Dr. Steel's research is aimed at using clastic sedimentology to address problems in basin analysis, dynamic stratigraphy and clastic reservoirs. I am particularly interested to decipher the signatures of tectonics, climate, sea level change and sediment supply in stratigraphic successions.

Areas of Expertise

Dr. Steel's research is aimed at using clastic sedimentology to address problems in basin analysis, dynamic stratigraphy and clastic reservoirs. I am particularly interested to decipher the signatures of tectonics, climate, sea level change and sediment supply in stratigraphic successions.


Research Locations



Distinguished Educator Award, American Assoc. Petrol. Geologists, 2011 - AAPG (2011)

Distinguished Teaching Award, Jackson School, University of Texas, 2010 - UT Austin (2010)

SEPM Best Paper (Honorable Mention), Gerber et al. 2009 - SEPM (2009)

Walter Excellence Award, Jackson School, University of Texas at Austin 2009 - Jackson School. UT Austin (2009)

SEPM Best Paper (Honorable Mention) award 2007 and AAPG Best Paper (2nd Place), 2008 - AAPG & SEPM (2007 - 2008)

Awarded 6th Century Chair - University of Aberdeen, UK (2006)

Distinguished Lecturer - AAPG (2004 - 2005)

Distinguished Lecturer - Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (2002)

Excellence of Poster Award - SEPM (2001)

Outstanding Research Award - University of Wyoming (2000)

Best Paper Award - Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, Denver (1999)

Best Lecturer, 2nd Place - SEPM, Rocky Mountain Section (1999)

Dr Steel currently supervises or co-supervises 8 graduate students working within RioMAR (shelf and shelf-margin depositional systems and architecture) IA Program, BITE (Bars in Tidal Environments) IA Program, Campanian Dynamic Stratigraphy (& impact of Laramide tectonics) Project in US Western Interior, as well as newer projects on peri-Tethyan, Miocene Lake Basins (Romania and Black Sea), Deepwater Channel-to-Lobe Transitions (Argentina) and large paleo-Deltas (Orinoco, Colorado).


Postdocs

Anjali M Fernandes


Graduate Students

Joshua F Dixon, Ph.D., expected 2013
My dissertation focuses on the analysis of the architecture, stratigraphy, sedimentology of shelf-edge deltas and the connectivity between these features and other depositional systems on the adjacent slope and basin floor. Primarily through the study of outcrop examples of shelf-edge strata, my work addresses the role of processes at the shelf edge in delivery of sediment to the deep water, a fundamental step in the formation of deep-water hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Allison M Ned, M.S., expected 2013

Nataleigh K Vann, M.S., expected 2013
Outcrop based research of slope and basin floor channel and lobe deposits in the Neuquen Basin of Argentina. Sponsored by Statoil.

Julio Leva Lopez, Ph.D., expected 2013

Eugen P Tudor, M.S., expected 2014

Tricia G Alvarez, Ph.D., expected 2014
Tricia Alvarez is a PhD student at the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. She completed a B.Sc. in Geology at The University of the West Indies in 2001 and an M.S. in Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin in 2008. Her research interest at the Jackson School of Geosciences is focused on the study of sedimentary basins in the context of their tectonic setting with emphasis on the influence of tectonics on spatial and temporal structural patterns, and clastic sediment partitioning through the application of integrated geologic, geophysical and remotely sensed datasets.

German D Merletti, Ph.D., expected 2015

Rene R Winter, Ph.D., expected 2015

Rattanaporn Fong-Ngern, Ph.D., expected 2016
I am currently in a PhD program. My research project involved both surface and subsurface data. My study area is the western Dacian of Romania. My area of expertise includes: sequence stratigraphy, sedimentology and basin analysis that focus on fieldwork, well log correlation and interpretation and seismic interpretation.

Valentina M Rossi, Ph.D., expected 2016

Carla Sanchez, Ph.D., 2011
Controls on Sedimentary Processes and 3D Stratigraphic Architecture of a Mid-Miocene to Recent, MIxed Carbonate-siliciclastic Continental Margin: Northwest Shelf of Australia

Georgia Huggins, M.A., 2007

Sarah Milewski, M.S., 2007

Rikke Bruhn, Ph.D., 2003, Københavns Universitet / University of Copenhagen

Anton Wroblewski, Ph.D., 2002, University of Wyoming

Manasij Santra

Daniel Pinkston

Chris Armstrong

Ozge Karaman

Bryn Clark

Victor Pusca

Maija Schellpeper

Ariana Osman, M.S.

Cristian Carvahal

Andrew Petter, Ph.D.

Stuart Blackwood

Carlos Uroza

Jennifer Aschoff, Ph.D.

Carolina Gomez


Petroleum Geology, Clastic Depositional Environments, Sequence Stratigraphy Geo (Graduate)

RESEARCH