EXPLORER A pioneer <strong>of</strong> modern geoscience, geochemistry A Conversation With Dietrich Welte By DAVID BROWN, EXPLORER Correspondent AAPG Dietrich Welte is a pioneer <strong>of</strong> modern geoscience, co-author <strong>of</strong> the first comprehensive textbook on geochemical process-focused exploration, an outstanding academician and researcher, a leader in the development <strong>of</strong> basin and petroleum-system modeling. He also is now the 2013 recipient <strong>of</strong> AAPG’s highest honor, the Sidney Powers Memorial Award. Welte’s previous recognition from AAPG includes the President’s Award in 1966, the International Special Commendation Award in 2000, a Special Award in 2004 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2006. A native <strong>of</strong> Würzburg, Germany, he has made a powerful, lifelong contribution to teaching the geosciences in Europe and to developing and applying scientific principles to exploration around the world. EXPLORER: When did you know you were going to become a scientist? Welte: Already as a schoolboy I was exposed to an atmosphere where science was part <strong>of</strong> daily conversations. Both <strong>of</strong> my parents had a scientific educational background. My mother had a Ph.D. in biology, which was very rare in the early 1920s for a woman. My father was a geoscientist and university pr<strong>of</strong>essor. Both <strong>of</strong> my parents died very early. My father was killed during the Second World War as a soldier and my mother died soon after the war from typhoid fever. The way he was: Left, Welte on a field trip to Israel, 1978; right, at the Institute for <strong>Petroleum</strong> and Organic Geochemistry at the Nuclear Research Center (KFA) in Jülich, Germany, 1981. EXPLORER: Why did you study geoscience? Welte: My interest for science was persistent, and when I started university in the city <strong>of</strong> Würzburg in Bavaria in 1952, I was undecided whether I should study Recent Sidney Powers Winners: 2012 – Koenraad J. Weber 2011 – John W. Shelton 2010 – L. Frank Brown Jr. 2009 – Marlan W. Downey 2008 – Fred F. Meissner 2007 – Arnold H. Bouma chemistry or geology. Consequently, I tried as much as possible to devote time to both fields. An organized student excursion in 1954 to the emerging post-war chemical industry in Frankfurt quickly brought the decision. I 2006 – Robert M. Mitchum Jr. 2005 – Kenneth W. Glennie 2004 – Lawrence W. Funkhouser 2003 – Peter R. Vail 2002 – James L. Wilson 2001 – Robert M. Sneider 2000 – Gerald M. Friedman could not imagine spending part <strong>of</strong> my life as an industry chemist “in a little laboratory with unpleasant odors.” From then on I focused on geology, and after my interim examination I moved from Würzburg to the University <strong>of</strong> Göttingen to take courses in sedimentology and mineralogy. EXPLORER: Your biggest early influence was in modern geochemistry, a field you helped develop. What got you interested in geochemistry? Welte: After the fall semester <strong>of</strong> 1956 I returned to the University <strong>of</strong> Würzburg and received a diploma in geology, equivalent to a master’s degree, in July 1957. During my stay in Göttingen I was exposed to geochemistry, which also suited my former inclination toward chemistry. Winning a Fulbright scholarship brought me to the United States. There, I studied and worked as a graduate assistant in the geochemistry department <strong>of</strong> the Pennsylvania State University. EXPLORER: And geochemistry was the start <strong>of</strong> your career? Welte: An invitation by P.H. Abelson, at that time director <strong>of</strong> the Geophysical Laboratory in Washington, D.C., stimulated my interest in organic geochemistry. The fate <strong>of</strong> organic substances in the Earth’s crust – the remnants <strong>of</strong> former See Welte, page 24 22 MAY 2013 WWW.AAPG.ORG
AAPG EXPLORER WWW.AAPG.ORG MAY 2013 23