Annell Bay - Marathon Oil

Vice President, Global Exploration

Annell R. Bay is vice president, Global Exploration, for Houston-based Marathon Oil Corporation. She joined Marathon in June 2008.

Immediately before joining Marathon Oil, Ms. Bay was vice president, Americas Exploration, at Shell Exploration and Production Company since 2004. Prior to Shell, Ms. Bay held the positions of vice president, Worldwide Exploration in Houston, and vice president, North America Exploration in Denver, for Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Corporation.

Ms. Bay holds a bachelor's degree in geology from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and a master's degree in geology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Why do you believe STEM is important to our nation?

From an energy industry perspective, if our nation is going to chart a realistic path toward achieving energy security, we need a new generation of talent with a strong foundation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) – individuals willing to work on multi-disciplined teams and solve the puzzles that could lead to critical new energy resources. Importantly, these are well-paying, exciting, long-term careers with an ongoing focus on advanced technologies. The challenge of meeting the world’s growing energy needs – and using best-in-class technology to do it – requires that we step up our efforts to build this talent pipeline. STEM programs can help accomplish that goal by encouraging and preparing the engineers, geophysicists and geologists of tomorrow.

What traits do senior leaders need to effectively support and advance STEM today?

It’s critical we take active roles in organizations and initiatives that champion STEM programs and become visible role models. I’m particularly proud to serve on the advisory committee of the Independent Petroleum Association of America’s (IPAA) Education Center, whose mission is to provide students with an advanced, multidisciplinary academic foundation in science, math, social studies, English and emerging technology. In the past four years, the IPAA has established four high-school level Petroleum Academies in Houston and Fort Worth designed to introduce and prepare students to pursue degrees in engineering, geology, geophysics and global energy management – excellent paths to careers in the energy business. To learn more about IPAA’s Education Center, please visit the IPAA website at http://www.ipa.org.

How is your company innovating to promote STEM?

I’m very proud of our long-standing, proactive efforts at Marathon Oil to promote STEM programs at all educational levels, from elementary and middle school through high school and college. We consider it our responsibility to support initiatives that enhance the education of tomorrow’s leaders and increase the number of students earning degrees and pursuing careers in established or emerging STEM fields. Our company formed an internal STEM Council in 2009 to further develop our strategy and bolster our efforts. These endeavors include classroom activities, where we introduce young students to STEM-related topics, as well as internships, mentoring opportunities and other programs that expose high school and college students to Marathon Oil and the oil and gas industry. We’ve partnered with a local not-for-profit organization on a program for inner-city high school students that provides meaningful work experience and the confidence that they can succeed as professionals in the corporate world. We’re pleased to support GeoFORCE, an outreach program led by the University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geology that encourages students from rural south Texas and inner-city Houston to take on the challenges of a math and science curriculum, pursue degrees in related fields and, ultimately, enter the high-tech workforce.  At the college level, we’re active in a variety of programs that seek to increase the numbers of minorities and women pursuing technical degrees.