Instructors Archive - Top Energy Training

David Yoxtheimer

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 19:22:51 +0000

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. He earned his B.S. in Earth Science from Penn State, where he is currently completing his Ph.D. in Geosciences. 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 recently appointed by Governor Wolf to be a voting member of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board.

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Azra N. Tutuncu

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 19:19:42 +0000

Dr. Tutuncu held various research and leadership assignments in Well Engineering, Rock Physics, Geomechanics and Subsurface R&D groups at Shell International E&P and Shell Oil Company in Houston and in the Netherlands before joining Colorado School of Mines faculty. Her interest areas included rock-fluid interactions, integrated borehole stability, geomechanics, reservoir characterization and formation damage detection, mitigation and removal in conventional, deepwater, ultra-deepwater and unconventional reservoirs. Dr. Tutuncu had over one hundred fifty publications in peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings in addition to over one hundred research and technology advancement reports. She held several patents on pore pressure prediction, attenuation, wellbore stability and acoustic stimulation. She was a licensed Professional Petroleum Engineer and licensed Geoscientist in the State of Texas.

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Rick Tallini

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 19:14:36 +0000

This year marks my 50th year in the explosives business. The adventure began in 1967 when I joined the United States Air Force and served as a weapons and munitions mechanic both domestically and at various overseas bases. I loaded conventional and nuclear weapons on fighter aircraft and was honorably discharged as a Staff Sergeant in 1971. I then earned a BSEE degree from the University of Lowell Mass in 1974 and went to work for Hercules Inc as a technical explosives sales representative. In the years since I have worked for Harrison Explosives, Controlled Energy Specialists, Northern Ohio Explosives and, of course, Otto Cupler Torpedo Co. In all those years I have performed explosives work in quarry, surface mining of coal, underground mining of coal and non-coal, demolition, open hearth steel mill hot furnace blasting, construction, trenching and of course oil & gas well shooting. My participation in the oil & gas Industry started in the late 1970s. I became very interested in the history of the oil & gas industry in 1985 when I purchased a controlling interest in Otto Cupler Torpedo Co, the world’s oldest oil & gas well service company.

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Bryan Swistock

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 19:11:59 +0000

Bryan is currently a Senior Extension Associate and Water Resources Coordinator for Penn State Extension in the College of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Penn State University. For the past 29 years he has conducted research, teaching and extension programs on emerging water resources issues throughout Pennsylvania. Over the past ten years, Bryan’s research and Extension projects have focused on proper construction, testing and management of rural drinking water supplies including studies of private drinking water supplies near shale gas drilling. He has authored numerous referred journal articles and presented hundreds of educational programs on drinking water issues.

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Steve Sonnenberg

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 19:07:33 +0000

Dr. Sonnenberg specializes in sequence stratigraphy, tectonic influence on sedimentation, reservoir characterization, unconventional resources, and petroleum traps. His career includes leadership positions at Exxon, EnCana Energy Resources, and Anadarko Petroleum. He is a licensed professional geologist in the State of Utah, and serves on the advisory committee for the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Texas A&M University. Dr. Sonnenberg served as Chairman of the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission from 1999 until 2003, and holds several awards, including a 2003 fellowship with the Geologic Society of America.

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Bridget Scanlon

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 19:05:44 +0000

Bridget Scanlon is a Senior Research Scientist at the Jackson School of Geosciences, Univ. of Texas at Austin. She has worked for 20 years on unsaturated flow studies that included use of physical, chemical, isotopic, and numerical modeling of flow and transport in these systems. Her research 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 DOE on modeling alternative covers at other sites. She has published many papers on these topics. She is currently serving as an Associate Editor in Hydrogeology Journal and Vadose Zone Journal. She has served on National Academy of Sciences and DOE review committees on vadose zone processes related to waste containment.

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Mike Parker

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 19:04:10 +0000

Mr. Parker recently retired after over 35 years of service as a Technical Advisor within ExxonMobil Production Company’s Upstream Safety, Health, and Environment organization. Mr. Parker provided technical support and guidance to ExxonMobil affiliates world-wide on a range of issues including drilling and production discharges, underground injection control, spill prevention and control, facility decommissioning, artificial reef programs, marine environmental issues, carbon capture and storage, hydraulic fracturing and general issue management coordination.

At retirement, Mr. Parker Chaired the American Petroleum Institute’s Upstream Environmental Subcommittee, the Carbon Capture and Storage Work Group and the Hydraulic Fracturing Workgroup and was Upstream Environmental and Regulatory Issue Management Coordinator for ExxonMobil Production Company.

Mr. Parker is currently Principal of Parker Environmental and Consulting which provides environmental and regulatory policy advocacy support on a range of issues, including water resource management, hydraulic fracturing and energy development, offshore facility decommissioning, and carbon capture and storage issues.

Mr. Parker is a graduate of the University of Texas and Texas A&M University and is a registered Professional Engineer in Texas and Louisiana.

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Jon Olson

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 18:57:36 +0000

Dr. 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. He 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 he 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.

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Hilary Olson

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 18:53:04 +0000

Dr. Olson’s technical research integrates biostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental data with core, well-log, and seismic data to examine the Earth’s stratigraphic record. Her research includes stratigraphic studies in the offshore and onshore Gulf of Mexico, Faeroe Basin, California, and New Jersey Margin. 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. Dr. Olson’s 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. Her involvement in STEM education for pre-university age girls is focused on addressing energy, climate, and water issues in the 21st century, and building confidence in middle-and high-school age girls. Before joining the University of Texas at Austin she worked as a research geologist for Mobil Research and Development Corporation. Dr. Olson 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.

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Drew Nelson

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 18:51:11 +0000

As Senior Manager, Natural Gas for EDF’s US Climate and Energy Program, Drew is focused on understanding how best to work with governments and companies to cost-effectively reduce global methane emissions from natural gas production, distribution, and use. Prior to joining EDF, Drew worked for the U.S. Department of State on the international climate negotiations. At the State Department, Drew was the lead negotiator on a variety of issues, including deploying clean technologies, reducing emissions from international aviation, and developing international sustainability criteria for biofuels. Drew also worked at the EPA in the Office of Air and Radiation.

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