Inessa Yurchenko

Inessa Yurchenko is a basin modeler and petroleum systems analyst at the University of Texas at Austin Bureau of Economic Geology, joining in July 2018. She holds a PhD from Stanford University (2017), where she worked with the Basin and Petroleum System Modeling Group, and completed postdoctoral research there. Her academic journey includes a master's degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as an ExxonMobil Russian Scholar (2012) and undergraduate training in petroleum geology and geochemistry at Lomonosov Moscow State University (2009).

Research Focus: Yurchenko specializes in integrating basin modeling with organic geochemistry to study hydrocarbon systems. Her work combines field observations, subsurface data, and laboratory analysis to understand source rock heterogeneity and its impact on unconventional resource evaluation. She explores molecular fossils (biomarkers, diamondoids) for paleoenvironmental reconstruction and hydrocarbon migration analysis across scales from individual molecules to whole-basin dynamics.

Scientific Contributions: Her 2018 publications on the Shublik Formation in Arctic Alaska revealed how small-scale source-rock heterogeneity controls hydrocarbon expulsion and migration, with implications for resource assessment. She emphasizes multidisciplinary approaches to link petroleum exploration techniques with academic earth-history questions, particularly for reconstructing ancient ocean conditions through shale analysis.

• Statoil/Equinor PostDoctoral Research Fellowship (2017–18)
• Stanford University Great Bear Petroleum Scholarship (2012–15)
• Stanford University A. I. Levorsen Research Grant (2013–14)
• ExxonMobil Russia Scholarship Award (2010–12)

Collaborative Goals: Yurchenko seeks partners who value both applied and academic research. Her work spans Permian Basin (Texas), Alaska North Slope, Basin and Range (Nevada), Denver Basin (Colorado), Umbria–Marche Basin (Italy), and Middle Magdalena Valley Basin (Colombia).