MSU professor to receive honorary membership award from petroleum geologist group

Dr. Rebecca Dodge, Associate Professor of Geosciences at Midwestern State University, will receive one of only five Honorary Member Awards given by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). The award honors individuals who have distinguished themselves by their accomplishments and through their service to the profession of petroleum geology and to the AAPG. Dodge will receive the award at the AAPG's annual conference in June in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Dodge said she was honored with the award because the AAPG has been an important part of her professional life since she joined as an undergraduate student in 1975 and through it she has been given opportunities that otherwise she would not have had. "I am joining a group of awardees whom I have always admired," she said. "The AAPG has given me the ability to work with smart people and to connect with other geoscientists around the world."

It is her contact with students through the AAPG and the subsequent benefit to her own students that gives Dodge the most satisfaction about her AAPG affiliation. "I have especially connected with students as a visiting geoscientist and as a volunteer judge at student presentations. I can redeliver to my students the best technical information learned at every conference, field trip, and convention I have attended," Dodge said.

Dodge's award reflects more than 25 years of continuous service to the petroleum industry in leadership roles ranging from committee memberships and chairmanships to service as an officer in several geologic societies. Her first elected service began by serving as president of the Dallas Geological Society from 1992-1993. During the 1990s she also served on the AAPG Convention Coordinating Committee. She became a charter member of Division of Environmental Geoscientists in 1993 and was president from 2008-2009.

While associate professor at the University of West Georgia, she was the Georgia Geological Society's delegate to the House of Delegates from 2002-2008. She also served on the Distinguished Lecture Committee from 2004-2006, the House of Delegates Rules and Procedures Committee from 2007-2008, and the Student Chapters Committee from 2005-2008. She became a member of the Visiting Geoscientist Committee in 1992, and served as co-chair of that committee from 2005-2007.

Dodge served on the Youth Education Activities Committee of the AAPG from 2012-2015, and as the Chairman of the Public Outreach Committee from 2012-2015. Dodge received the AAPG's Distinguished Service Award in 2010. She is currently vice president of the Southwest Section of AAPG, and treasurer of the North Texas Geological Society. She has served as the adviser for student chapters of AAPG at the University of West Georgia and at MSU.

Dodge earned her Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Texas at Arlington and her master's and Ph.D. in geology from the Colorado School of Mines.

The AAPG is an international geological organization that was founded in 1917 with the original purpose of fostering scientific research, advancing the science of geology, promoting technology, inspiring high professional conduct. AAPG provides publications, conferences, and educational opportunities to geoscientists and disseminates the most current geological information available to the general public.

Its membership is made up of approximately 40,000 members in 129 countries and includes geologists, geophysicists, CEOs, managers, consultants, students, and professors. The AAPG has offices in London, Dubai, Singapore, Bogotß, Lagos, and Washington, D.C.