The University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources and the College of Law's Center for Law and Energy Resources in the Rockies are once again excited to bring together stakeholders with collaborative interests to engage in a thought provoking discussion on key energy topics currently at play in Wyoming, the region and the nation. This one-day symposium has an exciting line-up of speakers sure to facilitate robust discussion on issues warranting attention for securing a sustainable natural resource future.
Learn more about our prestigious speakers, panelists and moderators for the conference.
Featured Speakers
Governor Mark Gordon, State of Wyoming
Elected Governor in 2018, Mark Gordon has successfully led Wyoming through two of its most significant challenges in decades: the COVID-19 crisis and the most significant decline in mineral revenue in the state’s history. He has spearheaded efforts to diversify all sectors of Wyoming’s economy, including technology, finance, agriculture, energy, including carbon capture and sequestration, research, education and tourism. He is a strong believer that Wyoming must chart its own course, and a steadfast defender of its interests to do so.
Tommy Beaudreau, U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior
Tommy Beaudreau returns to Interior after serving for nearly seven years at the Department during the Obama-Biden administration, including as the first director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, and Chief of Staff to Secretary Sally Jewell. Deputy Secretary Beaudreau has more than a decade of experience in energy development, environmental conservation, and Tribal consultation. He was born in Colorado, raised in Alaska, and currently resides in Washington, DC with his wife and two children.
Wahleah Johns, Director,U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs
Wahleah Johns is the Director of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs. She is responsible for upholding and advancing the Office of Indian Energy’s mission to maximize the development and deployment of energy solutions for the benefit of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Johns is a member of the Navajo (Dine) tribe and comes from northeastern Arizona. Her background is in renewable energy and community organizing, having co-founded Native Renewables, a nonprofit that builds renewable energy tribal capacity while addressing energy access. Her work with the Black Mesa Water Coalition and Navajo Green Economy Coalition has led to groundbreaking legislative victories for groundwater protection, green jobs, and environmental justice. In 2019, she was awarded the Nathan Cummings Foundation Fellowship.
Speakers and Panelists
Klint Alexander, Dean, UW College of Law
Dr. Klint Alexander is Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Wyoming College of Law. He joined the College of Law in 2015 and was previously a partner in a major Southeastern law firm where he practiced in the areas of energy and natural resource law, utilities regulation and foreign trade and investment law. For the past two decades, Alexander has served in teaching and leadership roles at several major institutions, including Yale University, Vanderbilt University and the University of London.
Shannon Angielski, Principal-Governmental Issues, Van Ness Feldman, LLP
Shannon Angielski’s practice focuses on developing and advocating for clean energy and carbon management policies on behalf of her clients, with a particular focus on decarbonizing hydrogen as well as carbon capture and sequestration (or “CCS”) policies. Shannon’s 20 years of experience includes working with the electric power and industrial sectors, equipment manufacturers, technology developers, trade associations and labor unions in the development, implementation and management of policy designs and advocacy strategies that have led to successful enactment of key legislation, including the Section 45Q carbon sequestration tax credits, the new Section 45V hydrogen production tax credit that was included in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) clean hydrogen hubs provision, and the IIJA CCS programs. As Executive Director of the Carbon Utilization Research Council (CURC) and the president of the Clean Hydrogen Future Coalition, Shannon develops and supports those coalition’s federal policy initiatives. She also serves as the coalition's spokesperson before federal policymakers and the media.
Affie B. Ellis, Shareholder, Brownstein and Wyoming State Senator, District 8
A respected advisor on federal Indian law and policy, Affie Ellis is a member of the Navajo Nation and serves on the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprises Board of Directors. Counseling clients on public lands and natural resources regulatory and administrative matters, Affie draws on her experience as assistant attorney general for the state of Wyoming where she litigated cases involving the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act, National Forest Management Act and Federal Land Policy Management Act.
Affie taught federal Indian law at the University of Wyoming as an adjunct professor and served as commissioner of the U.S. Tribal Law and Order Commission, which developed a comprehensive study of law enforcement and criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country. She has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate committees on the commission’s work and findings and submitted recommendations to the president and Congress in 2014.
Using her state and federal government sector experience, Affie counsels clients on public land and natural resource regulatory and legislative matters, including permitting procedure, regulatory compliance and federal legislative and regulatory affairs.
She is currently a state senator representing Wyoming’s 8th district.
Andrew Emrich, Partner, Holland and Hart
Andrew C. Emrich is a partner of Holland & Hart LLP in Denver, Colorado. He represents clients in significant litigation and permitting efforts in the areas of oil and gas, mining, and renewable energy projects. Andrew has more than 20 years of experience in energy, environmental, and natural resources litigation and federal and state agencies’ administrative appeals. On the permitting side, Andrew advances his clients' projects through focused strategies to obtain expeditious and defensible permitting and regulatory approvals for projects on and across federal, state, and tribal lands. He is admitted to practice in Colorado, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia. Before joining Holland & Hart in 2005, Andrew served as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General at the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC. While at the Justice Department, Andrew litigated significant environmental and natural resources cases and helped develop and implement litigation strategies for federal agencies in courts throughout the country. He worked closely with senior legal and policy personnel at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense on regulatory initiatives and formal legal decisions. Andrew began his legal career in Washington, DC, as legislative counsel to former U.S. Senator Michael Enzi of Wyoming. He is a Casper native and a graduate of the University of Wyoming College of Law.
