Are you seeking a way to become more involved with SPE while expanding your professional and technical horizons? If so, JPT’s Technology Focus feature, which has delivered synopses of important SPE conference papers for 30 years, offers you an ideal opportunity in the form of service on JPT’s Editorial Review Board (ERB), made up of 48 subject-matter experts (SMEs) across a spectrum of topics.
In the late 1990s, JPT staff recognized a need to expand the intersection of SPE’s members with the crucial work outlined in the technical papers written by their colleagues. The solution was the Technology Focus feature, in which conference papers dedicated to a broad spectrum of industry topics were chosen by SMEs and condensed by SPE staff to convey key findings and illustrative case studies. Since the launch of the feature, hundreds of SPE members from a wide range of major operators, service companies, technology specialists, academic institutions, and research facilities have served as reviewers.
Every month, JPT publishes four different Technology Focus features; each concerns a different topic and presents synopses of three noteworthy SPE conference papers selected by that topic’s reviewer. While JPT staff synopsize the selected papers, the reviewer is responsible for making their three selections dedicated to their topic and writing a short, high-view introduction to accompany the feature.
You may be uniquely positioned to serve as a member of the ERB, helping the industry’s gold-standard magazine deliver novel, field-changing technology to the broader community of SPE members.
Reviewers must meet the following criteria:
- Have demonstrated experience, either with service companies, operators, or academic institutions, in writing about or implementing innovative technologies and operational advances
- Participated in authorship of technical papers
- Be willing and able to devote one period a year reviewing abstracts, making selections, and writing the short introductory column (the time between delivery of abstracts to the reviewer and due date of selections is approximately 7 weeks)
- Attend one virtual meeting of the ERB every year, in which the basic charge of reviewers and best practices are discussed
- Be able to complete a 2-year term of service
While ERB reviewers are valued for their wealth of upstream E&P experience, professionals who are newer to the field also are encouraged to pursue a role.
The prevalence of AI- and machine-learning-driven methodologies and approaches means that almost all industry professionals are now data scientists. With that in mind, should you choose to pursue ERB service and identify primarily as a data scientist, be sure that you are able to identify various subtopics within the upstream sector to which your data-science skills apply (i.e., drilling, monitoring, reservoir characterization, process equipment, enhanced recovery, and similar specializations). A deeper look into a candidate’s skill set will always be helpful when JPT recruits members for the ERB.
Because terms of service are of a 2-year duration, open spots appear every year. While JPT cannot guarantee service in response to application, the magazine is always eager to hear from professionals who are ready and willing to devote their time, experience, and skill to maintaining JPT’s high standard of quality.
If you’re interested in service as an ERB reviewer, please contact JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter directly with your CV and a brief description of your areas of interest at ccarpenter@spe.org. You may also visit the SPE Volunteer Portal to indicate your interest.
We look forward to hearing from you!
