About
Astronomy
I have an 8” Dobsonian reflector telescope at home and have been an amateur astronomer for the past 15 years. I’ve also recently successfully completed an online course with the Open University in the UK.
Reading
When it comes to reading, I enjoy a broad spectrum of genres, including science fiction and fiction classics from the 1950s – 1970s, for example, John Steinbeck, Ray Bradbury and the like, as well as history and science, for example, Richard Dawkins, Richard Fortey, etc.
Family
My wife and I have two lovely boys, Glen, who’s 15 and Gavin, 12. I enjoy spending time with them, with activities such as swimming, cycling and the outdoors. As a result of Covid, I’ve also been spending time home-schooling the boys in all aspects, including maths and chemistry. And of course, for my wife, I always make time.
And then work, of course.
What does your average day look like, Garry?
As an Offshore Wellsite Geologist, to broadly summarise, I’m required to interpret the stratigraphy as the well is being drilled. This is very important, as we are required to ensure that a particular borehole section interval is drilled to a certain depth in a particular formation, to ensure we always have complete well control. To enable this process, I utilise two sources of information, principally the drilled cuttings and the logging measurements (LWD).
I’m also required to ensure we have no indications of formation pore pressure that is higher than prognosed. Other work requirements include such tasks as wireline operations supervision, coring operations, as well as writing and completing wellsite logs, Well End Reports and other admin tasks.
Tell us a bit about your career development at AGR.
Prior to joining AGR, I was a Wellsite Geologist with another energy consultancy. I joined AGR, as I wanted to continue in this particular type of work on a permanent contract with more variety in terms of clients and projects. My job at AGR has enabled me to work with a wide range of clients, offering a wide variety of hydrocarbon fields and projects, which have greatly enhanced my experience.
What did you do before joining AGR?
Life before AGR took me down many paths. Firstly, I was in the army for four years with military service in Germany and the Middle East. I then left the army and completed my bachelors in geology at Imperial College, London and made millions of pizzas in my then part-time work. I also worked for the University of Ottawa, where I managed to accidently overturn a student minibus in Quebec. I also managed to complete my Master’s in petroleum geology at Aberdeen University.
I have worked for various service companies, including wireline work in remote Uganda and Alberta, Canada.
What does AGR do to enable your professional advancement and work-life balance?
AGR have provided me with a sensible work-life balance, in addition to a solid work environment with lots of variety. Obviously, with Covid it hasn’t been ideal, but as a team we’ve done our best to deal with it.
