Innovative thinkers

John Castagna is an American geophysicist, who is best known for his discovery of the “mudrock line,” its use in amplitude-versus-offset analysis, and advances in spectral decomposition and high-resolution inversion.

Castagna had a very early start to his career as a geoscientist. Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, his mother, a chemist, and father, an electronic, mechanical and acoustical engineer, allowed him to help with experiments in their own laboratories. “He infected me,” Castagna says of his father. “Even as a toddler, I remember helping with experiments and seeing all the wonderful things he was doing with sound waves.”

Although he was a “city boy,” Castagna had a profound love for nature. His affection for science and nature prompted him, at just 15 years old, to further his education in geology at Brooklyn College. He earned a BS degree in geology, with a minor in chemistry, before going on to earn his MS degree in geochemistry. At 19 years old, Castagna lectured for the college on physical geology, and later pursued his doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin.

During that time, Castagna launched his career in research with ARCO Oil and Gas Co., studying high-frequency waveforms in boreholes and interpreting seismic velocities, among other topics. He held various technical and management positions at the company, including five years drilling as an explorationist, which he says, “completed my education.” Much of the research he conducted over the years—particularly in AVO analysis and, more recently, spectral and phase decomposition—is now commonly used in the industry, with several major oil companies having licenses for his methods.

After 16 years at ARCO, Castagna was drawn back to his former role as an educator, taking a position as a chaired professor in geology and geophysics at the University of Oklahoma. He also served as director of the university’s Institute for Exploration and Development Geosciences. Meanwhile, Castagna founded Fusion Geophysical, LLC, a services company providing geophysical, geological and reservoir engineering technology and services.

Similarly, after joining the University of Houston (UH) as the sheriff chair in applied seismology, Castagna founded Lumina Geophysical, LLC, in 2010. As a software and services provider, Lumina utilizes its team of G&G professionals to meet the needs of its clients, which include small independent companies, oil and gas majors and NOCs, alike. The company’s offerings range from seismic analysis and quantitative interpretation services, to reservoir characterization and modeling using “deep learning.”

In March, Lumina released its latest offering: Leonardo. Leonardo is a geophysical modeling tool that allows the user to create and test earth models quickly and easily. It allows the user to sketch, model and share reservoir models, without having to deal with a complicated workspace. According to Lumina, Leonardo “becomes an extension of your imagination.”

Castagna continues his work primarily as a geophysics professor, in addition to serving on Lumina’s board of directors. “At Lumina, I’m really just a cheerleader,” Castagna said. “Many of my former students are there now, and they’re doing great things.”  

When asked what he hopes to accomplish next, Dr. Castagna says he is eager to see where AI and deep learning will take the oil and gas industry. Although, not without its caveats. “I have great concern,” he said. “There is great promise for deep learning, but I worry that there are those who think it can entirely replace human intelligence. We are nowhere near that. This is a boom-and-bust industry, so we need to preserve our investment in human capital during the hard times, even though it doesn’t appear directly as anything but a cost on a balance sheet. We don’t want to look back with regret at the talent we let slip away being penny-wise and pound-foolish.”