Logan Louis Urban was born October 8, 1937 in Rush Springs, Oklahoma. He grew up in Rush Springs alongside his older brother James Bartel Urban. He pursed a Master’s of Science that he received in 1965 from the “L. R. Wilson school of palynology” at the University of Oklahoma. Logan Urban was a geologist, known for his work on palynology especially on how it can help with the search for fossil fuels.
In 1966, Logan accepted the position of palynological supervisor at Phillips Petroleum in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, United States. Logan Urban was promoted at Phillips to senior exploration geologist in 1977, however this transferred him to Bogota, Columbia. While being a senior exploration geologist for Phillips required travel and the willingness to go where the company needed him, in 1980 Logan Urban was transferred to Miami, Florida. Being a senior exploration geologist for Phillips required travel and the willingness to go wherever the company needed him, and Logan missed “home.” Therefore in 1981, he returned to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, United States where he started his own company to drill and produce oil wells throughout Northeast Oklahoma called United Energy Development.
Logan L. Urban was a founding member of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists (AASP) and was also involved with or supported other organizations throughout his career.
Some of Logan Urban’s specimens, especially the Oklahoma-related ones used in his thesis, reside in the L. R. Wilson Paleobotany and Micropaleontology Collection, Sam Noble Museum of Natural History.
In an effort to make Logan L. Urban’s palynological and paleobotanical collections more accessible and maintain its relevancy we are making what is known about Logan L. Urban’s legacy and collection available on the web and asking that anyone who has additional information add it in our Collection Forum or contact us to help preserve his legacy.