Geologist Monte Rivers Joins KGS Geoscience Information Management Section
Monte Rivers returned this fall to KGS as a geologist in the Geoscience Information Management Section, after working as a consultant in the oil and gas industry. A native Kentuckian, Rivers graduated from Morehead State University with a bachelor’s degree in geography with an emphasis in geology. Rivers has earned his Geologist-in-Training certification and holds a GIS certificate.
Prior to obtaining his degree, Rivers worked in the automotive industry, where he acquired technical and managerial training. He enjoys solving problems and working outdoors, which is one of the reasons he was initially interested in geology. His curiosity about geology was piqued after taking an introductory geology course with Charles Mason, professor of geological sciences at Morehead State University. He also enjoyed learning about geologic processes via field work with Mason and Steven Reid, another faculty member at Morehead. Rivers enjoys collecting fossils while he is in the field, especially trilobites, and he also enjoys using information from field work to solve problems and understand the processes that formed the Kentucky we know today.
During his junior and senior years in college, Rivers worked on dual senior thesis projects in geography and geology while he interned with KGS, doing surficial geologic mapping for parts of eastern Kentucky. He also worked for KGS after his graduation in 2009, mapping parts of the Morehead quadrangle.
After working for KGS, Rivers was employed by Bluewater Consulting Services as a mudlogger. While with Bluewater, he was responsible for evaluating drill cuttings, analyzing log and gas data, monitoring equipment, and providing status reports to the company geologist, and on-site company employees.
In his next role, Rivers was employed by Diversified Well Logging and served as a remote geosteering office manager and a geosteering geologist. He also helped set up a remote business for Diversified Well Logging, which included computer setup, software and hardware installations, and computer networking. He developed standardized procedures for writing and processing geologic geosteering reports to enable multiple-well steering by a single person.
Rivers later became a co-owner and manager of Rubicon Geological Consulting as mudlogging manager and exploration geologist, working mostly in eastern Kentucky. He was involved in the day-to-day logistics related to providing mudlogging supplies and technical support for the field and in-house remote-geosteering employees. He also mentored new employees, teaching them how to use SES Geosteering software and basic drilling principles and techniques to successfully geosteer wells. He served as a field technician, troubleshooting all electronics software and hardware, and the internet. In addition, Rivers created geologic cross sections and hydrocarbon exploration maps to better determine the placement of oil and gas wells in the field and for clients and funded projects.
Most recently, Rivers worked as a geosteering geologist with Hoss Directional Services in Oklahoma. In this role, he was involved in well placement, locating pay zones that were picked by the company geologist. Working with on-site employees, he helped the team to properly drill into productive geologic formations and to optimize wellbore placement for maximum oil and gas recovery.
Rivers’ more than nine years of hands-on oil and gas experience will be useful in his new role of analyzing, archiving, and managing electric logs and well documents. He likes the challenge of organizing information and using it to create a product. Rivers enjoys various hobbies including woodworking, kayaking on local waterways, and riding his motorcycle on Kentucky highways. So, if you see a motorcyclist viewing an outcrop in eastern Kentucky, it just might be Monte.
