Satelytics continues to add to its quiver of world-class scientists with the announcement of Dr. Jim Chatham joining our science team. Jim recently retired from a heralded career in environmental and legacy remediation of mining and oil & gas sites for organizations like Anaconda, Arco, The State of Alaska, and bp.

Growing up on a cattle ranch in Texas, Jim learned the value of hard work and became enamored with rocks and minerals he found on his family’s acreage. The sweat, dirt, and long hours of ranching taught him that he preferred using his mind to digging fence posts and wrangling cattle. He dove headlong into geology studies at Texas A&M, and was desirous of a career focused on the safe production of the earth’s natural resources — whether that be hydrocarbons or minerals.

Jim continued to earn his PhD. at the Colorado School of Mines in chemistry and uranium mining before going to work for Arco. In the early 80s, Arco and other oil & gas producers were in the midst of energy diversification with the acquisition of mining companies. He later applied learned geology techniques to identify hydrocarbon deposits thousand of feet below surface.

Later, while working for bp on former Anaconda mining sites, Jim and Satelytics partnered on a project proving that natural processes could be used to clean up a major US superfund site, from a century old copper mining operation in Montana that now boasts world-class trout fishing and waterfowl habitat. It was here that Dr. Chatham first used Satelytics’ water quality algorithms to prove that measured arsenic and heavy metals within the large tailing pond were being controlled through natural mechanisms. Warm Springs Pond is mutually one of Dr. Chatham’s and Satelytics’ biggest success stories that has been told many times over in the past five years, as our company has gained respect in the oil & gas and water industries.

Dr. Chatham would later go back and apply Satelytics’ water quality algorithms on the Alaska North Slope project to again demonstrate that natural causation, not pit leaching, was responsible for heavy metal concentration variations. This project saved bp huge survey costs and ensured the North Slope would remain pristine for generations to come.

Today, Dr. Chatham is excited to bring his experience to Satelytics to continue the advancement of spectral algorithms that address the biggest challenges facing our customers. When asked about the future of remote sensing, Dr. Chatham put development of the following capabilities at the top of industry’s wish list:

• Algorithms for mining, including minerology and acid mine drainage
• Identification of rare earth elements stores
• An exploration tool to identify hydrocarbon reserves
• Expanding Satelytics' algorithm library through understanding of surrogates
• Gas speciation

Dr. Chatham expressed excitement at joining the geospatial analytics software industry as it continues to experience exponential growth. When not pursuing his science goals, Jim and his wife, Janet, produce grapes and operate a horse farm in Tennessee. They are loving life in Tennessee, but are unsure how the higher local humidity levels will affect their wine vintages in the coming years!

Satelytics Inc., www.satelytics.com, is a cloud-based geospatial analytics software suite. Multispectral and hyperspectral imagery is gathered from satellites, UAV, planes, and fixed cameras, and processed to provide both alerts and qualitative results for our customers. Data can be gathered up to a daily basis, and results are sent to customers within hours. This includes the specific problem, location, magnitude, and even qualitative information, which minimizes cost, impact, and operational disruption for our clients.

Toledo, OH – October 7, 2020. For more information, contact David Dunham, ddunham@satelytics.com, (o) (419) 728 0060 extension #101, (c) (701) 213 0294.