Iain JDC Mann
Science
Period 2,
Harris
The Scientist In My Family
I met with Angus
Mann here in Houston, where he lives and works as an
exploration seismologist. I asked him what inspired him to
follow a course of study that would become a career and
move him many miles from his
birthplace in
Glasgow, Scotland.
ìI entered university originally intending to pursue a degree in physics, or natural philosophy, as the University of Glasgow calls it. A second year course in geology was so interesting, I decided to go further with it and graduated with a degree that is a combination of both subjects. Apart from my interest, there was a shortage of geophysicists at that time as well as an oil shortage.î
During his
years of study at Glasgow University, Mr. Mann spent
many hours doing lab work in both subjects. He
prepared and performed many experiments in physics and
examined rocks and fossils. His thesis involved
geological mapping on
Arran, a small island off the west
coast of Scotland. All of this study prepared him for
entry into the oil service industry as a
geophysicist.
He began by doing field work on
seismic crews. These crews travel to areas which have been
selected by oil companies as possible sites for the
discovery of subsurface oil and gas deposits. The crews lay
electronic
listening devices called geophones
along the surface of the ground and set off explosive
charges or use machines to simulate them. The shock
waves (or sound waves) produced by these charges
travel into the earth and are 
both transmitted and reflected back to
the ground by the layers or strata of the rocks
beneath the surface. This data is collected by the
geophones and is digitally recorded on magnetic tape.
This part of the process is called seismic data
acquisition.
ìI have worked with, and
ultimately headed seismic acquisition crews performing
field work and collecting
data in England, Nigeria, Gabon and
Cameroon.î
Twenty-three years later he is still a part of the process.
ìI continue to work in the oil
service industry and we continue to look for oil and gas
under the earth's surface. I currently work for one of the
biggest oil service companies, doing business with some of
the largest oil corporations in the world, as well as small
independent companies. The service we provide to them is
called seismic data processing.î 
He further explained that this involves taking the raw data obtained by the exploration crews, on land or at sea, and applying various processes to it in order to refine and produce a computer generated cross-section of what the subsurface looks like in that area.
ìThis enables the oil companies
to drill a well if the structures they see on the
cross-sections look like they would contain oil.
Working in a highly technical job, I wanted to know what he liked most, and least, about his job.
ìI enjoy working with computers
and we have very large ones. I have 
worked on data from a variety of places
around the world and have traveled to a number of
countries in Africa, as well as to Canada, Mexico,
Europe and South America. I least like producing
reports when I finish a project, but they have to be
done.î
The exploration and drilling of oil has a major effect on the quality of our lives. Oil and its by-products are used in the manufacturing of many, many products we use every day. The most obvious of these is gasoline, but it also produces plastics, synthetic fibers, detergents, paints, road surfacing materials, cosmetics and much more.
In spite of the ups and downs in the oil industry, Mr. Mann hopes to continue his career in geophysics until retirement.
In case you haven't already
guessed, Mr. Mann is my dad. Away
from the workplace he has shared his
interest in other areas of the earth sciences with me,
particularly astronomy and meteorology. 
We visit the George Observatory in Fort
Bend County often, and chart the storm and hurricane
activity in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico every
year.
