Speaker to discuss international impact of oil

This year’s Geology Lecture Series at Southwestern Oregon Community College is continuing in March with a talk by Stanford University faculty member Dr. Amos Nur on “Oil and War: Oil Peak Versus Oil Panic.”

The free lecture is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 16, at the Hales Center for the Performing Arts on the Southwestern campus in Coos Bay. In his talk, Nur will address the impact this finite resource has on global interactions as developing countries like China and India become more significant players on the world stage. The talk will focus on what peak oil is and how it may play a role in the cost of gas and conflict between nations in the future.

In recent years, Nur has become a sought-after speaker on the topic of peak oil. Nur earned his bachelor’s degree in geology from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and completed his doctorate in geophysics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Nur has been part of the Stanford faculty for most of his career, having served as department chair in geophysics. In addition to his duties as a faculty member, Nur – who has been the Wayne Loel Professor of Geophysics since 1988 – also has been active in the Stanford Overseas study program as well as interdisciplinary studies, including studying the role of earthquakes in the Eastern Mediterranean as they relate to important archaeological sites. He also started and is the director of Stanford Rock Physics & Borehole Geophysics Project.

The lecture is open to all community members, and is sponsored by the Methane Energy Corporation and Southwestern. For more information, those interested can contact Ron Metzger at (541) 888-7216 or by e-mail at rmetzger@socc.edu.

Press Release Date: February 23, 2007