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
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Pennsylvanian Tyler Formation of the Williston Basin Province, 2020
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Mowry Shale, Wind River Basin Province, Wyoming, 2020
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Upper Cretaceous Austin Chalk and Tokio and Eutaw Formations, U.S. Gulf Coast, 2019
Position-specific distribution of hydrogen isotopes in natural propane: Effects of thermal cracking, equilibration and biodegradation
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Ordovician Collingwood Formation and Utica Shale of the Michigan Basin Province, 2019
Sulfur isotope composition of individual compounds in immature organic-rich rocks and possible geochemical implications
Assessment of undiscovered gas resources in the Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale of the Appalachian Basin Province, 2019
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the niobrara interval of the Cody Shale, Bighorn Basin Province, Wyoming and Montana, 2019
Kinetics of elemental sulfur reduction by petroleum hydrocarbons and the implications for hydrocarbon thermal chemical alteration
Experimental investigation of the role of rock fabric in gas generation and expulsion during thermal maturation: Anhydrous closed-system pyrolysis of a bitumen-rich Eagle Ford Shale
Equilibrium and non-equilibrium controls on the abundances of clumped isotopologues of methane during thermogenic formation in laboratory experiments: Implications for the chemistry of pyrolysis and the origins of natural gases
Experimental investigation on thermochemical sulfate reduction in the presence of 1-pentanethiol at 200 and 250 °C: Implications for in situ TSR processes occurring in some MVT deposits
Science and Products
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Pennsylvanian Tyler Formation of the Williston Basin Province, 2020
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Mowry Shale, Wind River Basin Province, Wyoming, 2020
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Upper Cretaceous Austin Chalk and Tokio and Eutaw Formations, U.S. Gulf Coast, 2019
Position-specific distribution of hydrogen isotopes in natural propane: Effects of thermal cracking, equilibration and biodegradation
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Ordovician Collingwood Formation and Utica Shale of the Michigan Basin Province, 2019
Sulfur isotope composition of individual compounds in immature organic-rich rocks and possible geochemical implications
Assessment of undiscovered gas resources in the Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale of the Appalachian Basin Province, 2019
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the niobrara interval of the Cody Shale, Bighorn Basin Province, Wyoming and Montana, 2019
Kinetics of elemental sulfur reduction by petroleum hydrocarbons and the implications for hydrocarbon thermal chemical alteration
Experimental investigation of the role of rock fabric in gas generation and expulsion during thermal maturation: Anhydrous closed-system pyrolysis of a bitumen-rich Eagle Ford Shale
Equilibrium and non-equilibrium controls on the abundances of clumped isotopologues of methane during thermogenic formation in laboratory experiments: Implications for the chemistry of pyrolysis and the origins of natural gases
Experimental investigation on thermochemical sulfate reduction in the presence of 1-pentanethiol at 200 and 250 °C: Implications for in situ TSR processes occurring in some MVT deposits
*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