I hold a bachelor’s degree in geology from the Federal University of Paraná in Brazil. I completed my master’s degree at the same university, with a thesis on the stratigraphy of the Devonian source rock section in the Paraná Basin. I have been working in Petrobras' Exploration division for 19 years, focusing primarily on seismic interpretation, well correlation, and exploratory risk analysis for South American basins. I serve as a technical advisor for the interpretation of areas in bid rounds. I am pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Houston in collaboration with the CBTH consortium, under the guidance of Professor Dr. Paul Mann. My doctoral thesis covers the southern Santos Basin, the Pelotas Basin, and their African conjugates. The main focus is on the tectono-depositional interpretation of the Albian/Aptian marine source rock section.

M.S. Geology student at the University of Houston and Project researcher with the Conjugate Basins, Tectonics and Hydrocarbons group, currently developing expertise in 3-D basin modeling, seismic interpretation, and petroleum geology with the goal of establishing a career in petroleum exploration.

I am a graduate Geologist (M.Sc., MBA) with fourteen years of experience in the oil and gas industry, with expertise in seismic interpretation and basin modeling across salt basins, passive margins, foreland basins, and convergent margins, as well as developing exploration concepts, defining fairways, and proposing new play concepts. Through my Ph.D. research at the Conjugate Basins Tectonics and Hydrocarbons(CBTH) Consortium, I am investigating the crustal structure and tectonic evolution of the southern Brazilian margin to evaluate the pre-salt petroleum system, focusing on complex carbonate reservoirs and organic-rich lacustrine source rocks. External sphere of influence - Session Chair and Reviewer in AAPG - Reviewer in SPE Journal - 2026 Outstanding Graduate Work in Geology Award - Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (UH EAS) - 2026 NSM Alumni Association Scholarship

Jumoke Akinpelu is a petroleum geoscientist with upstream technical expertise and experience spanning exploration, development & production. She holds degrees in Geology (B.Sc.), Petroleum Geoscience (Masters), an MBA (Honors). Her current research focus includes the Petroleum systems evaluation and deepwater prospectivity across the Conjugate Equatorial Atlantic basins at the Conjugate Basins, Tectonics & Hydrocarbons Consortium (CBTH) where she is also pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Houston. Her career spans deepwater, shelf, and onshore assets across the Niger Delta, Angola, Liberia, the Gulf of Mexico, and Brazil. Jumoke utilizes integrated seismic interpretation, potential fields interpretation and modeling, basin modeling, advanced reservoir characterization, and machine learning to solve complex geologic problems., She has authored and co-authored 20 technical papers and presentations in journals and international conference meetings and earned presentation honors from NAPE, the Houston Geological Society, and the University of Houston.

Daniel Maya is a PhD Candidate in Geology at the University of Houston, where he conducts research on the tectonic evolution and hydrocarbon potential of deepwater Uruguay. He integrates 2D and 3D seismic interpretation, potential-field data, well data, and 3D basin modeling to investigate the offshore Uruguay margin. Daniel’s research is supported by the Conjugate Basins, Tectonics, and Hydrocarbons (CBTH) consortium and ANCAP, Uruguay’s national oil and gas company. He was part of the University of Houston team that placed first in North America and third globally in the 2024 AAPG Imperial Barrel Award competition. His work is supervised by Dr. Paul Mann. Daniel holds a BSc in Geology from Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Ecuador.

Nawaz Bugti works with the University of Houston as a Research Scientist. He has two decades of experience as a geoscientist in various roles, as an explorationist, field development geology, and basin studies. He acquired his PhD from the University of Houston in 2022. His interests are petroleum systems models, basin analysis, and structural geology

Kayla Palucho is a Master’s student in Geology at the University of Houston, where her research focuses on petroleum geochemistry and its applications to basin and petroleum systems modeling. She is currently working on the Niger Delta, investigating how geochemical data can be integrated to better constrain source rock maturity, hydrocarbon migration, and fluid properties within basin models.