For EAGE, course instructors are a key part of professional growth and knowledge sharing. This year, we recognized Ian Jones as the 2025 Instructor of the Year for his course “State of the Art in Full Waveform Inversion (FWI). First Break Online spoke with Ian to learn more about his experience as an instructor and how his courses have an impact in our industry.
How do you tailor your teaching style to deal with the changing demands of the industry and the associated evolution of the technology being deployed?
The methods available for sub-surface parameter estimation and imaging have evolved rapidly over the past two decades, primarily facilitated by the increase in cost-effective computer power. The numerical solutions to these problems have also developed in-tandem. In a practical context, these developments have allowed us to use more of the recorded data (the ‘full’ wavefield) and to deliver higher resolution estimates of both parameters and sub-surface images.
Over the years that I’ve taught these courses, this has required me to continuously change the emphasis in the material I cover from a relatively simple methodological overview to a more in-depth review of the underlying theory that underpins the physics being considered. The danger with rapidly emerging new technology is that users are presented with (yet another) ‘black-box’ solution, and are offered little explanation of what sits inside this black-box: in my course material, I try to expose the contents of this box, and outline both the benefits and limitations of these new methods.
What is the most rewarding feedback you’ve received from an attendee who applied your course material to a real-world project?
A relatively common comment that I’ve had following a course is that the material has helped them to understand a problem they were having either on a recent or ongoing project, and that they now have a better idea of how to deal with it. For attendees from operating companies, this can simply mean that they now know what questions to ask their service providers, and for the hands-on users of the technology working for service providers, it can help them have a better feel for what the various parameters actually mean, and what parameter combinations make sense.
How do you balance the academic/theoretical side of geoscience with the commercial and practical realities that professionals care about?
The theoretical ‘academic’ underpinnings of the science have to be manifest in a workable algorithm, which invariably involves many approximations and compromises. Hence, we rarely, if ever, fully honour the underlying physics of the problem. Consequently, our expectations have to be moderated and be realistic. With this in-mind, I try to emphasise the notion of what is ‘fit for purpose’ and also promote the pragmatic aspects of undertaking an imaging project given the limitations of both the available data and the computer resources. Cost-effectiveness also enter the discussion, but with the (apparently) ever-increasing affordable compute power available to us, this is less of an issue.
Do you find that you learn as much from the diverse backgrounds of your attendees as they learn from you?
I almost always get at least one question that I cannot answer immediately (if at all): these questions point to my own incomplete understanding of the subject matter, and also to the aspects of the subject that are important to the course participants. This drives me to further study in order to formulate an answer: hopefully ready for the next time it arises!
When professionals return to their companies after your course, what is the number one practical skill you hope they can immediately implement in their imaging projects?
In the course I try to convey the message that ‘there is no right answer’ and that what is important is to find a solution that is ‘fit for purpose’… all the methods we use are approximate and based on error-prone, inaccurate or insufficient data. Hence, they should be aware that the results they obtain only represent one possible solution to the problem, and that inherent uncertainties should be kept in-mind when making decisions based upon the results they’ve obtained.
What makes your specific approach to explaining FWI stand out enough to earn you the Instructor of the Year distinction among your peers?
That’s a question that I find difficult to answer, as it’s the course participants who do, or do not, find my teaching approach useful for them. Perhaps my having to struggle through difficult concepts myself when trying to understand them, helps me to subsequently present ideas in a digestible way. This usually means not simply presenting strings of equations, but instead talking through the underlying physics of what is happening in the earth and how we are trying to represent this in our numerical simulations.
We congratulate Ian Jones once again and we invite you to attend his award winning course on the 16-17 of November 2026 in an online format. Find more information here.
