Just how important can one conversation be? To Michael, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and a first generation college student, it changed his life. After leaving his industry job to become a professor, he discovered that the best way to support his students, voice in the chorus supporting STEM, and expand his network was through social media. In this talk, Michael, better known as the GeoStatsGuy, discusses how open education and sharing knowledge on social media can help break down the barriers surrounding academia. Michael Pyrcz is the Associate Professor in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, with an assignment in the Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences. At the University of Texas, Michael teaches and supervises research on subsurface data analytics, geostatistics and machine learning. In addition, Michael is the Principal Investigator for the College of Natural Sciences, which is the University of Texas at Austin, freshman research initiative in energy data analytics and also teaches widely in the energy industry. Before joining the University of Texas at Austin, Michael conducted and led research on reservoir data analytics and modeling for 13 years with Chevron’s Energy Technology Company. He became an enterprise-wide subject matter expert, advising and mentoring on workflow development and best practice. Michael has written over 45 peer-reviewed publications, an open source Python package (GeostatsPy at https://pypi.org/project/geostatspy/), and a textbook on spatial data analytics with Oxford University Press. He is currently an associate editor with Computers and Geosciences, and is on the editorial board member for Mathematical Geosciences.

Michael is a supporter of open education to remove barriers and support scientific literacy. He promotes open education to support his students, working professionals, and anyone else in data analytics and machine learning for spatial science and engineering problems on Twitter (follow him as @GeostatsGuy, https://twitter.com/GeostatsGuy), and with his YouTube channel (subscribe to GeostatsGuy Lectures, https://www.youtube.com/c/GeostatsGuyLectures) and GitHub account (follow him as GeostatsGuy, https://github.com/GeostatsGuy). For more information go to www.michaelpyrcz.com. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx