Associate Head for Undergraduate Education
Associate Teaching Professor
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral
Engineering
Penn State University
115 Hosler Building
University Park, PA 16802-5000
office: 814-863-1642
eugene.morgan@psu.edu
My primary research activities focus on developing Bayesian inversion strategies for extracting information from seismic survey data. In particular, I investigate the use of seismic attenuation in these inversion strategies because intrinsic attenuation is theoretically linked more strongly to the hydraulic properties of a formation (i.e., porosity, permeability, saturation) than velocity. The non-linearity and multimodality of the rock physics equations that model attenuation warrant stochastic inversion techniques, and a Bayesian framework allows a convenient expression of prior geologic knowledge, as well as the predictions, in a probabilistic way. These methods can achieve a better characterization of reservoirs in the exploration phase.
I am also interested in solving problems in the oil and gas industry using statistics, BIG data analytics, and machine learning. A large focus is on well production data, where my group is using time series statistics, geostatistics, and pattern recognition techniques to improve forecasting and operational decision support.