The annual research conference series began over twenty years ago. The express purpose is to provide a forum for the timely presentation of current research on topics of particular interest to exploration and production geoscientists working in the Gulf Coast area. The format provides a free exchange of ideas and information on selected topics and encourages further research into these areas. Conference participants represent industry, academia and varied research groups, both public and private, and include many scientists from outside the Gulf Coast area.

The first conference was held in 1980 and reflected the concept of a "focus issue" by being dedicated to investigations of the Woodbine/Tuscaloosa Formation, which was then a "hot" exploration play. The success of the 1980 conference spurred the birth of the GCSSEPM foundation and the formalization of the "focus issue" concept as the underlying organizational philosophy. Bob F. Perkins, Gene B. Martin, Bill Ventress, and Don Bebout were instrumental in "making it happen" and are some of the founding officers of the foundation. Other early conferences reflected some of the major issues of the times such as the "delta vs. deep-water" controversy common to many of the Gulf Coast Tertiary plays and the complex and surprising "Jurassic of the Gulf Coast". The conference broke new ground in 1984 by focusing on deep-water sediments and their exploration potential thereby setting the stage for the upcoming exploration boom in the gulf. The 1990 conference on sequence stratigraphy was such a success that it had to be held twice. The entire meeting from December 1990 was presented again in June of 1991! Some focus issues have remained at such a high level of interest that they have generated more than one conference. The subject of submarine fans and turbidites that was covered extensively in 1994 was revisited by the 2000 conference on deepwater reservoirs. Through it all, the "focus issue" concept has been instrumental in attracting presentations based on state of the art research from many sources. Gulf Coast workers are exposed to models and concepts developed in sedimentary basins from around the world and then challenged to apply that knowledge to our own unique set of circumstances. The conference has established a tradition of attracting outstanding papers and attendees from all around the world.

In 1999 the foundation trustees and the GCSSEPM executive council agreed that the conference series should be renamed the Bob F. Perkins Research Conference to honor the first executive director of the foundation and a man who was instrumental in making the past two decades such a success.

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