Arden D. Callender, 2004 Distinguished Service Award
Arden D. "Ardy" Callender of Applied Biostratigraphix, Houston, Texas is the recipient of the Gulf Coast Section SEPM Distinguished Service Award for 2004. Ardy, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, grew up in Portland, Oregon, where he received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Geology from Portland State University. Ardy is a 27-year veteran of the ever-shrinking field of Petroleum Biostratigraphy, with special interest in taxonomy, deep-water biostratigraphy, and ecology of Neogene foraminifera.
Ardy began his career as micropaleontolgist in 1977 with Texaco, Inc. in Houston, Texas. He was employed as a senior biostratigrapher with Sohio/Standard Oil Production Co. from 1982 to 1986. He next worked as a consultant with Paleo Control Inc, from 1986 to 1989. Ardy joined BP Exploration, Inc. as a staff biostratigrapher (1989-1992). He returned to PCI (1992-1993), before co-founding Applied Biostratigraphix (ABX) with M.J. Nault and S. Q. Breard in 1993. From 1993 to present, Ardy has consulted in the micropaleontology field with emphasis on the deep-water Gulf of Mexico Basin.
Callender is a current member of AAPG and the Gulf Coast Section SEPM. He is a co-author of ten biostratigraphic papers and numerous poster presentations at GCAGS and AAPG Conventions and GCSSEPM Research Conferences. He was also contributing author to the 1999 GCSSEPM publication "Gulf of Mexico Basin Biostratigraphic Index Microfossils", Volumes 1 & 2, on Oligocene through Pleistocene marker taxa. Ardy is also a two-time recipient of Gulf Coast Section SEPM Best Published Paper awards (1993 and 1996).
Callender has a long record of service to both AAPG and Gulf Coast Section SEPM. He served in 1987 as a member of the program advisory committee for the Eighth Annual Research Conference of the GCSSEPM on Innovative Biostratigraphic Approaches to Sequence Analysis. From 1990 to 1993, he served as a member of the AAPG Research Committee. Ardy was a working member of the GCSSEPM-sponsored, Gulf Coast Taxonomic Equivalency Project (1995-2001), which resulted in publication of two important books on Gulf Basin marker foraminifera. Ardy has served as the GCSSEPM Poster Chairman for the Bob F. Perkins Research Conference in Houston, Texas from 1987 to 2003.
Ardy is married to Christie Callender, a retired Texaco geologist. They have two children, Grant and Lisa. Ardy's other passion is researching and collecting classic U.S. stamps. He is a long-time member of the Houston Philatelic Society and numerous other philatelic societies. His extensive record of service to professional organizations and selfless dedication to the GCSSEPM qualifies Arden D. Callender as recipient of the 2004 Distinguished Service Award.
Sylvester Q. "Skip" Breard