Alex Bump

Alex Bump is a Research Professor at the Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas, where he works as a Research Scientist Associate in the Gulf Coast Carbon Center since 2019. His career spans academic and industry experience in structural geology, tectonics, and petroleum exploration.

Dr. Bump holds a Ph.D. in Structural Geology and Tectonics from the University of Arizona (2001) and a B.A. cum laude in Physics from Williams College (1993). Prior to joining the Bureau of Economic Geology, he spent 16 years with BP in various exploration roles, including as Head of Discipline for Structural Geology and Tectonics.

His research interests focus on adapting petroleum exploration tools to screen and de-risk geologic storage sites for CO₂, basin analysis with emphasis on structure, subsidence and heat flow, and dynamic topography influenced by mantle processes. Dr. Bump has worked across 50+ basins on 5 continents and has delivered over 100 courses in exploration, structural geology and tectonics.

His recent publications demonstrate expertise in basin analysis, particularly focusing on the Benguela Basin, Arabian Plate, and South Atlantic rift systems. His work bridges traditional petroleum geology with carbon capture and storage applications.

• 21 spot bonuses for technical contributions, leadership, mentoring, and teaching (2003-2018)
• Coach of the Year, Ful-on Tri Club, 2017
• Outstanding Student Paper Award, Tectonophysics Division, AGU, 2000
• Outstanding Student Research Award, Structure and Tectonics Division, GSA, 2000
• Outstanding Student Research Award, GSA, 2000

Dr. Bump has been actively involved in professional service, including serving on the Advisory Board for Royal Holloway University of London's Petroleum MSc program (2016-2018) and as a committee member for the Geological Society of London Library Users Group. He has also been a technical interviewer for geoscience recruiting at BP and designed exploration workflows for basin analysis.

He leads research initiatives connecting petroleum exploration techniques with carbon storage solutions, working within the Gulf Coast Carbon Center, which focuses on practical methods for geologic carbon sequestration.