Maria Antonieta Lorente has a Ph.D. in Mathematics and Natural Sciences (Palynology and palynofacies of the Upper Tertiary in Venezuela, U. Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1987), an MSc in Sedimentary Geology (Central U. of Venezuela [UCV], Caracas, Venezuela, 1983) and is a qualified Geological Engineer (UCV, Caracas, Venezuela, 1976).
She is an AAPG certified petroleum geologist, expert in stratigraphy and biostratigraphy, lecturer, and international consultant. She is bilingual in Spanish and English.
Her expertise in exploration was developed throughout a 40-year career in the Oil and Gas Industry. It began at Maraven S.A. in Caracas with her role as a palynologist. Years later, she was promoted to Head of Geological Laboratories and Stratigraphy Leader. Her last role in PDVSA was Exploration’s Planning and Strategy Manager. After leaving Venezuela, she developed expertise in environmental matters and certification. For several years she was a Consultant for NEXT for competence evaluation and biostratigraphy course teaching.
Since moving to Houston in 2013, Lorente has been working as a manager and part of the biostratigraphy team of Ellington – ALS Geological Laboratories later Ellington Geological Services, employing her previous experience of project and personnel competency assessment and stratigraphy team management in the oil and gas industry.
Her expertise encompasses Late Paleozoic spores, and Mesozoic through Neogene palynomorphs, and palynological organic matter.
Already with extensive expertise in South American Mesozoic-Cenozoic biostratigraphy, in the last ten years, she has expanded her experience to include several US onshore basins, including the Paleozoic of the Western Interior Seaway and Permian Basin, and also the Triassic-Jurassic of Kurdistan, Cretaceous through Neogene of Belize, and the Cretaceous of diverse areas, such as the South Atlantic and Oman.
She is a Professor in the UCV Geology Department, teaching online courses in stratigraphy since 2002. A published author her work has been cited about 1600 times. She loves to write poetry.