Regional Lead Organization (RLO) Directors

The Regional Lead Organizations (RLOs) are established in conjunction with State Geological Surveys and/or Petroleum Engineering Departments that blend geology and engineering background expertise. The RLOs are responsible for outreach and regional technology transfer via workshops. They also provide input to the website network and national newsletter. Quick response to inquiries and case study development are a growing industry request, which each Regional Director and staff accomplish. 

Click on name of RLO member to view biographical sketch and photo
 

Eastern
Appalachian
Basin
Dr. Douglas Patchen
Director
Appalachian Oil & Natural Gas Research Consortium
West Virginia University
P.O. Box 6064, Evansdale Drive
Morgantown, WV  26506-6064
Phone 304-293-2867 Ext. 5443    Fax 304-293-7822
E-Mail 

Illinois Basin
Joan Crockett
Director
Illinois State Geological Survey Division
Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
615 East Peabody Drive
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone 217-333-6630   Fax 217-244-2802
E-Mail 

Michigan Basin
Dr. William B. Harrison III
Director
Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education (MGRRE)
Department of Geosciences
Western Michigan University
5272 W. Michigan Avenue
Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5241
Phone 269-387-8691
E-mail   

Linda Harrison
Administrator
Phone 269-387-8633
E-Mail
 

Central and Eastern Gulf 
Louisiana
Omowumi (Wumi) Iledare

Director
Energy Informaton and Data Division
Louisiana State University
Energy, Coast and Environment Building
Nicholson Drive Extension
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
Phone 225-578-4552
E-Mail 

Alabama/Mississippi/Florida
Dr.
Ibrahim Cemen
Director
University of Alabama
Box 870338, 202 Bevill Bldg.
Tuscaloosa, AL  35487
Phone 205-348-8019
E-Mail 

Midcontinent 
Kansas & Missouri
Jeremy Viscomi
Director

University of Kansas
Tertiary Oil Recovery Projects
1530 W. 15th Street, Room 4131
Lawrence, KS  66045-7609
Phone 785-864-7396   Fax 785-864-7399

E-Mail
 

Oklahoma & Arkansas
Mohan Kelkar
Director

The University of Tulsa
Tertiary Oil Recovery Projects
1530 W. 15th Street, Room 4131
Lawrence, KS  66045-7609
Phone 918-631-3036

E-Mail
 

Rocky Mountain
Dr. Mary Carr
Director
Colorado School of Mines
1500 Illinois St.
Golden, CO  80401-1887
Phone 303-273-3107    Fax 303-273-3859
E-Mail 


Texas & SE New Mexico

Dr. Scott Tinker
Director
Bureau of Economic Geology
The University of Texas at Austin
University Station, Box X
*10100 Burnet Road, Bldg. 130, zip 78758

Austin, TX  78713-8924
Phone 512-471-1534    Fax 512-471-0140
E-Mail 


Jay Kipper
Technical Director
Phone 512-475-9505
E-Mail
 

Robert Newsham
BEG/PTTC Coordinator
Phone 512-232-1527
E-Mail 
        

West Coast
Jerry Anderson
Director
Conservation Committee of California Oil & Gas Producers
5060 California Ave., Suite 1200
Bakersfield, CA  93309-0726
Phone 661-635-0557  Fax 661-635-0558
E-Mail 


JERRY ANDERSON has served as RLO West Coast Director since October 2007. He is currently Executive Director of the Conservation Committee of California Oil and Gas Producers (CCCOGP), which works directly with the California DOGGR in making recommendation of Maximum Efficient Rates of oil and gas production to the State Oil and Gas Supervisor. CCCOGP has over 250 members representing producers (93% of California's production), service companies and consultants. Prior to this, he worked for Texaco (formerly Santa Fe Energy and Monterey Resources) as an Operating Unit Manager. He has industry work experience as a Facility Engineer, Production Engineer, Reservoir Engineer and Engineering Supervisor. Mr. Anderson is also an independent oil and gas producer with production in California.
 


