Geoffrey S Ellis
Geoffrey Ellis is a petroleum geochemist with the Energy Resources Program (ERP) of the US Geological Survey. He manages the sealed tube and hydrous pyrolysis laboratories within the Central Energy Resources Science Center.
Geoffrey Ellis' research interests encompass the areas of organic-inorganic interactions in petroleum systems, gas isotope geochemistry, and the controls on sedimentary organic geochemistry in aquatic environments. He has published extensively on the process of thermochemical sulfate reduction and its impact on petroleum geochemistry. He is also actively investigating the application of compound-specific sulfur isotope analysis to problems in petroleum and organic geochemistry. He also has ongoing research projects involving clumped and position specific isotope analysis of hydrocarbons and organosulfur compounds and their relation to petroleum formation processes.
Professional Experience
2006-Present: Research Geologist, Energy Resources Program, USGS
2003-2006: Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology
1996-2003: Graduate Research Assistant, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami
1994-1996: Consulting Petroleum Geochemist, Venezuela
1991-1994: Physical Scientist, Nation Research Program, Water Resources Division, USGS
1988-1990: Geochemist, Northeast Research Institute
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Marine Geology and Geophysics, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami
M.S., Geochemistry, Colorado School of Mines
B.A., Geological Sciences, Cornell University
Affiliations and Memberships*
Affiliate faculty Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
Member American Association of Petroleum Geologists, European Association of Organic Geochemists, Geochemical Society, Geological Society of America
Member Association of Afro-Asian Petroleum Geochemists, Latin American Association of Organic Geochemistry
Member of the “Committee on Research” of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (2009-present)
Vice-chairman of the executive council of the Association of Afro-Asian Petroleum Geochemists
Founding member of the editorial board of the journal Petroleum Research
Member of the editorial board of the English-language version of the journal Acta Petrolei Sinica
Member of the editorial board of the journal Journal of Natural Gas Geoscience
Member of the editorial board of the journal Unconventional Resources
Science and Products
Experimental investigation of changes in methane adsorption of bitumen-free Woodford Shale with thermal maturation induced by hydrous pyrolysis
Formation temperatures of thermogenic and biogenic methane
Compositional and stable carbon isotopic fractionation during non-autocatalytic thermochemical sulfate reduction by gaseous hydrocarbons
Benzo[b]naphthothiophenes and alkyl dibenzothiophenes: molecular tracers for oil migration distances
Late Quaternary stratigraphy, sedimentology, and geochemistry of an underfilled lake basin in the Puna (north-west Argentina)
Effect of organic matter properties, clay mineral type and thermal maturity on gas adsorption in organic-rich shale systems
Lacustrine records of Holocene flood pulse dynamics in the Upper Paraguay River watershed (Pantanal wetlands, Brazil)
Playa-lake sedimentation and organic matter accumulation in an Andean piggyback basin: The recent record from the Cuenca de Pozuelos, NW Argentina
Effect of organic-matter type and thermal maturity on methane adsorption in shale-gas systems
Kinetics of uncatalyzed thermochemical sulfate reduction by sulfur-free paraffin
Limnogeology in Brazil's "forgotten wilderness": A synthesis from the large floodplain lakes of the Pantanal
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Anadarko Basin Province of Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Colorado, 2010
Science and Products
Experimental investigation of changes in methane adsorption of bitumen-free Woodford Shale with thermal maturation induced by hydrous pyrolysis
Formation temperatures of thermogenic and biogenic methane
Compositional and stable carbon isotopic fractionation during non-autocatalytic thermochemical sulfate reduction by gaseous hydrocarbons
Benzo[b]naphthothiophenes and alkyl dibenzothiophenes: molecular tracers for oil migration distances
Late Quaternary stratigraphy, sedimentology, and geochemistry of an underfilled lake basin in the Puna (north-west Argentina)
Effect of organic matter properties, clay mineral type and thermal maturity on gas adsorption in organic-rich shale systems
Lacustrine records of Holocene flood pulse dynamics in the Upper Paraguay River watershed (Pantanal wetlands, Brazil)
Playa-lake sedimentation and organic matter accumulation in an Andean piggyback basin: The recent record from the Cuenca de Pozuelos, NW Argentina
Effect of organic-matter type and thermal maturity on methane adsorption in shale-gas systems
Kinetics of uncatalyzed thermochemical sulfate reduction by sulfur-free paraffin
Limnogeology in Brazil's "forgotten wilderness": A synthesis from the large floodplain lakes of the Pantanal
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Anadarko Basin Province of Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Colorado, 2010
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government