Experience
Four decades of subsurface expertise
Research, environmental consulting, and global energy exploration, all built on the same discipline: understanding how sedimentary layers are deposited, preserved, and connected.
Career
2025 – Present · Houston, TX
Principal Geologist, Ehman Earth Sciences, LLC
Independent stratigraphic and subsurface characterization services for groundwater, environmental, and energy clients.
2022 – Present · College Station, TX
Visiting Scholar, Department of Geology & Geophysics, Texas A&M University
Teaches the graduate course Seismic Stratigraphy Interpretation (GEOP 689) and conducts research on the impact of stratigraphy on groundwater characterization.
2007 – 2025 · Houston, TX & Perth, Australia
Chevron Fellow in Seismic Stratigraphy & Geomorphology, Chevron Corporation
Subject matter expert in integrating seismic data with core and geophysical logs to develop sequence stratigraphic models for exploration and production. Led the development and deployment of interpretation tools, workflows, and best practices, and served as the corporate resource for evaluating Chevron’s most important reservoir opportunities worldwide. Mentored hundreds of Chevron and partner geoscientists and engineers before retiring in 2025.
1999 – 2007 · Los Gatos, CA
Principal & Chief Geologist, Skyline Ridge, Inc.
Sequence stratigraphic analysis of aquifers; groundwater resource assessments for seawater-intruded aquifers; remedial investigations and preliminary site assessments for impacted sites. Clients included the USGS, the Water Replenishment District of Southern California, Zone 7 Water Agency, SLAC, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Aera Energy.
1994 – 1999 · San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Chief Geologist, Groundworks Environmental, Inc.
Sequence stratigraphic analysis of aquifers; remedial investigation and feasibility studies (RI/FS) for industrial hazardous-waste and landfill sites across California, including Kettleman Hills, Simi Valley, Carson, and San Jose.
1985 – 1994 · Houston, TX
Senior Research Geologist, Exxon Production Research Co.
Research in stratigraphy and tectonics to aid exploration and production of petroleum resources; sequence stratigraphic analysis of petroleum-bearing basins and reservoirs, from the Perija Foothills of Venezuela and the North Sea to Prudhoe Bay and the East Texas Basin.
Worldwide experience
Basins on six continents
- Angola
- Nigeria
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Liberia
- Mexico
- Brazil
- Suriname
- Uruguay
- Bangladesh
- India
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Russia
- Kazakhstan
- Saudi Arabia–Kuwait Partitioned Zone
- Alaska
- California
- Nevada
- East Texas
- Gulf of Mexico
- Venezuela
- North Sea
Selected work
Project highlights
Groundwater
Los Angeles Basin Aquifer Architecture
Sequence stratigraphic framework of the Los Angeles Basin’s water-bearing strata for the USGS, Los Angeles County, and the Water Replenishment District of Southern California, a key foundation for understanding seawater intrusion and groundwater resources.
Groundwater
Livermore Basin Recharge
Detailed hydrostratigraphic model of the western Livermore Basin for Zone 7 Water Agency, evaluating recharge from the chain-of-lakes area into aquifers used for water supply.
Environmental
National Laboratory Site Characterization
Six years of groundwater and soil studies at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (11 technical documents used for site cleanup), and a sequence stratigraphic model of Miocene fluvial strata guiding groundwater remediation at LLNL Site 300.
Environmental
California Landfill & Waste Sites
Hydrostratigraphic investigations at Kettleman Hills, Simi Valley, Highway 237 (San Jose), and a Carson redevelopment site: targeting monitoring intervals, defining plume extent, and assessing aquifer vulnerability.
Environmental
Bakersfield Refinery Groundwater
Sequence stratigraphic framework for the shallow subsurface at the Bakersfield Refinery, giving new insight into the distribution of impacted groundwater.
Energy
Bibiyana Gas Field, Bangladesh
A stratigraphic framework for the Bibiyana and Moulavi Bazar gas fields that improved reservoir management, opened the Surma Basin to renewed exploration, and was published in the AAPG Bulletin.
Energy
Campeche & Perdido, Mexico
Provenance, sediment fairways, and paleogeography from the Cretaceous to the Oligocene. Kenn was first to recognize and map Cretaceous megabreccia in deepwater Campeche.
Energy & CO₂ Storage
Western Australia
Integrated stratigraphic model of the Dupuy Formation for Gorgon CO₂ disposal, and a Browse Basin seismic stratigraphic model later confirmed when the Crown prospect was drilled as a discovery.
Frontier Exploration
Atlantic Margins
Seismic stratigraphic frameworks for deepwater Brazil, Uruguay, Suriname, and Angola, supporting block entries, farm-in assessments, and prospect reviews.