DR. MARY CARR is the RLO Rocky Mountain Director and an Assistant Research Professor at Colorado School of Mines. Over the past four years her focus has been on building geologic models of the crevasse splay and point bar deposits of the Cretaceous Illes Formation outcrops, Rangely Colorado. Previous research involved the Brushy Canyon deep-water sandstone outcrops of West Texas, conducting field work and producing reservoir models of the outcrops. As a Post-doc at the University of Wyoming, Dr. Carr was involved in outcrop and subsurface studies of the eolian Tensleep Formation in the Big Horn and Wind River Basins of Wyoming. Dr. Carr received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Geology from University of Texas at Arlington. In 1994 she received her Doctorate from The University of Texas at Austin working with Gary Kocurek on the Entrada Sandstone of Utah. Dr. Carr has authored several papers on eolian sedimentology, deep-water sand deposition and building deep-water sandstone reservoir models. 


JOAN CROCKETT is the PTTC Coordinator serving the Illinois Basin Area, Eastern Region.  She is a geologist at the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS.)  Joan has been part of a team setting up and running PTTC programs in the Illinois Basin since the PTTC program was established in the 1990s. She has been involved in several DOE-supported geology and GIS research projects awarded to the ISGS, including reservoir characterization for improved and enhanced oil recovery and research on Lower Paleozoic reservoirs, and she was part of the team that developed the popular interactive web-based mapping service (“ILOIL.”)  Other work focuses on hydrocarbon source rocks in the Illinois Basin, and providing information services related to oil and gas in Illinois. She is active in education and outreach programs at the ISGS and serves on the AAPG Youth Education Activities committee, as well as serving multiple terms as delegate or alternate delegate to AAPG. She has twice served the Illinois Geological Society as President.  Joan received Bachelor degrees in Geology and Scientific Writing from the University of Illinois


LINDA K. HARRISON, Michigan Outreach, has assisted William B. Harrison, RLO Michigan Basin Director, since 1997. She received her B.S and M.S. degrees in Geology from the University of Cincinnati and taught geology at Western Michigan University (WMU) before going into the business world. Having run a successful business for 19 years, Ms. Harrison's organization and marketing skills are put to good use at PTTC. Ms. Harrison organized the capital campaign for the new building for the Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education, part of the Department of Geosciences at Western Michigan University, where she serves as manager.

 

 


DR. WILLIAM B. HARRISON III, is the RLO Michigan Basin Director at Western Michigan University (WMU) since 1997. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati, was a teaching and research professor at WMU for 35 years, and is one the foremost experts on oil and gas geology in Michigan, having published more than 45 articles and book chapters. He is currently the Curator of the Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education, which he founded at WMU 27 years ago. It has grown to the largest repository of subsurface geological data in the Midwest. He continues to be active in carbonate reservoir research.

 

 


DR. OMOWUMI (WUMI) ILEDARE, RLO LA Director, is professor of petroleum economics and policy research and the director of the Energy Information and Data Division of the Center for Energy Studies. He is an adjunct professor of petroleum economics at the Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering at Louisiana State University and the University of Ibadan. Dr. Iledare is also a visiting professor of petroleum economics at the Institute of Petroleum Studies in the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and to the African University of Science and Technology, Nigeria. Dr. Iledare holds a B.S. in petroleum engineering from University of Ibadan, Nigeria, M.S. in energy resources from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Engineering, and Ph.D. in mineral economics from West Virginia University. Prior to joining the faculty at the LSU Center for Energy Studies, Dr. Iledare worked as a petroleum/reservoir engineer for Shell Petroleum Development Company in Nigeria and as a reservoir/production engineer trainee for Mobil Producing Nigeria. He also worked briefly as an energy specialist with the California Energy Commission, Sacramento. Professor Iledare is a Senior Fellow of the United States Association for Energy Economics and the 2008 USAEE President. Dr. Iledare is an outstanding member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. 