Sam Kalen, William T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law
Co-Director, Center for Law and Energy Resources in the Rockies
Professor Sam Kalen joined the University of Wyoming College of Law faculty in 2009. Professor Kalen is an expert in energy, public lands and natural resources, as well as environmental and administrative law. He founded and is now the co-Director of the Center for Law and Energy Resources in the Rockies. Prior to Joining the College of Law, he held various adjunct or visiting teaching positions at the University of Baltimore, Florida State University, Washington & Lee University, and Penn State University. Professor Kalen practiced in Washington, D.C. for over 20 years, both in the private and public sectors. His private practice work focused on energy, environment, as well as public lands and natural resources law; and he worked primarily on public lands and natural resources when serving in the Solicitor’s Office at the Department of the Interior during the Clinton Administration.
Marilyn S. Kite, Justice, Wyoming Supreme Court (retired)
Justice Marilyn S. Kite, retired, was appointed to the Wyoming Supreme Court in 2000 and retired in 2015. She served as Chief Justice from 2010 to 2015. She received her B.A. from the University of Wyoming in 1970 with Honors and her J.D. from the University of Wyoming Law School with Honors in 1974. Prior to her appointment to the Wyoming Supreme Court, Justice Kite served as Senior Assistant Attorney General for the State of Wyoming and practiced law with the firm of of Holland & Hart in the Jackson and Cheyenne offices. She served on the Judicial Nominating Commission both as an elected member of the bar and as Chief Justice. After retirement from the bench, Justice Kite is consulting on appellate matters and volunteering on a variety of community and university projects.
Dr. Holly Krutka, Executive Director, UW School of Energy Resources
Holly Krutka is the Executive Director of the School of Energy Resources at the University of Wyoming. She came to the university after serving as the Vice President for coal generation and emissions technologies at Peabody, the world’s largest private-sector coal producer. Dr. Krutka has spent much of her career focusing on technology and policy pathways to advance carbon capture as well as identifying nontraditional coal-consumption opportunities. Before joining Peabody, she worked as a senior research and development analyst for Tri-State Generation and Transmission, an electric generation and transmission cooperative based in Westminster, Colo.; as executive editor of Cornerstone, The Official Journal of the World Coal Industry, employed by the Chinese state-owned energy company Shenhua Group; and as a research scientist and senior research engineer with ADA Environmental Solutions in Highlands Ranch, Colo., where she was tasked with launching a carbon capture research program.
Phil Lowe, Attorney, United States Department of the Interior
Phil Lowe is an attorney advisor with the Department of the Interior’s Rocky Mountain Regional Solicitor’s Office. Formerly a hydrogeologist and environmental scientist in the environmental management and licensing section of a major electrical utility, he was also an attorney in the environmental practice groups at two large law firms in San Francisco and Denver. At the Regional Solicitor’s Office, he advises Interior agency clients on legal and policy matters related to public land and minerals management and has extensive litigation experience before the Interior Board of Land Appeals and federal courts. Phil also advises Bureau of Land Management clients on NEPA and FLPMA issues associated with environmental impact statements and environmental assessments for a variety of land planning actions and project level records of decision. He also is a Board Member with the Foundation for Energy and Natural Resources Law and has a 1981 B.S. with honors from Rutgers University (where he won several athletic and academic awards) and a 1989 J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.
Malinda Morain, Shareholder, Beatty & Wozniak, P.C.
Malinda joined Beatty & Wozniak, P.C. in October of 2013 and focuses her practice primarily on oil and gas litigation and federal lands. Malinda is a zealous industry advocate inside the courtroom and before administrative agencies. She regularly advocates for clients on matters related to natural resources development on public lands as well as environmental issues. Malinda also has experience with contract and land-use disputes, as well as royalty and payment of proceeds litigation. Malinda has extensive experience in state and federal courts and at the appellate level. She takes a thoughtful and efficient approach to litigation and has experience in complex, multi-party disputes and large-scale electronic discovery.
Prior to joining Beatty & Wozniak, P.C., Malinda worked in the New York office of an international law firm, where she represented an industry joint defense group as well as a leading petroleum company in a complex, multi-district environmental and products liability litigation. She also worked as a Law Clerk with the Staff Attorneys' office at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and as a Summer Associate in Intellectual Property and Litigation at a top firm in her hometown in Iowa.
Casey Terrell, Associate, Crowley & Fleck PLLP
Casey Terrell is an Associate with Crowley Fleck PLLP in Sheridan, Wyoming. He litigates energy, real property, and general commercial disputes. He also maintains a broad administrative law practice, assisting clients with navigating regulatory requirements and processes related to state and federal public lands. In the project development context, Casey assists clients in developing strong working relationships with landowners and co-developers to prevent conflicts before they arise. Casey graduated from the University of Wyoming in 2018 after completing a dual-degree program to receive both his MA in Environment and Natural Resources, as well as his JD. Casey was past-Chair of the ENR Section of the Wyoming State Bar and is currently the Vice-Chair of the Young Professionals Committee for the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law. He was recently recognized by the American Bar Association as a 2022 On the Rise – Top 40 Young Lawyer.
Rebecca Watson, Shareholder, Welborn Sullivan Meck & Tooley, P.C.
Rebecca Watson began her legal career in Wyoming and is now a Special Counsel at Welborn, P.C. in Casper and Denver. Her career includes representation of natural resource clients and federal service. As Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, U.S. Department of Interior, she managed federal energy and public lands policy. Earlier, she served as Assistant General Counsel for Energy Policy, U.S. Department of Energy. She taught law as the 2011 Distinguished Natural Resources Practitioner-in-Residence at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, her alma mater. Rebecca was elected as the 66th (4th woman) President of the Foundation for Energy and Natural Resources (2019-2020). Rebecca lives in Cody, Wyoming where she is a Trustee for the Buffalo Bill Center of the American West.