Dr. Lee C. Gerhard is a consulting geologist and energy explorationist. He recently retired as Principal Geologist of the Kansas Geological Survey, having retired from the Directorship and as State Geologist in 1999. He received his B.S. in geology at Syracuse University and the M. S. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Kansas. He has a career of combined academic, government, and industry leadership and technical appointments, including petroleum exploration, management of exploration programs, oil and gas regulation, reservoir geology, and management of research. His research interests are in carbonate sedimentology, petroleum geology, and environmental public policy. He has also been the State Geologist of North Dakota (also Director of oil and gas regulations), and led a marine ecology and geology research and teaching laboratory in the U. S. Virgin Islands. Prior to returning to Kansas, he was the Getty Professor of Geological Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and operated an independent petroleum exploration company. He is a licensed geologist in Kansas and Wyoming.

Dr. Gerhard is an Honorary Member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, past president and Honorary Member of that society's Division of Environmental Geosciences, an Honorary Member of the Association of American State Geologists, and an Honorary Member of the Kansas Geological Society. He was inducted into the Kansas Oil and Gas Hall of Fame in 2002 and was elected to the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (US Branch) in 2006.

He has published more than 200 papers and books on geology, petroleum exploration, natural resources, and environmental policy. He is active in wildlife and fisheries conservation issues in the U. S. and Canada, and has organized three recent major conferences on resource and environmental issues. He lectures widely in the U. S. and in Europe about environment and resources and global climate issues. While President of the Division of Environmental Geosciences, he coined the DEG motto “Rational Science for Rational Policy,” the thrust of many of his presentations.

Dr. Gerhard continues to develop oil and gas prospects in Kansas and in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana.