Top Petroleum Geology Award Goes to Milliken

December 12, 2023

Kitty Milliken, a senior research scientist at the Bureau of Economic Geology, is the recipient of the Sydney Power’s Memorial Award in petroleum geology, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)’s most distinguished award.

Milliken is the award’s 76th recipient and the first woman to receive the honor. The award was presented at the AAPG’s International Meeting for Applied Geoscience & Energy.

Milliken is known across the oil and gas industry for her work in sedimentary geology and the evolution of rock properties in the subsurface. Her research has shaped major energy production efforts and she has sailed on five major scientific ocean drilling expeditions. She also served as president of the Society for Sedimentary Geology.

Milliken said that the award was an acknowledgement of her work with AAPG and its influence on her.

“In a way, it’s my field of study that is being acknowledged here and I love that,” she said. “It means a lot, not just to me, but to my mentors and fellow petrographers who’ve always kept faith with the notion that it’s important to look closely at the rocks.”