Associate Professor of Instruction, The University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D., Stanford University
Hilary Olson is the director of the Energy Excursions project at The University of Texas at Austin. Her education, training, and outreach programs address the areas of unconventional resources and carbon storage, with audiences ranging from state and federal regulators to the public. Her K-12 teacher professional development activities are focused on energy and earth science education, and have received support from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.
Hilary's technical research integrates biostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental data with core, well-log, and seismic data to examine the Earth’s stratigraphic record, including studies in the offshore and onshore Gulf of Mexico, Faeroe Basin, California, and New Jersey Margin. Before joining the University of Texas at Austin Dr. Olson worked as a research geologist for Mobil Research and Development Corporation. She has served as President of the North American Micropaleontology Section of the Society for Sedimentary Geology and as a Distinguished Lecturer for the Ocean Drilling Program. She was awarded the Public Service Award by the Dallas Geological Society and the Public Service Award by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
Course Instructor: Put it Back
Course Designer: In Pursuit of the Safe Well, How Much Water Does it Take?, Energize the Future
Professor of Geosciences, Penn State
Ph.D., Princeton University
Michael A. Arthur, a geochemist and sedimentary geologist, is Penn State Professor of Geosciences. He is a past Department Head in Geosciences and is a recipient of the L.L. Sloss Medal in Sedimentary Geology (Geological Society of America), the Francis P. Shepard Medal for Marine Geology (Society for Sedimentary Geology, SEPM), the Wilson Awards for Research and Teaching in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, and the Geological Society of America.
His research interests include investigating the nature of climates and oceans of the past and the causes of past global change. He has long focused on studies of modern marine environments characterized by organic-carbon rich sediment deposits and the origin and nature of ancient “black shales.” The geology of the Devonian Marcellus Shale is a current research emphasis through the efforts of the Appalachian Basin Black Shales Group (Engelder, Slingerland, and Arthur collaboration and students in the Department of Geosciences).
ExxonMobil, Houston, Texas
M.S., The University of Texas at Austin
Ila Boley received an MS in Energy and Earth Resources, with a specialization in resource science and engineering, from The University of Texas at Austin in May 2022. While attending UT her research focused on reservoir characterization and financial analysis of carbonate reservoirs in Offshore Brazil. In addition to her research, Ila helped create the Energy Excursions website, working with several faculty members and using a breadth of knowledge to create the multifaceted courses centered around the energy sector, available to high school students in Texas and beyond.
Ila worked with Dr. Hilary Olson throughout her graduate program, with focus on several outreach programs, extending beyond Energy Excursions. Prior to attending UT Ila received her Bachelor’s Degree from Miami University (Ohio), in Earth Science and General Business. Ila now works as a Geoscience Intern at ExxonMobil in their Houston, Texas office.
Course Instructor: How Much Water Does it Take?, Energize the Future
Course Designer: In Pursuit of the Safe Well, Put it Back
Senior Distinguished Lecturer, The University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin
Paul Bommer has extensive experience in reservoir evaluation and drilling and production practice. His research includes the investigation of oil field cementing operations and design, the testing and application of foam and foam cement, the fatigue life of sucker rods, and the mechanics of down-hole gas-liquid separators. He served on the National Academy of Engineering committee that investigated the causes of the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
Dr. Bommer has received numerous teaching awards including the University of Texas System Board of Regents Teaching Award in 2014. He has published articles in several fields including solution mining, beam pump design, and well log analysis. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Texas.
Course Instructor: In Pursuit of the Safe Well, Energize the Future
Director, Advanced Remediation Technologies Division
U.S. Dept. of Energy
M.S., The University of Texas at Austin
Ms. Nuñez-López is the Director of Advanced Remediation Technologies Division at the U.S. Dept. of Energy. She is a petroleum engineer working in the area of carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery potential and sequestration capacity, with experience in many places across the globe, including Texas and Colombia. She has taught a number of workshops and university courses on CO2 monitoring.
Vanessa was a reservoir engineer for Chevron from 2006 to 2010. Subsequently, she worked at the Bureau of Economic Geology as an engineer within the Gulf Coast Carbon Center, where she focused on a number of areas related to carbon storage, specifically carbon life cycle analysis and near-term decarbonization.
Course Instructor: Put it Back
Professor, The University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D., Stanford University
Jon Olson specializes in geomechanics, production optimization and environmental impact issues related to unconventional oil and gas development. His research includes hydraulic fracture design and modeling, induced seismicity, wellbore stability and reservoir compaction and subsidence.
Dr. Olson participates in public outreach focused on secondary school science teachers with regard to energy supply and utilization, the place of fossil fuels in the energy mix for the USA, and the use of geologic carbon storage to mitigate greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere.
Before joining the University of Texas at Austin Jon worked as a research engineer for Mobil Research and Development Corporation. Dr. Olson has served as a Distinguished Lecturer for both the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Texas.
Course Instructor: In Pursuit of the Safe Well, Energize the Future
Sr. Research Scientist, The University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D., University of Kentucky
Bridget Scanlon is a Senior Research Scientist at the Jackson School of Geosciences, Univ. of Texas at Austin. She has worked for many years on unsaturated flow studies that includes use of physical, chemical, isotopic, and numerical modeling of flow and transport in these systems. Her research has included monitoring and modeling of alternative covers at a site in the Chihuahuan Desert in West Texas for several years. She has collaborated with researchers in the Dept. of Energy on modeling alternative covers at other sites. Recently, Bridget has been examining the water-energy nexus in areas with high levels of oil and gas production activity, such as North Dakota and Texas.
Dr. Scanlon has served as an Associate Editor in Hydrogeology Journal and Vadose Zone Journal. She has served on the National Academy of Sciences and the Dept. of Energy review committees on vadose zone processes related to waste containment. Bridget is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Course Instructor: How Much Water Does it Take?
Hydrogeologist, Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research
Ph.D., Penn State
David Yoxtheimer (P.G.) is a hydrogeologist and extension associate with Penn State University’s Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research and serves as a liaison to advise stakeholders on key environmental issues. Previous to joining MCOR he spent 18 years as a consulting hydrogeologist with expertise in water supply development, karst hydrogeology, geophysical surveying, environmental permitting, shale energy geology, and integrated water resource management.
Dave is also a hydrogeology instructor at Penn State and was appointed by Governor Wolf to be a voting member of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board.
Course Instructor: How Much Water Does it Take? (Global Water Cycle Interactive)