Research

Hi, fellow geosciences colleagues. My name is Karelia La Marca. I am a Ph.D. student in Geophysics. I originally came from Venezuela, where I received a bachelor's degree in geological engineering. Coming from a city surrounded by mountains, I grew up loving nature, rocks, and the geomorphology that shaped the landscape I visited while doing what I enjoy the most: traveling (an example is in the picture in a recent visit to the Horse-shoe—oh how many beauties you have in the U.S).

After having worked for Schlumberger as a geoscientist, I had the fortune to join the School of Geosciences at OU in 2018, where I started my master’s with the renowned and life-changer Dr. Roger Slatt. He taught me to love deepwater deposits, so I found it fascinating to integrate disciplines by doing seismic reservoir characterization of deepwater deposits in New Zealand using seismic attributes (imagine a tomography of the subsurface) and machine learning techniques for my master’s. Of course, I could not have done it without the guidance of Dr. Heather Bedle, who would be my advisor for my master's and Ph.D. in geophysics.

I have been engaged with professional societies such as AAPG, Geolatinas, and SEG, for whose student chapter I volunteered as vice-president for the 2019-2021 period. I like motivating and encouraging others, especially younger generations and those who live in remote countries, to pursue their studies in geosciences.

Currently, I am studying the optimization of machine learning applications in seismic facies interpretation and reservoir characterization, not only for oil and gas applications but also for geothermal prospection.

After graduate school, I plan to work in the energy industry and later in academia, and I wish to be a role model for women and Latinxs in STEM.