Alva C. Ellisor

Alva Christine Ellisor (1892-1964) was a geologist and one of the first female stratigrapher in North America.

Alva C. Ellisor was born on April 26, 1892 in Galveston, Texas. After her secondary education in Galveston’s public schools, Ellisor achieved Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geology in University of Texas. After graduating, Ellisor had teaching position in Ball High School. This was short lived as she decided to go back to university and study in hopes of becoming a professor. At the same time Ellisor was studying she was also doing research in the field of geology through supervision of her instructors, Professor Francis L. Whitney and Professor Hal P. Bybee. Two years later, in 1918, Ellisor began working as a professor at the University of Kansas teaching geology and in 1919 was able to use her experience by working for the Kansas Geological Survey.

In 1920, Ellisor switched professions again and started working for the Humble Oil & Refining Company. She was specifically hired by Wallace Pratt to design a subsurface laboratory which works to show the development of petroleum and natural gas as well as other minerals.This is where she was really able to make a name for herself in the study of petroleum geology as well as making many firsts for women in geology. Ellisor created and opened the laboratory to focus on focusing on Tertiary and Cretaceous time periods. In just a few months after opening the laboratory, she made a major discovery of foraminifera in one of the companies wells at Goose Creek. Her study of foraminifera indicated Oligocene-aged coral reefs on the Damon Mound salt dome in Brazoria County. She helped discover the possibility of using foraminifera to correlate rocks from drilling cores. These findings would be the basis of some of her most famous writing for years to come.

Alva C. Ellisor has had a lasting impact in the field of geology as well as paved the way for many women in the field. When she was employed by the Humble Oil & Refining Company to work on a subsurface laboratory she became the first women to work on one for a company. In her many journals with Joseph A. Cushman, they studied the foraminiferal fauna and discovered fifteen new species and seven new varieties. Ellisor continued to be influential on her own, having her work published by many well known geology organizations in The United States. Of her many achievements, some of her greatest positions in science were being a fellow of the Geological Society of America and being the Vice President for the Houston Geological Society for two years.

Ellisor spent over twenty years working for the Humble Oil & Refining Company until she retired in 1947. She passed away at the age of seventy-two on September 22, 1964 in Galveston, Texas.

• 1924 Vice-President of the Houston Geological Society
• 1930 Vice-President of the Houston Geological Society
• 1941 Vice-President of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists
• 1948 Honorary member of the Houston Geological Society
• 1953 Honorable mention by the Desk & Derrick Clubs of North America (Outstanding Oil Woman of the Year)

• "HGS - Houston Geological Society | Houston Geological Society". www.hgs.org. Retrieved 2016-12-02. 

• Species of Turritella from the Buda and Georgetown limestones of Texas (series: University of Texas bulletin. no. 1840: July 15, 1918)
• Subsurface Stratigraphy of the Coastal Plain of Texas and Louisiana (A.A.P.G. Bulletin, Vol. 9, No. 1, p. 79-122)
• Coral Reefs in the Oligocene of Texas (A.A.P.G. Bulletin (Vol. 10, No. 10)
• The Foraminiferal Fauna of the Anahuac Formation (Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 19, No. 6)
• The Age and Correlation of Chalk at White Cliffs, Arkansas, with Notes on Subsurface Correlations of Northeast Texas (A.A.P.G. Bulletin, Vol.9, No. 8)
• Correlation of Claiborne of East Texas with the Claiborne of Louisiana (A.A.P.G. Bulletin, Vol. 13, No. 10)
• Jackson Group of Formations in Texas with Notes on the Frio and Vicksburg (A.A.P.G. Bulletin, Vol. 17, No. 11)
• Subsurface Miocene of Southern Louisiana (A.A.P.G. Bulletin, Vol. 24, No. 3)
• Rock Hounds of Houston

• "Details - Species of Turritella from the Buda and Georgetown limestones of Texas, by Alva Christine Ellisor. - Biodiversity Heritage Library". www.biodiversitylibrary.org. Retrieved 2016-12-02. 
• Applin, Esther Richards; Ellisor, Alva E.; Kniker, Hedwig T. (1925-01-01). "Subsurface stratigraphy of the Coastal Plain of Texas and Louisiana". AAPG Bulletin. 9 (1): 79–122. ISSN 0149-1423. 
• Ellisor, Alva Christine (1926-01-01). "Coral Reefs in the Oligocene of Texas". AAPG Bulletin. 10 (10). ISSN 0149-1423. 
• Cushman, Joseph A.; Ellisor, Alva C. (1945-01-01). "The Foraminiferal Fauna of the Anahuac Formation". Journal of Paleontology. 19 (6): 545–572. JSTOR 1299203. 
• Ellisor, Alva Christine (1929-10-01). "Correlation of the Claiborne of east Texas with the Claiborne of Louisiana". AAPG Bulletin. 13 (10): 1335–1346. ISSN 0149-1423. 
• Alva Christine Ellisor (2); (2), Alva Christine Ellisor (1933-01-01). "Jackson Group of Formations in Texas with Notes on Frio and Vicksburg". AAPG Bulletin. 17 (11). doi:10.1306/3d932bc6-16b1-11d7-8645000102c1865d. ISSN 0149-1423. 
• Ellisor, Alva C. (1940-01-01). "Subsurface Miocene of Southern Louisiana". AAPG Bulletin. 24 (3). ISSN 0149-1423.