Dr. Burns Cheadle appointment as the Bill Bell Chair in Petroleum Geology here at the Department of Earth Sciences, brings him back to the school where he was awarded his doctoral degree in 1986.
Cheadle has extensive experience in the industry within the upstream oil and gas sector. He has spent a majority of his professional career applying stratigraphic analysis and reservoir characterization methods to the discovery and development of conventional oil and gas, heavy oil, oil sands and oil shale. Additionally, he has also researched unconventional natural gas resources in Western Canada and the Beaufort-MacKenzie Basin.
Cheadle worked for Imperial Oil, Koch Petroleum Canada and then founded his own Outsider Energy Ltd in Calgary. Cheadle has a wealth of valuable experience that he can bring to the Department for the benefit of today’s students.
Department Chair, Gerhard Pratt says of Cheadle’s acceptance of the Chair holder position, “Dr. Burns Cheadle will work to revitalize Western’s undergraduate and graduate education programs. Burns brings his 23 years of industry experience into the classroom, his efforts to educate them in industry-standard practices will allow our graduates to enter the workforce as potential leaders”.
Dr. Cheadle's research interests involve several interconnected themes in petroleum geology, with a particular focus on the petroleum resource potential of shale-dominated deposits.
Cheadle is enthusiastic about returning to Western where he sees the Earth Sciences Department as one that combines reputational strength with a young and dynamic faculty.
Further, he is thrilled to be contributing to the Department as Associate Professor and Chair particularly at this point in time. “I am thrilled to be returning to the Department of Earth Sciences at this critical moment when concerns regarding the balance between energy supply and sustainable development demand a renewed focus on training the next generation of Canadian energy resource geoscientists.”
