The University of Kansas Center for Research Inc. received a $1,565,938 Project Grant award from the Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Office of Acquisitions and Grants under the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation program (CFDA 15.814). The grant funding will support three key preservation projects over the 8/18/2023 to 8/17/2026 project period:
Scanning and making publicly available 10,000 oil and gas well records, including completion reports, wireline logs, and other geological documents.
Processing 9,000 well cutting samples at the Kansas Geological Sample Repository to preserve and provide public access to these materials.
Scanning 25,000 historical aerial photographs into a digital database for public viewing and downloading.
Additionally, the grant will fund infrastructure improvements to the Center's public oil and gas well database, enabling more effective preservation and data retrieval for stakeholders like the oil and gas industry. The grant also supports continued efforts to inventory, photograph, sample, and analyze drill cores to identify potential critical mineral resources within Kansas.