CEGA Training Matrix
The CEGA Training Matrix is a structured professional development tool designed to guide geoscientists through a progressive and comprehensive career path. It outlines a series of recommended courses and field trips tailored to four key career stages: Students, Beginner (0–5 years), Intermediate (5–10 years), and Advanced (10+ years). By combining both CEGA-led and industry-run learning opportunities, the matrix provides a template that geoscientists can follow to gain foundational knowledge, build technical expertise, and develop strategic leadership skills as they advance in their careers. This matrix, designed to evolve, serves as a roadmap for continuous growth, skill diversification, and long-term success in the geosciences.
General Courses provide broad-based training relevant to geoscientists and professionals from other disciplines. These sessions cover essential industry knowledge, core fundamentals, and evolving best practices that apply across a range of roles and experience levels.
| Course Name | Duration (days) | Tentative Run Date | Run by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basics of Drilling for Non-Geologists | 1 | TBC | CEGA |
| Basics of Energy Land Management | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Basics of Seismic Interpretation (Geophysics for non-geophyiscist) | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Geology for Engineers | 4 | October 2025 | CEGA |
| Geology for Non-Geologists | 1 | November 2025 | CEGA |
| Course Name | Duration (days) | Tentative Date | Run by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Geological Contouring Methods and Mapping | 2 | Q1/Q2 2027 | CEGA |
| Data Science for Geoscientists | 2 | Q1/Q2 2027 | CEGA |
| Drill Cuttings Analysis | 2 | Q1/Q2 2026 | CEGA |
| Drill Stem Testing (DST) Analysis | 2 | Q1/Q2 2026 | CEGA |
| Economic Analysis and Decision Modeling | 1 | Q1/Q2 2026 | CEGA |
| Fundamentals of Core and Fluid Analysis | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Fundamentals of Geochemistry | 2 | Q1/Q2 2026 | CEGA |
| Fundamentals of Geostatistics | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Fundamentals of Ichnology | 3 | TBC | CEGA |
| Gas Reservoir Engineering for Geoscientists | 1 | Q1/Q2 2026 | CEGA |
| Geology of Conventional Deposits | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Geology of the Deep Basin | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Geology of the Oil Sands Deposits | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Introduction to Oil and Gas and Petroleum Systems in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin | .5 | Q1/Q2 2026 | CEGA |
| Introduction to Well Logging and Petrophysical Interpretation | .5 | Q1/Q2 2026 | CEGA |
| Methodology for Describing Carbonate Facies and Core Logging | 1 | Q1/Q2 2026 | CEGA |
| Methodology for Describing Clastic Facies and Core Logging | 1 | Q1/Q2 2026 | CEGA |
| Oil Reservoir Engineering for Geoscientists | 1 | Q1/Q2 2026 | CEGA |
| Overview of Alberta Energy Regulator Regulations | 1 | TBC | CEGA |
| Practical Applications of Hydrodynamics | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Practical Water Analysis Interpretation | 2 | Opus Petroleum Engineering | |
| Rig / Gas Plant / Oil Battery Visit / CRC Visit | 1 | TBC | CEGA |
| Sequence Stratigraphy: Concepts and Applications for Petroleum Exploration and Production | 3 | TBC | CEGA |
| Strawman for Establishing a Geological Workplan for Exploration and/or Reservoir Development | .5 | Q1/Q2 2026 | CEGA |
| Course Name | Duration (days) | Tentative Date | Run by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applied Structural Geology for the Western Canada Basin | 3 | Q1/Q2 2027 | CEGA |
| Carbonates Applied to Hydrocarbon Exploration and Exploitation | 4 | Jeff Dravis | |
| Core Based Sequence Stratigraphy of Non-marine, Marginal marine and IV Deposits: Ex from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin | 2 | Q1/Q2 2026 | CEGA |
| Facies Architecture and Sequence Stratigraphy-Delta Systems | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Formation Damage | 2 | Q4 2025 | CEGA |
| Fundamentals of Geomechanics | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Geology of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| HRAM- High Resolution Airborne Magnetics | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Montney Fluid and Rock Properties: An Introduction | .5 | James Wood | |
| Shore Face and Marginal Marine Depositional Envrionments (Core + Field Trip) | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Western Canada Sedimentary Basin Carbonate Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy Core Workshop | 3 | TBC | CEGA |
| Western Canada Sedimentary Basin Clastic Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy Core Workshop | 3 | TBC | CEGA |
| Course Name | Duration (days) | Tentative Date | Run by |
|---|---|---|---|
| An Introduction to In-Situ Stress Characterization for Unconventional Plays | TBC | TBC | CEGA |
| Evaluation of Canadian Oil & Gas Properties for Technical Professionals | 5 | Sproule | |
| Practical Risk, Resource and Reserves for Geoscientists | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Prospect and Play Assessment | 1 | Sproule | |
| The Petroleum System in Unconventional Exploration & Production: Geology, Geochemistry and Basin Modeling | TBC | TBC | CEGA |
| Tight Rock Core Analysis /Core & Fluid Analysis on Tight Reservoirs | 3 | TBC | CEGA |
| Unconventional Mudrocks from a Canadian Perspective | TBC | TBC | CEGA |
| Unconventional Resource and Reserve Evaluation | 5 | Sproule | |
| X-Ray Fluorescence and X-Ray Diffraction in Geology | 2 | Q4 2025 | CEGA |
Held at the world-class AER Core Research Centre, these workshops offer an in-depth, hands-on core-based examination of key stratigraphic, lithological, and regional plays. Designed for targeted skill development, they provide practical training in core description—including sedimentary structures and ichnology—as well as interpretation techniques tailored to both conventional and unconventional reservoirs. These sessions enhance formation-level understanding and support more accurate and confident subsurface evaluation.
