After a successful 32-year career in oil exploration, Martin Cassidy could have kicked back and enjoyed his golden years, but the University of Houston geoscience alum’s lifelong passion for learning has launched him into a second career as a research scientist.

When Cassidy earned his Ph.D. in geoscience from UH in 2005, it was the culmination of a dream decades in the making. Cassidy had originally begun a doctorate program at Harvard University, where he had received his undergraduate degree. He completed his coursework and just needed to write a dissertation, but with finances strained and a young family to support, Cassidy had to leave graduate school and took a job in Houston with the Amoco Corporation.

After a career in Amoco that included four years in London as exploration manager, Cassidy decided to go back to school in 1994. He had to start the UH doctorate program from scratch and aced his entrance exams. After receiving his degree Cassidy became a research scientist at UH.

“I’m a true believer in life-long learning,” Cassidy said.

One of his recent research projects could help recover more oil from petroleum reservoirs. Carbon dioxide is often injected into oil wells, where it can reduce the viscosity of crude oil and increase an oil field’s yield by 10-15 percent. Locating underground pockets of pure carbon dioxide that can be extracted and piped to oil fields is vital, and that is where Cassidy’s research plays a key role. Studying the Bravo Dome area in New Mexico, Cassidy researched the origins of the trapped gasses and why these pockets of carbon dioxide are more likely to be found in volcanic areas.

Cassidy’s passion for lifelong learning also spurred him to help aspiring geoscientists in developing countries. His international travels exposed him to the lack of geoscience textbooks in many universities and libraries. Now, together with other volunteers from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Cassidy founded the Publication Pipeline, a group that collects and delivers several thousands of pounds of donated geology textbooks and periodicals to university libraries overseas.