Blair Mattison

Sisler High School

Class of 1974

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Blair Mattison - Class of 1974 - Sisler High School

First Name	Blair
Last Name	Mattison
Graduation Year	Class of 1974
Gender	Male
Current Location	Calgary
Relationship Status	Married
About Me	After high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, so I enrolled at the U of M and started a B.A., with a vague idea that I might go to Law School after. I did the first year at U of M and then transferred to U of W the next year because I was really tired of the hour long commute from the North End to the Fort Garry Campus. By that time, I had given up the lawyer idea and had another vague idea about becoming an urban planner. Even though I had worked as a lifeguard in the summer for a number of years, I ran out of money to continue on full time at University. A number of my university friends were in the same position, but we heard that the breweries were hiring for delivery men and were paying decent wages. So I did that for a couple of years, going to night school to finish my B.A. and working during the day. Even though I had never been all that interested in Science, I had to take one science course to finish my B.A. The only course that was available was Geology 101, and to my surprise, I absolutely loved it. By that time I had saved enough money to go back to school full time, so the following year I started in the Honour's Geology program at U of M. I had my eye on becoming a petroleum geologist, which seemed like a safe bet when I started, but by the time I graduated four years later, the full effect of the National Energy Program had had a devastating effect on the oil business in Canada, and a very robust job market for geologists had turned to dust. So, with few other options I decided to go to grad school. I was lucky enough to get a scholarship to go to the U of Alberta where I specialized in Oil Sands studies. I stuck around in Edmonton for the next six years, eventually completing both an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. By that time, there were a few jobs in the oil patch for geologists, so I moved to Calgary. That started a nearly 30 year career in the oil and gas business. I started out in oil and gas development and exploration which eventually morphed into positions in management with a number of Canadian and International companies. During those 30 years I had the opportunity to work on some cutting edge projects uncovering the potential of the Alberta Oil Sands, and, near the end of my career, the opportunity to work on international projects in the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa and South America. That job included a lot of international travel, mostly to London, which is still the city I still love most in the world. Now retired for a few years, my wife and I spend a lot of our time either traveling or planning for our next trip. There are still many things left on our buck...(read more)