ӰרThe team I work with comes up with drilling locations and ideas based on the integration of a lot of data and mapping.
ӰרItӰרs like putting puzzle pieces together Ӱר and that involves several disciplines and diverse viewpoints,Ӱר he explained. ӰרItӰרs quite rewarding when investment in your ideas makes a lot of money for the company and the shareholders."
