With a modest post on LinkedIn on November 22, Jeanine Vany, Executive Vice President of Geosciences for Eavor Technologies revealed she was the recipient of the first Patricia J. Lee Trailblazer Award in 2021.
The award, inspired by the revered oil and gas geologist Patricia Lee, recognizes individuals or teams who are impacting the energy geosciences sector in undeniable and relevant ways. Created by the Canadian Society for Petroleum Geoscientists, the award pays homage to innovation, long-term vision, and collaboration in the field, demonstrated by the distinction’s namesake.
Although Vany initially insisted she did not qualify for the nomination, her credentials and contributions to geothermal energy development, and efforts to solve food scarcity in the Yukon with geothermally heated greenhouses made her an adept candidate for the award.
Vany, co-founder of Eavor Technologies Inc., is an APEGA-registered professional geologist with over 15 years of experience working in the oil and gas industry. In 2017, Vany’s contributions to a study were instrumental in the creation of Alberta’s Geothermal Resource Development Act, and Eavor’s trademarked closed-loop technology has driven next-generation geothermal energy innovation to new heights on a global scale.
“This is truly the most prestigious award, a highlight of my career (although I always hope the best is yet to come),” wrote Vany in her LinkedIn post. “Can’t wait to see who this year’s winner is!” she added.
To read Vany’s full post, click here.
Michelle Lund, chair of the CSPG Patricia Lee Trailblazer award committee, interviewed Vany earlier this year. The award recipient told Lund that four key pillars allowed a great idea to become a revolutionary practice, and acknowledged the team effort required to facilitate such a transition.
Team diversity, including ethnic, gender but also disciplinary diversity allowed her team to tackle issues with a multi-faceted approach. Second, access to thorough data was crucial to the team’s ability to hit the ground running, and put ideas into development as soon as possible.
Vany cited the ability to adapt and pivot quickly as the third pillar, noting the importance of boots on the ground: locals familiar with the geological and political landscapes will have the ability to identify potential hurdles before they become a problem.
Last but not least, Vany said the final key to her team’s success was education. “This can’t be understated. When you have a new technology, you’re educating everyone, everywhere, all the time,” she told Lund.
Ensuring stakeholders, key players in the energy industry, and even academic institutions understand Eavor’s revolutionary technology was key to putting Eavor’s tech into action.
On September 20, 2022, Vany was gifted a hand-crafted award created by fellow geologist and artist Karen Bradshaw. Lee, along with other notable members of the CSPG award committee attended the presentation in Prince’s Island Park, Calgary. The event was dubbed as a meeting of two generations of trailblazers.
Patricia Lee’s – the award’s namesake – notable career achievements include discovering the Caroline gas field, some of the most lucrative and widespread underground reservoirs of natural gas in Alberta. Her perseverance, self-advocacy, and persistence resulted in unparalleled profits for Shell, and catapulted her to Chief Geologist of Shell Canada.
Lee’s contributions also opened doors for the introduction of a cross-training program at Shell, allowing geologists to learn the ropes of geophysics; a program now considered commonplace in the oil and gas industry.
Vany said in an interview with Michelle Lund that 4 key pillars allowed a great idea to become a revolutionary practice: team diversity, meaning ethnic and gender but also disciplinary diversity allows a team to tackle issues from a multi-faceted approach
