Located on the northeast corner of the historic University of Oklahoma's Norman campus is
Sarkeys Energy Center - the home to the Mewbourne College and Earth Energy.
The Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy is housed within Sarkeys Energy Center, which comprises a seven-acre, four-square block, 340,000 square foot teaching and energy research complex located on the northeast corner of the Norman campus of the University of Oklahoma. The building houses more than 200 teaching and research laboratories, more than thirty classrooms, and faculty and administrative offices. Sarkeys Energy Center provides a state-of-the-art setting in which OU’s faculty and students and the energy industry can explore interdisciplinary energy topics and train future generations of researchers and industry leaders. Sarkeys is also home to the Lawrence S. Youngblood Energy Library. The library has over 200,000 references, books and maps related to geological topics. It is the largest geological reference library in the world.
Teaching and Research Complex
Laboratory Spaces
References, Books and Maps at the Lawrence S. Youngblood Energy Library
The Integrated Core Characterization Center consists of the complete Amoco Rock Physics Laboratory. This lab has unparalleled industrial, commercial, and academic capabilities and offers the widest range of measurement and research opportunities in the industry. Originally established as a seismic velocity measurement laboratory, it evolved into an integrated facility that provides a vast array of petrophysical, seismic, and rock mechanics capabilities.
The recent renovation and repairs to the Green Roof on the O'Brien Plaza have provided an opportunity to build a unique and highly anticipated Outdoor Classroom for students in Geosciences and campus visitors. These new outdoor learning spaces will help students practice mapping and bring the geological field to OU's campus. Mewbourne College has recently partnered with the Chickasaw Nation to build the Jennifer Wise Butterfly and Pollinator Garden. This space has been planted with native Oklahoma species utilized by pollinators, including monarch butterflies.
Sarkeys Energy Center is home to the Lawrence S. Youngblood Energy Library. The library has over 200,000 references, books and maps related to geological topics. It is the largest geological reference library in the world. The library is surrounded by a two-story atrium in the heart of the Sarkeys Energy Center. With foyer floors of a quartz monzonite from Quebec, walls of fossiliferous limestone from central Texas, and museum-quality paleontological and mineral specimens, this library serves the student, faculty and staff of Mewbourne College.
The OU Bartell Field Camp, dedicated in 2011, is home to both the geology and geophysics field courses. The Bartell Field Camp is located on the northeastern edge of the Wet Mountains and overlooks the Cañon City Embayment, a structural reentrant in the Colorado Front Range. Snow‐covered Pikes Peak is visible to the north and the Great Plains to the east. The area is an ideal geological field laboratory – the Phanerozoic section and faults associated with the mountain front are beautifully exposed and available for study. Combined with the near‐perfect weather and closeness to a variety of outdoor activities and metropolitan Denver, it’s no wonder OU students have been coming here since 1950!
The NOV Drilling Simulator, housed at the Rawl Engineering Practice Facility, gives students unique virtual experiences, allowing them to safely apply their academic knowledge to real-life drilling scenarios. When students enter the NOV Drilling Simulator, they enter a space designed to mimic a real offshore drilling rig. Whether offshore or inland, the simulator provides valuable practice no matter where students eventually work. The University of Oklahoma was the first university in the world to have access to an industry-grade drilling simulator. It is used by undergraduate students as part of a curriculum that focuses on experiential learning and human factors.
OPIC, the Oklahoma Petroleum Information Center, houses more than 100 miles of core from almost 10,000 Oklahoma wells, samples from over 50,000 wells, well logs, production reports, and other materials vital to petroleum exploration and production. The collection resides in 192,000 sq ft of space in Norman, Oklahoma.
