Davide Oppo named AAPG Inspirational Geoscience Educator

Davide Oppo, of our school of geosciences, has been named as the recipient of the 2023 AAPG Foundation Inspirational Geoscience Educator Award. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) presents this award annually to a university and college level educator who has creatively and with excellence inspired their geoscience students.

Oppo will receive a $6,000 prize. And for the first time, will be recognized and offer brief remarks at the Foundation Chairman’s Reception, scheduled for 30 August 2023 during the International Meeting for Applied Geoscience & Energy.

The text which follows is an extract from the AAPG Explorer article Announcing the Foundation’s TOTY, IGEA Winners

Davide Oppo, AAPG Foundation Inspirational Geoscience Educator

Sometimes, the answers are obvious.

The questions: What professor inspired you to not only love geoscience but also motivated you to pursue a geological career?

Or, what professor – through instruction, training, coaching and, sometimes most importantly, in caring about your journey into the geosciences – literally changed your life?

Every geoscientist probably has an answer to those questions, but here’s one more name you can add to the list.

Davide Oppo, the Pioneer Production endowed professor of geology and faculty adviser at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, has been named the recipient of this year’s AAPG Foundation Inspirational Geoscience Educator Award.

The reason he was selected is obvious, too – his peers and students are passionate and enthusiastic in their praise for his teaching and willingness to instill a love of geosciences into their lives.

More on that in a bit. But first, a word from the IGEA honoree himself:

“I am ecstatic to receive the AAPG Foundation’s IGEA,” Oppo said when told of his honor. “Knowing that my colleagues and the students I worked with nominated me for this award touches me profoundly. It’s my personal reminder that I am making a difference for some, and it’s a boost to keep dedicating myself to this profession.

“Since my early days in academia, I have believed that the educator’s job is not always easy and doesn’t start and stop in the classroom but requires a well-rounded approach and dedication to the student’s success,” he said.

“Every day I aspire to positively impact the students,” he added, “both during their studies and after when they are in their professional life.”

For him, that’s a calling that was itself stimulated by educators.

Oppo recalled the “many mentors and friends” who helped inspire him to pursue a career in geosciences, with particular mention of Rosella Capozzi (University of Bologna, Italy) and Andrew Moore (Earlham College, Richmond, Ind.)

“They showed me what a great educator is,” Oppo said. “As my mentors have inspired me, I strive to inspire my students to love geosciences and be eager to push their knowledge boundaries further every day.”

Around the World

Oppo, who was named an assistant professor at UL Lafayette in 2018, arrived there via a global path.

A native of Ivrea, Italy, Oppo received his bachelor’s degree in marine environmental sciences from the University of Sassari, Italy, and both his master’s degree in environmental sciences-marine geology and doctorate in Earth sciences from the University of Bologna, Italy.

His teaching career started in 2016 as a faculty member/geology lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, while also teaching in the petroleum geology program at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

At UL Lafayette he teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses of basin analysis, sedimentology and stratigraphy, scientific writing, evolution of coasts and continental margins, geology field camp and petroleum geology practicum.

Among his students are two doctoral and 12 masters, plus he’s mentored 24 other students during their research projects.

Add to that slate his role as faculty adviser for UL Lafayette’s AAPG Imperial Barrel Award team, which recently won the international competition’s Selley Cup for the second consecutive year.

“My former students now work for various industries in the broad energy sector (including Fugro and Shell), the U.S. federal government or continue in academia as Ph.D. students,” he said.

“Over the years, my academic career brought me to teach across three continents to students from different cultures and backgrounds,” Oppo added. “Because of this, I built a significant experience that ultimately shaped my personality as an educator and instructor.”

Credit Where Credit Due

About those enthusiastic peers and students – it turns out there are many, and they all are eager to sing Oppo’s praises.

Among those voices:

“Dr. Oppo is enthusiastic and sincere about helping students in the department and encouraging them to pursue their interests,” said UL Lafayette doctoral candidate Gracie Babineaux. “His experience in academia and in industry, coupled with his passion and excitement, provides him with relevant expertise and knowledge and enables him to give valuable advice for success in the field of geosciences, whether with a job or in graduate school.”

She called his courses “informative, relevant and challenging,” and said his mentoring “achieves the ideal balance between supporting and challenging his students by giving frequent positive feedback while urging us to go further and dig deeper into our topics.”

Bibi Aseeya Mohamed, a UL Lafayette master’s candidate under Oppo’s mentorship, said he is “among the few individuals who have inspired my career in geoscience.

“One of the most impressive aspects of his teaching style is his ability to convey complex, technical concepts in a way that is understandable and accessible to everyone,” Mohamed said. “He encourages his students to ask questions, challenge assumptions and explore different perspectives, creating an environment where students feel empowered to take risks and make mistakes in pursuit of deeper understanding.”

There’s also praise from people who remember when Oppo was just starting his journey.

“Davide (is) a fine researcher with good instincts for finding constrained, fundable projects,” said mentor Andrew Moore of Earlham College. “More importantly, I’ve seen Davide develop a close working relationship with undergraduate researchers, and watched him as a brilliant teacher, both in and out of the classroom.”

Moore also applauded Oppo as “an enthusiastic teacher and mentor. “I’m so amazed by his ability to reach student populations, ranging from Tanzanian grad students to first-year American undergrads, to my own 12-year-old, who has known him since she was six and looks forward to every chance she gets to see him,” he said.

For Oppo, that effort is natural: “I have always been driven,” he said, “to share and transmit my passion for geosciences to the new generation of professionals.”

For Gracie Babineaux, the choice is obvious: “Because of his respectful mentorship, endless kindness and thoughtfully created classes,” she said, “he is the definition of an inspirational geoscience educator.”