Most folks might not realize it, but Women were instrumental in growing the oil & gas industry in the U.S. Author Robbie Gries provides a fascinating discussion, with historic photos, and Q & A at the Wednesday, June 14 monthly JeffCo Innovators' Workshop event. Join Robbie for an entertaining look back through history, network with other people in science, and the energy industry, and enjoy refreshments at this free event at Golden City Hall. Admission is FREE with advance registration at https://www.meetup.com/Innovators-Workshop/, OR https://www.eventbrite.com/e/anomalies-pioneering-women-in-petroleum-geology-tickets-34475074877?aff=es2. This event is also co-sponsored by Golden's Economic Development Commission, the Colorado Scientific Society, and the Colorado Oil & Gas Association (COGA) Book description: Anomalies – Pioneering Women in Petroleum Geology: 1917 - 2017 is a celebration of individual courage, tenacity, and professionalism as well as a timely reminder of our past, when male-dominated professions excluded women. The social structure outside this profession amplified the struggle for equality: the inability to vote, the dictate that women should not work outside the home when married, the pervasive practice of lower pay for equal work, the paucity of advancement opportunities, and the lack of recognition in companies and associations. Surprisingly, it spans a stretch of time virtually equal to the time span that men were finally being valued as petroleum geologists. The timeframe began with the period prior to WWI when even a male geologist was looked upon with disdain as having no useful purpose in the search for oil. As geologists gained acceptance, war intervened, creating a vacuum into which the female geology graduate stepped up to the challenge. The women described in Anomalies took the steppingstones necessary to gain respect and become leaders in their chosen field. They are celebrated herein. About Robbie Gries Robbie Gries is founder and President of Priority Oil & Gas LLC, a Denver-based natural gas production, petroleum exploration and development company with producing properties in Kansas and Wyoming. Robbie has been in the petroleum industry for over 40 years, and has been an independent in this industry since 1980. She has combined the business side of oil and gas with her passion for the science of geology and published over 30 papers. She is the 2012 recipient of the AAPG Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award. She was the first woman President of AAPG and expanded the footprint of the organization by visiting over 44 countries and all of the newly formed AAPG Regions. She is a Fellow and past Treasurer of the Geological Society of America. Robbie has been a Director for the Colorado Oil and Gas Association and an officer, leader and scientific contributor to the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists. She has a Master’s degree in geology from The University of Texas at Austin where she serves on the Advisory Council for the The Jackson School of Geosciences Geology Foundation. Robbie is a co-founder and a Board member of GeoScience World an internet resource for the geosciences providing digital access to geological publications to over 19 countries. She is past president of the Colorado Women’s Forum and 1997 recipient of the Woman Leader of Excellence Award from the Colorado Women’s Leadership Coalition. She was a founder of People House, a Denver based center for Human Potential started in 1974. The JeffCo Innovators' Workshop is a collaboration of the IX Power Foundation and the City of Golden's Economic Development Commission. For more information, visit: www.ixpowerfoundation.org or call 303-277-9520.
