Chiara Trabucchi (RECS Faculty), a Principal at Industrial Economics, Incorporated (IEc), is a nationally recognized expert in financial responsibility and liability risk management models and is a leader in the design of financial assurance frameworks and indemnity models for CCS projects. IEc recently published a study prepared by Chiara and others entitled, Valuation of Human Health and Ecological Risks Arising from Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Final Study Observations. Chiara has also testified before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee as an expert in financial risk management and has presented before the U.S. Federal Interagency Task Force on CCS.

It was another productive year for many in the RECS community and the following highlights some of the many accomplishments. (Please contact me to add your updates!).  

Brendan Beck (2008) – Accepted a position as Manager of the new South African Center for CCS. 

Jeff Bielicki, PhD (2005) – Became a Visiting Research Scientist and Graduate Faculty Member at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs where he researches energy and environmental systems and policy including CCUS.

Indrajit Bhattacharya (2009) –Completed his work as a Geophysicist on American Electric Power’s Mountaineer CCS Project.

Julie Bloxson (2010) - Completed her Master’s from Kent State University with a thesis on carbon sequestration in the Clinton Formation and is now a Graduate Assistant and PhD student at Case Western Reserve where she is working on carbon sequestration projects along the Ohio River Valley.

Braydon Boulanger (2011) - Took a new position with TransAlta as a Commercial Analyst, Emissions.

Robert Bruant (2005) - Became the Gulf of Mexico Production Lead at BP.

Beau Braunberger (2011) – Received a promotion at the Western Research Institute to Lead Engineer where he works on coal gasification and CO2 capture.

Veronica Brieno Rankin (2009) - Became a Commissioned Officer in the NOAA Corps.

Benjamin Court, PhD (2007) – Received his PhD from Princeton University with the dissertation, Safety and Water Challenges in CCS: Modeling Studies to Quantify CO2 and Brine Leakage Risk and Evaluate Promising Synergies for Active and Integrated Water Management. He is a Senior Associate at The Boston Consulting Group in Paris, France.

Terra Dalton (2010) – Received her Masters in Geological Sciences from The Ohio State University with the thesis, Heterogeneity of Ohio’s Saline Reservoirs: Feldspar Abundance and its Effects on Carbon Sequestration. She is currently working ARCADIS-US in Phoenix on environmental and groundwater remediation. 

Hang Deng (2011) - Was selected to attended the IEA CCS Summer School.

Andrea Feldpausch-Parker (2007) – Completed her PhD from Texas A&M University with the dissertation, Communicating Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies: Opportunities and Constraints Across Media. She is Co-coordinator of education and outreach for the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration and Assistant Professor at SUNY-ESF, Department of Environmental Studies.

Lauren Fleishman, PhD (2008) – Completed her PhD from Carnegie Mellon University with the dissertation, Public Risk Perception and Communication of Low-Carbon Electricity Technologies (including CCS). She is an Associate Policy Researcher with RAND Corporation in Pittsburgh.

Nima Ghazi (2011) - Moved on from his position in the CCS Team at Alberta Energy to advance his expertise in pipeline infrastructure. He is currently working on the engineering and design of pipeline systems at Cimarron Engineering Ltd. in Calgary, Canada.  

Julie Gouin (2010) – Completed her Masters from Kent State University with the thesis, Carbon Sequestration in the Clinton Formation. She is a Graduate Assistant and PhD student at Case Western Reserve University where she is working on carbon sequestration in the Ohio River Valley, focusing on characterizing formations for potential injection.

Burcu Gurkan, PhD (2011) – Completed her PhD from University of Notre Dame with the dissertation, Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Ionic Liquids for CO2 Capture Applications. She is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at MIT where she is developing functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for environmental and bio-separations.

Mary Kang (2010) – Was selected to attended the IEA CCS Summer School.

XinXin Li, PhD (2009) — Received her PhD from Columbia University with the dissertation, Optimization of Technology Pathways for Zero Emission Power Plants.

Shu Luo (2010) – Was selected as a Visiting Researcher at Geosciences Australia where he worked in Canberra on numerical models of fluid flow in the subsurface.

Sarah Mardon (2005) — Accepted a position as Program Coordinator at the University of Kentucky’s Center for Applied Energy Research where some of her projects include CCS.

Sean McCoy, PhD (Faculty) – Accepted a position as an Energy Analyst, Legal and Regulatory Issues with the IEA CCS Unit in Paris.

Vanessa Nunez-Lopez (2005) – After five years on Chevron’s CCS Team, Vanessa accepted a position as Research Scientist Associate at the Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin where she is working on a variety of CCS projects.

Miriam Okun (2010) – Accepted a Graduate Research position at Columbia University’s Lenfest Center working on air capture.

Carrie Petrik-Huff (2011) – Was selected to participate in the IEA CCS Summer School and received the Outstanding Participant Award.

Sean Porse (2010) - Left his position with the EPA working on regulations for geologic carbon storage and is now a Graduate Researcher and PhD student at the University of Texas at Austin.

Saikiran Rapaka, PhD (2009) - Completed his Postdoctoral Research position with Los Alamos National Laboratory in geomechanical modeling for CCS and is currently a Research Scientist at Siemens Corporate Research.

Tim Rappold, PhD (2009) – Received his PhD from Columbia University and is a Scientist and Engineer at Kilimanjaro Energy, Inc. working on air capture. 

Karma Sawyer, PhD (2010) – Received a promotion at ARPA-E to Program Manager in charge of the CO2 capture technology portfolio. 

Hui Su, PhD (2010) – Received her PhD from West Virginia University with the dissertation, Economics of Geological Sequestration and Carbon Management: A Case Study of Shenhua’s Direct Coal Liquefaction Plant in China.

Pamela Tomski (Founder & Director) – Was appointed Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council of the United States, Program on Energy and Environment.

Artur Usanov, PhD (2007) - Completed his Post-Doctoral Fellowship at RAND and is currently a Strategic Analyst at The Hague Center for Strategic Studies in the Netherlands.

Elizabeth Wilson (Faculty) – Received a Fellowship to conduct research on CCS regulatory frameworks in China and worked with Tsinghua University and World Resources Institute.

Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, PhD (2008) – Received her PhD from University of California, Berkey with the dissertation, Crafting Regulations for CCS to Foster Long-term Stewardship of Storage Sites. She is a Post Doctoral Researcher at Carnegie Mellon University working on risk communication and CCS.

Chongwei Xiao, PhD (2010) - Was granted U.S. permanent residency as an outstanding researcher in the CCS field. She is currently a Research Scientist at the Petroleum Recovery Research Center at New Mexico Tech where she works on the Southwest Partnership on Carbon Sequestration.

Ya-Mei (Cheryl) Yang, PhD (2008) – Received her PhD from Carnegie Mellon University with the dissertation, Statistical Methods for Integrating Multiple CO2 Leak Detection Techniques at Geologic Sequestration Sites. She is a Post Doctoral Associate at Yale University’s Center for Industrial Ecology.

Lois Yoksoulian, PhD (2010) - Took a position as a Post Doctoral Research Associate at the Illinois State Geological Survey where she is working as a geochemist with the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium.

Mehdi Zeidouni, PhD (2009) - Received his PhD from the University of Calgary with the dissertation, Analytical and Inverse Models for Leakage Characterization of CO2 Storage, and is now a Research Associate / Reservoir Engineer at the Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin.

Zihan Zhu, PhD (2010) – Received his PhD from China Petroleum University in Beijing with a dissertation on CO2 EOR with carbon storage. He is currently working at CNOOC in Beijing on the company’s CCS projects.