Brian Russell’s nearly 40 years working alongside Dan Hampson in the world-renowned Canadian seismic software company (Hampson-Russell) which they founded, and subsequently as part of larger enterprises, e.g., VeritasDGC, CGG, Constellation, marks one of the outstanding innovation-based success stories in geoscience. Russell himself has also played significant roles in both CSEG and SEG, as past president of both organisations and frequent lecturer.
Itinerant upbringing
I was born in Scotland, but my parents moved to England when I was one year old. They then emigrated to Canada, initially to Kitchener, Ontario, but finally to North Vancouver, BC. When I was in Grade 11, my father was transferred to Saskatoon. I finished high school there and enrolled in physics at the University of Saskatchewan.
Excursion to Africa
After completing three years of physics, I decided to take my general degree and join CUSO (Canadian University Service Overseas). I spent two years teaching math and physics at a boarding school in northern Zambia. It was a fantastic learning experience for me, both intellectually and culturally.
Return to reality
On my return to Saskatoon, I switched my major to geophysics, finishing an honours degree in late 1975. I considered doing an MSc., but as I had just met Elaine, the love of my life, I decided to accept a job with Chevron in Calgary as a seismic interpreter and finally settle down.
Back to England
Settling down didn’t last long as I decided to take a leave of absence from Chevron to do a one-year MSc. in geophysics at the University of Durham in England (with Elaine and our one-year-old baby, Michelle). Back with Chevron I worked in both Calgary and Houston, where I discovered a love for the new field of seismic inversion.
Journey to own company
Chevron was a great company to work for but in 1980 I moved to Teknica to learn inversion from its founder, Roy Lindseth. For various reasons this only lasted for a year. That was when I joined Veritas Seismic and met Dan Hampson. We clicked right from the first day, and in 1987 (based on a conversation at a swimming pool where both our daughters were taking lessons!) we agreed to form our own company. Dave Robson, CEO of Veritas, was extremely supportive of our venture and became a part owner of the company.
Successful partnership
Hampson-Russell thrived as a company for several reasons. We hired great people and gave them space, Dan was brilliant in developing new algorithms, and I travelled the world showing off our products at both conferences and in oil company boardrooms. Also, we were in the right place at the right time in terms of the development of computer technology, from mainframes to mini-computers, to PCs to Sun workstations and back to PCs.
More education
I also found the time to go to the University of Calgary and earn my PhD under my supervisor and long-time friend, Prof Larry Lines. My thesis was about employing machine learning to predict reservoir parameters from seismic attributes.
Corporate changes
In 2002, we sold the company to VeritasDGC and then embarked on a 24-year journey of changing management structure, from CGG to our current incarnation as part of GeoSoftware, a Constellation company. Amazingly, I am still here, doing what I love best, which is developing new algorithms and teaching young geophysicists. Dan recently retired, although we still develop new ideas together.
Career highlights
What I have loved about my career is always being able to maintain an innovation focus. The software products I am most proud of are AVO (amplitude variation with offset), the name of which speaks for itself, STRATA, a post and pre-stack inversion program, and EMERGE, the first machine learning program, which we co-developed with Mobil Oil Research.
Society president perspective
I have always been very involved with the CSEG and SEG, serving as president of both societies. I was lucky to have led them when geophysics was thriving, and I am a bit saddened by the drop in membership in both societies. But this certainly gives us a chance to rethink our future in these changing times when both AI and green technologies are becoming huge areas of development. I think we geophysicists are very adaptable and will keep our profession moving forward.
Pastimes today
My great passion since I was ten has always been the guitar, and along with the President’s Jams at SEG meetings, I have recently joined a big band jazz band of mostly retirees as its rhythm and lead guitarist.
Family first
Of course what I am most proud of is my family. Along with Elaine and Michelle, we added a son, David, and both Michelle and David now have a boy and girl of their own. There is no greater gift in life than having grandchildren!
