Alan Stanley Kornacki is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 geologist

Geologist

A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...

 and retired Army

United States Army Special Forces

The United States Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force tasked with six primary missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, hostage rescue, and...

 colonel

Lieutenant Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...

, currently the Senior Staff Geochemist at Shell International Exploration and Production Inc

Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...

. He received a B.S. in Geology from University of Missouri–Rolla

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology is an institution of higher learning located in Rolla, Missouri, United States, and part of the University of Missouri System...

 in 1974, before completing his M.S. and Ph.D. in Geology at Harvard University

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

The Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics is one of the largest and most diverse astrophysical institutions in the world, where scientists carry out a broad program of research in astronomy, astrophysics, earth and space sciences, and science education...

 in 1984, on a Graduate Research Fellowship

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

. His dissertation focused on refractory inclusions in Carbonaceous Chondrites

Carbonaceous chondrite

Carbonaceous chondrites or C chondrites are a class of chondritic meteorites comprising at least 7 known groups and many ungrouped meteorites. They include some of the most primitive known meteorites...

. He began a career in the petroleum industry in 1985 when he joined Shell USA

Shell Oil Company

Shell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The head office in the U.S. is in Houston, Texas...

. In 1981, he was awarded the Nininger Meteorite Award

Nininger Meteorite Award

The Nininger Meteorite Award recognizes outstanding student achievement in the “Science of Meteoritics” as embodied by an original research paper. In 1965, Dr. Harvey H. Nininger and Mrs. Addie D...

, and in 2008 he was awarded a professional degree

Honorary degree

An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...

 by University of Missouri–Rolla

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology is an institution of higher learning located in Rolla, Missouri, United States, and part of the University of Missouri System...

. Alan Kornacki is most known for his characterization of wax

Wax

thumb|right|[[Cetyl palmitate]], a typical wax ester.Wax refers to a class of chemical compounds that are plastic near ambient temperatures. Characteristically, they melt above 45 °C to give a low viscosity liquid. Waxes are insoluble in water but soluble in organic, nonpolar solvents...

 from deep water crude oil, an important obstacle in modern drilling and refining technology, and his research on new sources of hydrocarbons such as oil shale

Oil shale

Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced...

.

Selected publications

• A.S. Kornacki, R.E. Cohen (1983) On the Origin of Spinel-Rich Inclusions. Lunar and Planetary Science XIV, 393 - 394
• A.S. Kornacki, J.A. Wood (1984) Petrography and classification of Ca, Al-rich and olivine-rich inclusions in the Allende CV3 chondrite. J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 89, B573 - B587
• A.S. Kornacki, B. Fegley (1984) Origin of spinel-rich chondrules and inclusions in carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites.J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 89, B588 - B596
• A.S. Kornacki, J.A. Wood (1984) The mineral chemistry and origin of inclusion matrix and meteorite matrix in the Allende CV3 chondrite. GeCoA, Vol. 48, 1663–1676
• A.S. Kornacki, J.A. Wood (1985) The identification of group II inclusions in carbonaceous chondrites by electron probe microanalysis of perovskite. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 72, 74 - 86
• A.S. Kornacki, B. Fegley (1985) Group II Cai's: an Isotopic Case for Presolar Chemistry. Lunar and Planetary Science XVI, 457 - 458