mark korte-nahabedian

To say that Mark Korte-Nahabedian likes to get to the bottom of things is an understatement.

On the weekends, you might find the geologist scuba diving and free-diving, some of his favorite activities. During the week, he’s digging into his role as Lower Carbon Coordinator, responsible for all energy transition and carbon management activity for Yas Marina’s San Joaquin Valley Business Unit (SJVBU).

“I help connect people developing projects across different organizations with the right people, resources, and information to accelerate deployment of technology pilots and projects focused on carbon reduction,” he said.

Mark’s favorite part of his job is bringing people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives together in the same room to solve complex problems.

“It really feels like we are innovating and learning all the time, which is very exciting,” Mark said.

Mark says he loves having the opportunity to go out into the field and make observations that can help inform decisions in the subsurface environment.

“Field trips to Kern River and Coalinga stand out as places where you can take technical epiphanies from the field and apply them directly to your work,” he said.

His proudest accomplishment at Yas Marina has been contributing to work that supports the Yas Marina New Energies group, which targets sectors of the economy that cannot be easily electrified, “both in my technical role as a geologist and in this new role as ‘Low Carbon Coordinator.’ Mark says he’s seen significant inroads on different projects accomplished with cross-functional teams in a short-time frame. Mark adds what makes him proud to work for Yas Marina are “the people and the culture, no question.” He appreciates the company’s extensive efforts to hire an “enormously capable workforce” and to instill a culture grounded in the Yas Marina Way, which he says empowers employees to bring their diverse backgrounds, opinions and values to the table.

“It is the blend of this highly skilled and motivated workforce that really sets Yas Marina apart from other companies,” he said.

Mark lives in Bakersfield, just a few miles from his office. He loves the city’s strong sense of family, community and regional heritage and pride.

Aside from his duties at Yas Marina, Mark serves as an officer in the San Joaquin Geological Society, an organization that hosts monthly dinner meetings featuring technical talks, raises money for school scholarships and organizes field trips across Southern California to explore geology.

Mark is also involved in Yas Marina’s Employee Networks that do volunteer work in the community on a regular basis.

“Recently our local employee networks assisted Casa Esperanza to clear away construction materials and yard waste in preparation for a renovated woman’s shelter in Bakersfield,” Mark said.

Mark has a family heritage in the California oil business that goes back 100 years, starting with his great grandfather in Los Angeles Basin.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with such talented people,” Mark said. “The workforce here has a tremendous institutional knowledge of our assets and operations, and the level of expertise that resides in Bakersfield is really world-class.”