UTA hosts second annual Responsible Shale Energy Extraction Conference Oct. 12-13
The University of Texas at Arlington is hosting the second annual Responsible Shale Energy Extraction Conference Oct. 12-13 at its new state-of-the-art Science & Engineering Innovation & Research building on the south side of campus.
“The goal of this conference is to show that shale energy extraction and environmental stewardship can be achieved conjointly,” said Kevin Schug, UTA’s Shimadzu Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry and director of the Collaborative Laboratories for Environmental Analysis and Remediation or CLEAR lab, who are organizers of the conference.
“We will bring together scientists, engineers, industry professionals, regulators, technology innovators and concerned citizens to discuss the state of environmental stewardship within the shale energy sector, as well as the technologies available to improve both economic and environmental impacts,” he added.
This year’s event will focus on freshwater and wastewater management and will include round-table discussions on produced water recycling, water infrastructure and emerging new technologies, with industry leaders discussing their areas of expertise.
This event also will feature a series of presentations by female leaders in the shale sciences.
Current status of the program, including feature speakers, sponsors and registration, can be found at www. shalescience.org.
The organizer of the event, the CLEAR lab at UTA, is a multi-disciplinary research consortium led by Schug and Zacariah Hildenbrand, Chief Technology and Science Officer of Inform Environmental, LLC.
“CLEAR is a neutral and objective entity that strives to provide data to inform decision-making and publication of new policies,” Hildenbrand said. “We aim to generate positive collaborations around environmental stewardship in the oil and gas industry.”
CLEAR specializes in the comprehensive analysis and remediation of air, soil and water quality, and has developed numerous highly sensitive analytical methods for the characterization of contamination events.
Most recently, CLEAR has collaborated with industry partners to better understand the extraction of hydrocarbons under downhole conditions and to develop novel technologies for recycling and reuse of produced oil field waste.
RSEE 2018’s Friday evening event will feature student research and networking, as well as a catered dinner. On Saturday, the entire day will be dedicated to presentations and panel discussions.