Senior Management & Independent Directors

J. Darby Seré
Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer

J. Darby Seré has served as a Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of GeoMet, Inc. since December 2000. Mr. Seré was elected Chairman of the Board in January 2006. Mr. Seré has over 36 years of experience in the oil and gas business, including 18 years as Chief Executive Officer of two other publicly held exploration and production companies. Mr. Seré served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a Director of Bellwether Exploration Company from 1988 to 1999, where he also served as Chairman of the Board from 1997 to 1999, and was a co-founder and President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Bayou Resources, Inc. from 1982 to 1987. Mr. Seré was Manager of Acquisitions, Vice President–Acquisitions and Engineering and Executive Vice President of Howell Corporation / Howell Petroleum Corporation from 1977 to 1981. Mr. Seré began his career as a staff reservoir engineer for Chevron Oil Co. in 1970. Mr. Seré currently serves as a director of Gateway Energy Corporation, a publicly held gas gathering, transportation and distribution company. Mr. Seré holds a Bachelors degree in Petroleum Engineering from Louisiana State University and a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard University.
 

William C. Rankin
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

William C. Rankin has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of GeoMet, Inc. since 2000. Mr. Rankin has 39 years experience as an accountant and financial manager, including 33 years as a financial officer with publicly and privately owned energy companies. He began his career as an auditor with Deloitte & Touche from 1971-1975. He served as Director of Internal Audit of Kerr-McGee Corporation from 1975-1977, Controller of Cotton Petroleum Corporation from 1977-1980 and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Cayman Resources Corporation from 1980-1985. Mr. Rankin joined Hadson Corporation in 1985 as Vice President and Controller, became Vice President and Treasurer in 1988 and last served as Sr. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Hadson Energy Resources Corporation from 1989-1993. In 1994 he became Sr. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Contour Energy Company (and its predecessors) where he served until 1997. In 1997, he became Sr. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Bellwether Exploration Company. Mr. Rankin is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelors degree in Accounting from the University of Arkansas.

Philip G. Malone
Senior Vice President—Exploration and Director

Philip G. Malone has served as our Senior Vice President—Exploration since January 2006 and has served in executive positions with GeoMet since he participated in founding the Company in 1985. Mr. Malone has been a member of our Board of Directors since 2005. He has over 34 years experience as a professional geologist; one year at the Geological Survey of Alabama, ten years at USX Corporation and the remainder at GeoMet. From 1976 to 1985, he was a geologist with USX Corporation and served as chief geologist for the last three years of his tenure with responsibility for supervising exploration and development work related to coal and coalbed methane for USX Southern District. Mr. Malone has authored and co-authored numerous technical papers and is a recognized speaker worldwide on coalbed methane topics. Mr. Malone holds a Bachelors degree in Geology from the University of Alabama.
 

Tony Oviedo
Vice President—Chief Accounting Officer and Controller

Tony Oviedo was the financial reporting manager for GeoMet from March 2006 through October 2007 and has served as the Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller from that date forward. Mr. Oviedo has over 26 years of energy experience with both private and public companies. Prior to joining GeoMet, he was Compliance Director at Resolution Performance Products, LLC and held positions as Chief Accounting Officer, Controller, and Director of Financial Reporting with various companies in the oil and gas industry.  Mr. Oviedo is a certified public accountant and holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting and tax from the University of Houston.

J. Hord Armstrong, III
Director

J. Hord Armstrong, III has over 40 years of financial and operational experience in varied industries. Mr. Armstrong has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Armstrong Land Company, LLC, a private company that owns coal reserves in the United States, since 2006. Mr. Armstrong founded D&K Healthcare Resources, Inc. in 1987, and served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer until October 2005. From 1977 to 1987, Mr. Armstrong was with Arch Coal Inc. last serving as its Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Armstrong was First Vice President with White Weld & Company, an investment banking firm, from 1968 to 1977. Mr. Armstrong served for ten years as a member of the Board of Trustees of the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and has served as a director of Jones Pharma Incorporated. Mr. Armstrong formerly served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Pilot Fund, a registered investment company, and also formerly served as a Director of BHA, Inc., based in Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Armstrong graduated from Williams College in 1963, and attended the New York University School of Business in 1965 and 1966.
 

James C. Crain
Director

James C. Crain has been involved in the energy industry for over 34 years, both as an attorney and as an executive officer. Since 1984, Mr. Crain has held officer positions with Marsh Operating Company, an investment management firm focusing on energy investments, including his current position, President, which he has held since 1989. In addition, since 1997, Mr. Crain has acted as a general partner of Valmora Partners, L.P., which invests in various oil and gas businesses, among other things. Prior to joining Marsh in 1984, Mr. Crain was a Partner in the law firm of Jenkens & Gilchrist. Mr. Crain currently serves on the boards of directors of Crosstex Energy, Inc. and Approach Resources, Inc. Mr. Crain holds a Bachelors degree in Accounting, a Masters of Professional Accounting in Taxation degree and a Juris Doctorate degree, all from the University of Texas at Austin.
 

Stanley L. Graves
Director

Stanley L. Graves has over 36 years of experience in the oil and gas business and currently serves as President of Graco Resources, Inc., a coal and energy consulting firm. He served as Chairman of the Board of Graves Service Company, Inc. from 1990 until it was sold in 2006. From 1997 to 2002, Mr. Graves was the President of U.S. Clay, L.P., which mined and processed bentonite. Prior to his time at U.S. Clay, L.P., Mr. Graves served as Vice President—Business Development for Ultimate Abrasive Systems, Inc., as President of Eldridge Gathering System Inc., and as Vice President of Energen Corp., the largest coalbed methane producer in Alabama. Mr. Graves holds a Bachelors degree in Engineering from Auburn University.

Charles D. Haynes
Director

Charles D. Haynes has over 46 years in the energy profession as a consultant, academic, researcher, and executive. He retired from The University of Alabama in May 2005, having held faculty and administrative positions since 1991. From 1977 to 1990, he was a senior executive officer and director of Belden & Blake Corporation, an oil and gas drilling and exploration company. He is a licensed professional engineer in Alabama and served on the Alabama Board of Licensure for Engineers and Land Surveyors from 2002 to 2007. He holds Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degrees from The University of Alabama, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Texas, respectively, in mining and petroleum engineering. He is a Legion of Honor and Distinguished Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
 

W. Howard Keenan, Jr.
Director

W. Howard Keenan, Jr. has over 34 years of experience in the financial and energy businesses. Since 1997, he has been a Member of Yorktown Partners LLC, a private equity investment manager focused on the energy industry. From 1975 to 1997, he was in the Corporate Finance Department of Dillon, Read & Co. Inc. and active in the private equity and energy areas including the founding of the first Yorktown Fund in 1991. He is or has served as a director of multiple Yorktown portfolio companies, including Concho Resources, Inc. Mr. Keenan holds a Bachelors degree from Harvard College and a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard University.