| Course Name | Duration (days) | Tentative Date | Run by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basal Cambrian Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | 1 | Q1 2026 | CEGA |
| Basal Quartz Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | TBC | Q4 2025 | CEGA |
| Cardium Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | 2 | Q1/Q2 2027 | CEGA |
| Charlie Lake Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | TBC | TBC | CEGA |
| Devonian Carbonates Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | TBC | TBC | CEGA |
| Duvernay Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | TBC | TBC | CEGA |
| Halfway/Doig Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | TBC | TBC | CEGA |
| Heavy Oil Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | TBC | TBC | CEGA |
| Mannville Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | TBC | TBC | CEGA |
| Montney Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | 4 | Q3 2025 | CEGA |
| Shallow Gas Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | TBC | TBC | CEGA |
| Spirit River – Clearwater Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | TBC | TBC | CEGA |
| Viking Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | TBC | TBC | CEGA |
| WEB (Wabamun – Exshaw – Banff) Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization | TBC | TBC | CEGA |
Modern Field Trips explore active depositional environments and analogs, offering insight into contemporary processes that inform subsurface interpretation and reservoir modeling in diverse systems from ocean reefs to fluvial systems.
| Course Name | Duration (days) | Tentative Run Date | Run by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bay of Fundy: East Coast | 5 | TBC | TBC |
| Carbonates: Belize/Turks & Caicos | TBC | TBC | TBC |
| Clastic Depositional Environments: South Carolina | TBC | Applied Stratigraphix | |
| Willipa Bay- Estuaries and Transitional Envrionments | TBC | TBC | TBC |
Ancient Field Trips offer immersive, hands-on exploration of well-preserved outcrops, exposed sections, and road cuts that reveal clastic and carbonate depositional systems across the stratigraphic column. These classic sites have shaped the understanding of generations of geoscientists and provide critical insights into stratigraphy, sedimentology, ichnology, diagenesis, and structural geology. By connecting surface exposures to subsurface models, these trips reinforce core geological concepts and improve interpretation of reservoir architecture, scale, and regional context.
| Course Name | Duration (days) | Tentative Date | Run by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Book Cliffs: Fluvial to Marine, Utah | TBC | Applied Stratigraphix | |
| Carbonates: Grassi Lakes | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Drumheller | 1 | TBC | CEGA |
| Fluvial systems and distribution of sand, mud, and heterolithics in the transgressive coastal plain, Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta | 1 | Q3 2025 | CEGA |
| Foreland Basin Reservoirs: Blairmore/Pincher Creek | 4 | TBC | CEGA |
| Geological Drivers for Tight-Oil and Unconventional Plays in the Powder River Basin and Applications to Other Basins (Wyoming, USA) | TBC | RPS Training- USA | |
| Jura Creek: The drowning unconformity and anoxic sediments at the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary | 1 | TBC | TBC |
| McMurray: Heavy Oil | TBC | TBC | TBC |
| Montney in the Mountains | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Sequence Stratigraphy and Resulting Facies Architecture of Upper Devonian (Frasnian) Reef and Off Facies, Central AB Outcrops | 2 | TBC | CEGA |
| Triassic of Northeastern BC: Constructing a Depositional and Stratgraphic Framework | 1 | TBC | CEGA |