Letter from the Dean

Welcome to the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy. The College consists of the ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics, the Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering and the Oklahoma Geological Survey.

The College was chartered on January 1, 2006, as a response to new challenges in energy and earth sciences that requires a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach involving academic programs, research centers and institutes, and service-related organizations.  Although the College will emphasize science and engineering in all forms of energy, in practice, the study of earth and energy involves many disciplines and colleges at OU. I work closely with the deans of other colleges to ensure that OU maintains and builds on its heritage in energy research and education.

Earth sciences and petroleum and geological engineering are experiencing a very dynamic and interesting time, and energy represents an area of opportunity for students, research and service. Geoscientists and engineers are not only working to address society’s growing demand for energy, but are also being asked to protect the environment, on which tomorrow’s sustainable society will be built, by gaining a better fundamental understanding of planet Earth. Examples of these relationships are the stronger links that are being forged between energy and water and energy and food.

Our goal is to have the College be an academic leader for end-to-end energy education and research. While today’s challenges to the energy industry may appear to demand a narrowly focused approach, in reality, building for the longer term requires a broad base in sciences, engineering and humanities. The Mewbourne College provides an academic environment for the development of tomorrow’s academic and industry leaders that contains the full breadth of the University of Oklahoma's educational experience.

At the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, we will continue to focus on exploration, exploitation and extraction processes in petroleum geosciences and petroleum and geological engineering, while continuing to provide close ties to engineering fundamentals and the science base in geology and geophysics. We should remember that the same technologies used by industry to search for and extract energy and mineral resources are also those used to explore and understand planet Earth. This intellectual atmosphere combining scholarship, research and teaching leads to the creativity needed to address the issues of tomorrow.

I welcome you to the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy and the University of Oklahoma, and assure you that the faculty and staff of the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy are working to do our part to achieve these goals for OUr students.

Larry R. Grillot
Dean and Lester A. Day Family Chair
Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy