Nat Usher

35 years of experience beginning with working on oil rigs and seismic crews, then as a researcher at the ARCO research center, a geohazard interpreter for ARCO, offshore survey manager for Vastar Resources, geohazard team-leader for BP, Integrated Geohazard Authority for BP, then advisor to Tesla Offshore. Areas of special focus include; integrated site characterization, quantitative risk assessment, well planning, subsea development planning, HSE management systems auditing, HR3D seismic data acquisition, platform seismic undershoots and AUV system development.  











Current Position at SUT

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Full member, Short Courses Subcommittee


Education

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Bachelors in Ocean Engineering, University of Michigan, 1982
Masters in Geoscience, University of Michigan, 1983


Professional Interests

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Integrated site characterization, develop and implement an approach to integrated site characterization taking into consideration pressure, metocean effects, seismicity, seafloor instability and more using high resolution geophysics, geotechnics, historical records, forward modeling and other data sources, working the data together not independently; Qualitative geohazard risk assessment, once the subsea hazards are identified, then create a method to quantify the risks to each component of a subsea development. The geoscience team together with facilities team and drillers, then determine the project risks that are acceptable and those that will require change or need engineering strengthening to survive the potential hazards; HR3D, design and create systems to acquire HR3D; and AUV development, integrating new systems into AUV’s and create new ways to utilize the vehicle to generate more and different data gathered efficiently.


Licenses & Certifications

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Professional Geoscientist State License,State of Texas, Official State License, 2004
HSE Professional Accreditation, NEBOSH International General Certificate, NEBOSH International, 2011