Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, guest host Selena Gerace, Project Manager of the Energy Engagement, Leadership and Careers Program sits down with sits down with Dr. Charles Sims—the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Distinguished Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy, Director of the Center for Energy, Transportation, and Environmental Policy at the University of T...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, our guest host, Selena Gerace, Program Manager of the Energy Engagement, Leadership and Careers Program at the School of Energy Resources, sits down with industry veteran and UW alumnus Doug Brooks, a member of the Industry Advisory Board for the University of Wyoming’s Professional Land Management (PLM) program. Drawing from over 40 years...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Director of Cross Cutting Programs at the School of Energy Resources, sits down with Dave Green, Project Engineer at Western Fuels Wyoming’s Dry Fork Mine and 1991 University of Wyoming Geology alumnus. With over 35 years of experience in Powder River Basin surface mining, Dave shares insights into coal geology, reserve...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Director of Cross Cutting Programs at the School of Energy Resources, visits with Pete Obermueller, the newly appointed Executive Director of the School of Energy Resources. Listeners will remember Pete from his time as the head of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming (PAW), where he was a fierce advocate for the state&a...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Acting Senior Director of Research at the School of Energy Resources, sits down with triple-degree University of Wyoming alumnus Paul Bonifas, Director of Business Development at Rare Element Resources. While Wyoming is historically recognized as a traditional energy powerhouse, the state is becoming a crucial hub for th...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Acting Senior Director of Research at the School of Energy Resources, sits down with University of Wyoming professors Dr. Brian Leonard (Department of Chemistry) and Dr. Bryan Leonard (School of Energy Resources / Haub School) to explore the intersection of hard science and institutional policy.

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Acting Senior Director of Research at the School of Energy Resources, visits with Kyle Summerfield to trace the remarkable decade-long evolution of the University of Wyoming’s 3D Visualization Center. From its early days, housed within a massive, room-sized 3D CAVE, to its modern-day reality as a lean, agile, and state-c...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Acting Senior Director of Research at the School of Energy Resources, sits down with Christine Reed, the Director of Outreach for the School of Energy Resources. While scientists and engineers are busy developing the next generation of energy technologies, Christine and her team are doing the vital work of connecting tho...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Acting Senior Director of Research at the School of Energy Resources, visits with Greyson Buckingham, CEO and Co-Founder of DISA Technologies. Exploring the power of the Wyoming ecosystem, Greyson discusses how University of Wyoming competitions and collaborations catalyzed a global mineral-processing breakthrough, and s...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Acting Senior Director of Research at the School of Energy Resources, explores the intersection of international diplomacy and domestic resource security with Melissa Sanderson, a former senior U.S. diplomat, Director at American Rare Earths, and Co-Chair of the Critical Minerals Institute. As the United States races to...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Acting Senior Director of Research at the School of Energy Resources, chats with Dr. Brian Mealor, Interim Director of the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station and Director of the Sheridan Research and Extension Center about solving the complex puzzles of high-altitude reclamation.  

In this episode of Energy Frontier, we sit down with one of the most influential voices in global geoscience, Dr. Brian Horn. As Managing Director of Hatteras Energy Group and the current President of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), Brian brings a holistic perspective to the conversation, moving beyond the polarized debates of the energy transition to focus on what he call...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Acting Senior Director of Research at the School of Energy Resources, visits with Dr. Peng Li, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Standford University. A proud UW alumnus, Dr. Li discusses how his Wyoming-based research prepared him for a postdoctoral role at one of the world&a...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, we explore the shifting view of coal solely as a fuel source to recognizing it as a critical raw material for the 21st-century economy. Joining us fresh from a site visit to the Center for Carbon Capture and Conversion (CCCC) in Gillette, Dan Connell, President of CONSOL Innovations, which is the innovations arm of Core Natural Resources,...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, guest host, Selena Gerace, Program Manager of the Energy Engagement, Leadership and Careers Center at the School of Energy Resources, visits with Wyomingite and former state legislator Cyrus Western. Now serving as the Regional Administrator for EPA Region 8, Cyrus oversees a massive and diverse territory that includes six states and 28 Tr...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Acting Senior Director of Research at the School of Energy Resources, visits with award-winning SER Professor of Geology and Geophysics Dario Grana, who is also a Wyoming Excellence Chair and Nielson Faculty Fellow. Dario takes us inside his research to explain how he uses high-level mathematics and geology to decode the...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Director of Cross Cutting Programs and Acting Senior Director of Research at the School of Energy Resources (SER), sits down with Dr. Simon Pimblott, a world-renowned authority in nuclear science. From his award-winning work at the University of Manchester to his current role at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Dr. P...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Acting Senior Director of Research at the School of Energy Resources, sits down with legal scholars Tara Righetti and Scarlett Forrest in SER’s Jurisprudence of Underground Law and Energy (JOULE) research group to talk about why the accompanying legal scholarship is so critical in emerging energy technology development a...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Acting Senior Director of Research at the School of Energy Resources, visits with Dr. Ashli Tomisich the Director of Student Success and Experiential Learning in SER’s Academic Program, and the Assistant Director at the University of Wyoming’s Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning (ECTL) to talk about the value of ex...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, Dr. Erin Phillips, Acting Senior Director of Research at the School of Energy Resources, sits down with long-time SER employee and Acting Executive Director, Scott Quillinan to talk about his journey from research to leadership at the School of Energy Resources. 

This episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape introduces Dr. Erin Phillips, Director of Cross-Cutting Programs and Acting Senior Director of Research, at the UW School of Energy Resources as the new host of the podcast. For Dr. Phillips' debut, she sits down with the outgoing Executive Director, Dr. Holly Krutka, for a reflective and insightful conversation as Dr. Krutka steps away f...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, we sit down with Anthony Nickens, Division Director of Materials & Manufacturing at Idaho National Laboratory. We explore how INL is advancing critical minerals research, bridging the gap between lab and industry, and enabling resilient supply chains for energy and minerals security. Anthony shares lessons from national lab–university–...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, we sit down with Dave Emery, former Chairman and CEO of Black Hills Energy and member of the Energy Resources Council, to talk about his journey from a University of Wyoming engineering student to leading one of the region’s most influential energy companies. Emery shares insights on leadership, the evolving role of electric utilities, and...

In this episode of Energy Frontier: The Wyoming Landscape, we sit down with Joe Leimkuhler, Chief Operating Officer of Beacon Offshore Energy and a proud University of Wyoming alum. Joe's career started in Laramie classrooms and took him to the forefront of offshore oil and gas development in the Gulf of America. He now oversees complex deepwater projects and operational leadership at Beacon....

Hyperspectral imaging—a technology that captures hundreds of wavelengths beyond what the human eye can see—is transforming how we understand the Earth’s surface. From satellites and drones to field and lab studies, this approach provides insights that traditional mapping and sampling can’t match. At the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources, researchers are beginning to apply hyperspect...