"As a research scientist at Schlumberger, I have had the opportunity to define my own goals and research areas."

Susan Herron
Born in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, USA
Bachelor of Science in Geology, 1975

Tufts University

Masters in Geological Sciences, 1977

State University of New York at Buffalo

Ph.D. in geological Sciences

State University of New York at Buffalo

I was born in Kentucky and as a young child moved around every couple years until my family settled in Connecticut. I was a good student and I enjoyed school. My favorite subjects were math and literature. I went to Tufts University where I pursued math and science because I wanted a career, and I thought that that seemed more practical than English. I was quickly steered toward geology by my first year advisor who just happened to be a geology professor. My undergraduate department was very small, but strong and active. I had the opportunity to teach introductory labs and lead many field trips in the Boston area. Approaching graduation, my future seemed a bit uncertain, but again I benefited from the fortunate intervention of one of my professors who sent me off to graduate school at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

The seven years in Buffalo were years I will never forget. I became involved in a research project to recover and analyze a surface-to-bedrock ice core from the middle of the Greenland Ice Sheet. I worked as part of an international team with scientists from the US, Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, and Japan. We established research labs in underground trenches and surface trailers, and we spent three months each for two summers drilling, recording, and analyzing ice core samples before shipping the cores back to our storage and research facilities in Buffalo. Unfortunately, my work was in the ice trenches instead of the heated trailers! The first year I worked on the ice sheet, I was told that I was the first woman scientist to do so; by my third field season, I was the one of the Field Leaders, and there were about six women total.

I joined Schlumberger-Doll Research in 1984, and although I have worked on a number of different projects, the major focus of my research as been the interpretation and application of geochemical data acquired from oil wells. The interpretation research frequently takes the form of case studies in which we interact with Schlumberger operations and with our customers in order to define and solve interpretation problems. It provides opportunities to publish, present papers at symposia, teach courses, travel - all of which I enjoy on an occasional basis. As a research scientist at Schlumberger, I have had the opportunity to define my own goals and research areas. Along with that opportunity has come a serious responsibility to demonstrate the value of the work and to persevere in championing it. In 1997, I became a research manager - a position with a new set of responsibilities and challenges.

My career at Schlumberger differs from most of my colleagues in two major respects. One is that for the last seven years, I have worked a thirty-hour work week (as opposed to the standard forty). The change came about under an odd set of circumstances, but it has allowed me to dedicate more time to my family, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity. I have two boys of elementary and middle school age. Just about all of my time outside of work is dedicated to participating in and supporting the boys' sports and other activities -- coaching little league, running a PTA science night, weekend outings and summer camping.

The other difference is that my husband is also employed at Schlumberger-Doll Research. Although we are in different departments, our research has a common focus, and we often work together. It has a definite impact on household conversations.