Cindy Ann Yeilding

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Cindy Ann Yeilding
Cindy-Yeilding.webp
Born (1960-05-23) May 23, 1960 (age 63)
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Southern Methodist University
University of North Carolina
Scientific career
FieldsGeology Energy
InstitutionsDenbury Inc.

National Petroleum Council Study

The centre for Houston's Future

Cindy A. Yeilding (born May 23, 1960) is an American geologist from Houston, Texas. Yeilding is Senior Vice President of British Petroleum, America. She was formerly Vice President of exploration technology and assurance, and has held various other positions at BP in oil and gas, exploration of the Gulf of Mexico and geoscience. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Cindy Ann Yeilding was born on May 23,1960. When she was a young child, her mother would take her to hunt for fossils and rocks. This promoted her love for geology. Yeilding was recognized for her mathematical talent during her high school years. At university, she initially pursued a math degree, except her true passion was art history and architecture. Eventually she switched to a geology major, which she saw as "the perfect melding of art and science". She earned a bachelor's degree in Geology from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and a master of science in geology from the University of North Carolina.

Career

Yeilding initially joined Standard Oil of Ohio (Sohio), an American oil company, as a summer intern. In 1985, after she completed her master's degree in geology, the company hired her as an exploration geologist and a carbonate specialist. During this period, Yeilding also contributed to academia: she delivered short lectures to institutions such as American Association of Petroleum, assisted in developing courses, and published papers on geology. [2] Yeilding has delivered presentations to various esteemed societies as well. [3] Shortly after this she became an operations geologist and oversaw off shore-geologic activities. [4] In 1987 Sohio was bought by British Petroleum (BP). [5] Throughout her life, she has published over 100 articles on geoscience, CCUS, and energy transition. [6]

Yeilding's experience working off-shore led her to working in various basins globally. Most notably, she was an influential figure in the exploration and appraisal of the Gulf of Mexico which led to her becoming Chief Geoscientist. [1] Later she held the position of Research and Development Manager and worked her way up to overall Vice President for BP. In 2020, Yeilding was the chairperson for a study on capturing, using, and storing carbon performed by the National Petroleum Council. [7]

Yeilding is member of the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) Board of Directors. [8]

Recognition

Yeilding has received awards and honours in recognition of her work. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) named her a Distinguished Lecturer[ when? ] and a "Legend of Exploration" in 2003. [9] She appeared in the Houston Business Journal's "2016 Women in Energy Leadership", [7] Houston's Top 15 Business Women, and Houston's 50 Most influential Women of 2016. In 2017, she was granted the Manufacturing Institutes STEP Award for women. STEP stands for science, technology, engineering, and production. [3] She has also won Hart Energy's "25 Most Influential Women in Energy" award in 2020. [10]

Women in STEM outreach

Yeilding has stated that she faced difficulties as a woman in the petroleum industry. In the early stages of her career, male engineers working on oil rigs disregarded Yeilding and assumed she didn't understand the complexity of drilling. Despite this she persevered and built relationships with the crew that allowed them to realize how valuable she was to the team. [11] Yeilding learned a lot of lessons while being in the petroleum industry one being, "it isn't race or gender that defines us: it is our brains". She stated that by using the "bigger brain"; which is using every ones experiences, insights, and knowledge can allow for complex problems to be solved.

Yeilding is a founder of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Women's Committee. [3] She launched the OTC Women's networking committee and the High School Energy Challenge. Both initiatives are not for profit. [12]

Yeilding is on the leadership council for BP’s Million Women Mentors and is an executive sponsor for BP Women's Network. [3] She contributes to BP's programs to support young women aspiring to enter careers in STEM. The company conducts high school outreach programs that bring science and engineering students to shadow Yeilding and her colleagues. They also provide mentorship for university level women. BP sponsors “take your child to work day” for elementary and high school students to learn from top scientists and engineers who work at BP. [11]

Selected publications

Yeilding has published numerous research works.

Personal life

Yeilding is married and has two children. [24] Sources occasionally misspell her surname as "Yielding".[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

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References

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  13. Apps, G. M.; Peel, F. J.; Travis, C. J.; Yeilding, C. A. (1994). "Structural Controls on Tertiary Deep Water Deposition in the Northern Gulf of Mexico". In Weimer, Paul; Bouma, Arnold H.; Perkins, Bob F. (eds.). Submarine Fans and Turbidite Systems: Sequence Stratigraphy, Reservoir Architecture and Production Characteristics, Gulf of Mexico and International. Gulf Coast Section Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Foundation Fifteenth Annual Research Conference. SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology. doi:10.5724/gcs.94.15.0001. ISBN   978-0-9836097-5-9.
  14. Yeilding, Cindy A.; Apps, Gillian M. (1994). "Spatial and Temporal Variations in the Facies Associations of Depositional Sequences on the Slope: Examples from the Miocene-Pleistocene of the Gulf of Mexico". In Weimer, Paul; Bouma, Arnold H.; Perkins, Bob F. (eds.). Submarine Fans and Turbidite Systems: Sequence Stratigraphy, Reservoir Architecture and Production Characteristics, Gulf of Mexico and International. Gulf Coast Section Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Foundation Fifteenth Annual Research Conference. SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology. doi:10.5724/gcs.94.15.0441. ISBN   978-0-9836097-5-9.
  15. Yeilding, C.A.; Apps, G.M.; Pulham, A.J. (1993). Shelf Margin Processes And Their Impact On Sediment Architecture Of The Plio-Pleistocene, U.S. Gulf Of Mexico. Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, May 1993. doi:10.4043/7127-MS. ISBN   9781613990896. Paper Number: OTC–7127–MS.
  16. Mayall, M. J.; Yeilding, C. A.; Oldroyd, J. D.; Pulham, A. J.; Sakurai, S. (1992-04-01). "Facies in a shelf-edge delta - An example from the subsurface of the Gulf of Mexico, middle Pliocene, Mississippi Canyon, Block 109" . AAPG Bulletin. United States: American Association of Petroleum Geologists. 76 (4). ISSN   0149-1423. OSTI   7068254.
  17. Yeilding, Cindy A.; Dennison, John M. (1 July 1986). "Sedimentary response to Mississippian tectonic activity at the east end of the 38th Parallel fracture zone". Geology. 14 (7): 621–624. Bibcode:1986Geo....14..621Y. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1986)14<621:SRTMTA>2.0.CO;2.
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  19. Yeilding, Cindy A.; Sullivan, Eileen M.; Textoris, Daniel A.; Dennison, John M. (1985). "Effects of Mississippian Tectonic Movement on Sedimentation and Diagenesis of Greenbrier Group in Eastern Appalachian Plateau". AAPG Bulletin. 69 (2): 318. ISSN   0149-1423.
  20. Yeilding, Cindy A.; Edstrand, Eric J.; Travis, Christopher J.; Boyd, J. Doug; Reagan, Roger; Urban, Dennis M.; Oldroyd, John D. (February 1999). "Reservoir Prediction Using the Forest and the Trees: Reducing Reservoir Risk and Uncertainty in Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Exploration by Using a Wide Range and Scale of Predictive Tools". Houston Geological Society Bulletin. 41 (6): 15–16.
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