DR. MOHAN KELKAR is the TUCRS Director, and Chairman and Williams Endowed Professor in the Petroleum Engineering Department at The University of Tulsa. He has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Bombay, a M.S. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Kelkar's areas of specialization are Reservoir Characterization, reservoir modeling and Production Optimization. He is the author of more than fifty refereed papers and two books.  Dr. Kelkar is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Society of Petroleum Engineers, and Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

 

 

 


JAY KIPPER serves a dual role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO). His technical involvement at the bureau includes CO2 and gasification research, nanotechnology research and leading the PTTC program. Prior to joining the Bureau, he worked 22 years at Aspen technology. At Aspen he served in numerous roles, mostly serving the refining and petrochemical industries. He has consulted in over 40 countries and 6 continents. Mr. Kipper got his chemical engineering degree from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. 

 

 

 


ROBERT NEWSHAM Bio and photo coming soon.

 

 

   

 


JEREMY VISCOMI joined Kansas University’s Tertiary Oil Recovery Project (TORP) in May 2010 and became Regional Director for PTTC’s North Midcontinent area serving Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Prior to his appointment, Viscomi was Program Officer for the KU Energy Council. He led that organization in the development of multiple technical conferences, short courses and tradeshow events, gaining knowledge of the O&G industry in Kansas. On behalf of the Energy Council he traveled the state forming relationships with key energy leaders, becoming acquainted with producers as well as regulatory, supply, service and marketing personnel, as well as KIOGA and EKOGA officers. He organized multiple technical conferences, short courses and special events bringing together national speakers and led multiple web-based initiatives. In addition to his work in energy, Viscomi has almost a decade of experience organizing technical conferences, special events, and trade shows.   


DR. DOUGLAS PATCHEN  RLO Appalachian Director, is Director of the Resource Extraction Division of the National Research Center for Coal and Energy (NRCCE) at West Virginia University (WVU). One of his prime responsibilities at NRCCE is to manage the activities of the Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Research Consortium (AONGRC), a partnership among the geological surveys of West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and the departments of Geology & Geography and Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering at WVU. Since the formation of AONGRC in 1989, Dr. Patchen has directed research programs in reservoir characterization and heterogeneity, secondary gas recovery, coal-mine methane and coal-bed methane; has managed projects to create an Appalachian basin gas atlas and a Trenton-Black River Play Book; and directed projects to enhance DOE’s Total Oil Recovery Information System (TORIS) data base for the basin and to create an on-line data-delivery system for log and core data and other information on Upper Devonian tight sandstone reservoirs. Dr. Patchen is an active member of AAPG, and served six years on the Advisory Council for that international group, as well as serving four years as an officer in the Eastern Section of AAPG. He also served in the House of Delegates and as Eastern Section Councilor for the Energy Minerals Division before serving EMD as President-elect and President. He was the General Chairman of the 1996 Eastern Section Technical meeting, and served in that same capacity for the 2003 and 2008 meetings in Pittsburgh, which were combined meeting with the Eastern Region of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He also is a member of the Potential Gas Committee, and has served on various task forces and committees for agencies such as DOE, the Federal Power Commission and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, dealing with enhanced recovery, coal-bed methane, Devonian shale and tight formations.


DR. SCOTT W. TINKER is Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology, the State Geologist of Texas, Director of the Advanced Energy Consortium, a Professor holding the Allday Endowed Chair and acting Associate Dean of Research in the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Tinker spent 17 years in the oil and gas industry prior to coming to UT in 2000. He is past President of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (‘08-‘09) and the Association of American State Geologists (’06-’07). Dr. Tinker was a Distinguished Lecturer for the AAPG (’97), Society of Petroleum Engineers (‘02), and Distinguished Ethics Lecturer for the AAPG (’06-’07) and won best paper awards in two major journals. He holds appointments on the National Petroleum Council, the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and serves on several private, professional, and academic boards. Dr. Tinker’s passion is building bridges between academia, industry and government globally and he as given over 300 invited and keynote lectures and visited over 40 countries towards this end. Dr. Tinker’s degrees are from the University of Colorado (Ph.D.), the University of Michigan (MS), and Trinity University (BS).