Meet Our Speakers

Dr. Erin Campbell, Wyoming State Geologist

Dr. Erin Campbell was appointed as Wyoming State Geologist by Governor Mead in 2017 and reappointed by Governor Gordon in 2019. In this position she serves as director of the Wyoming State Geological Survey, as a cabinet member for the governor of Wyoming, and as a commissioner for the Wyoming Oil and Gas Commission and Enhanced Oil Recovery Commission. As state geologist, she is a member of the Wyoming Consensus Revenue Estimating Group, Wyoming Board of Professional Geologists, State Groundwater Coordination Committee, State GIS Advisory Board, and Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. Additionally, she is currently serving on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Earth Resources and the National Volcano Early Warning System Federal Advisory Committee.  

Dr. Campbell holds a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Wyoming specializing in structural geology and geophysics. She worked as a geologist for Chevron in Louisiana and California before returning to Wyoming to teach at the University of Wyoming. During her 15 years at UW, she taught undergraduate and graduate courses, directed Geology Field Camp, and conducted research in structural geology and geomechanics. 

Joe Miller, President, BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC

Joseph K. Miller is the president of BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC (AT), a subsidiary of BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT) focused on demonstrating and deploying new nuclear technology for terrestrial and space applications. He is also president of subsidiaries Cunico Corporation and Dynamic Controls, Ltd. 

During his 24-year career, Mr. Miller served in the U.S. Navy onboard the USS Norfolk (SSN 714). He was mechanical test engineer for new construction of Virginia-class submarines, as well as a semiconductor equipment engineer. 

At BWXT, Mr. Miller served as a system design manager of various nuclear engineering projects as well as test engineering manager, validating the design of the mPower™ small modular reactor nuclear steam supply system. 

Under Mr. Miller’s leadership, Advanced Technologies is currently active in delivering the advanced microreactor demonstration for Project Pele and its commercial microreactor product named BANR. AT is also serving as the designer and manufacturer for DARPA and NASA’s DRACO program to demonstrate space nuclear propulsion. 

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. In her various roles, Dr. Krutka holds three patents, has served in leadership positions in the National Coal Council and the Carbon Utilization Research Council, has participated in the Carbon Capture Coalition and as a judge on the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE competition. 

John Kaszuba, John and Jane Wold Centennial Chair in Energy and School of Energy Resources Professor of Geology and Geophysics

John Kaszuba is the John and Jane Wold Centennial Chair in Energy and a School of Energy Resources Professor of Geology and Geophysics. A prominent expert in hydrothermal and multiphase fluid-rock reactions, Kaszuba has forged a path of excellence throughout his career, both in his research and in his dedication to student instruction. Before joining UW in 2008, Kaszuba earned his B.S. in geology from Beloit College (1982), followed by his M.S. from Virginia Tech University (1986). He later earned his Ph.D. in geochemistry from Colorado School of Mines (1997) before working as a research scientist in the Los Alamos National Laboratory for over a decade.

Since joining UW, his research has focused largely on Wyoming energy production, with extensive industry collaboration, and he has garnered an impeccable reputation as an esteemed professor. He was awarded tenure in 2012 and promoted to full professor in 2019.

During his tenure at UW, Kaszuba has continued to teach a full course load, all with an emphasis on energy education. Additionally, he supervises and leads a research group focused on a wide variety of projects regarding the geochemistry of fluid-rock interactions in the shallow to middle crust. Over 25 students have made contributions through their research in the energy sector and thrived under his tutelage and mentorship.

Peter Wold, Senior Partner, Wold Oil Properties, Inc. and Member of the Board of Directors, Wold Foundation

Peter Wold is a senior partner of Wold Oil Properties and Co-founder of Wold Energy Partners. He manages the Casper office. Mr. Wold is a Landman by background and is integrally involved in all major business decisions. Peter is an active board member of Petroleum Association of Wyoming and on their executive committee.  He is a board member and treasurer of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, a Trustee of the Casper YMCA, on the Dean’s Leadership Council for the School of Natural Sciences at Colorado State University and a board member of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West Museum in Cody, Wyoming.  He recently retired from the Boards of Arch Coal Company, First Interstate Bank and Oppenheimer Funds Board of New York. 

Tawfik Elshehabi, Assistant Professor of Energy and Petroleum Engineering, University of Wyoming

Tawfik Elshehabi, PhD, PE, is an Assistant Professor of Energy and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Wyoming. He has led the Drilling Innovation Group as Principal Investigator (PI) since 2023 and is a Co-PI of the Subsurface Energy Digital Innovation Center (SEDI). He holds a Ph.D. in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering from West Virginia University and is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in Wyoming. Dr. Elshehabi’s research advances high-performance, environmentally friendly drilling and completion fluids, integrates digital innovations such as VR/AR and digital twins, and develops techniques for geothermal, carbon, hydrogen, and subsurface storage wells. He also directs the state-of-the-art Drilling and Completions Simulation Facility. Committed to education and outreach, Dr. Elshehabi emphasizes the three E’s—Engineering, Energy, and Ethics—in preparing future engineers. His extensive publications make significant contributions to sustainable energy and innovative drilling practices. 

Joe Evers, General Counsel, Wyoming Rare (USA), Inc.

Prior to joining Wyoming Rare (USA), Inc., Joe served in various leadership roles in the energy and mining industry. Most recently, Joe served as General Counsel of American Rare Earths Ltd. Prior to that, he was corporate counsel at an international mining company and held positions of increasing responsibility in the land and policy departments at a publicly traded oil and gas company.  Originally hailing from Sheridan, Wyoming, Joe received a bachelor’s degree and JD/MA in Environment & Natural Resources from the University of Wyoming. He maintains strong ties to his alma mater where he serves as the Chair of the Advisory Board at the Haub School of Environment & Natural Resources, President-Elect of the Alumni Association, and is a member of the Advisory Board at the College of Law. Joe also chairs the board of Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom, an educational non-profit that provides curriculum to develop Wyoming students’ understanding of the state’s vast natural resources. 

Andrew Finley, Geologist/Partner, Goolsby, Finley & Associates, LLC, an Encompass Energy Consulting, LLC Company

Andy Finley is a Geologist/Partner of Goolsby, Finley & Associates, LLC, an Encompass Energy Consulting, LLC Company. He has worked as an oil and gas geologist developing primarily unconventional projects for 34 years.  He received my BSc. in Geology from the University of Illinois in 1990 and his MSc. in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Wyoming in 1992. Prior to becoming a consultant in 1994, he has worked for Exxon and ConocoPhillips, working on unconventionals in the Bakken Shale play as well as most of the plays in all of the Rocky Mountain Basins and Haynesville.  As a consultant, his work includes clients ranging from individual landowners through Exxon, Shell, Anschutz and the Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute.  Projects commonly include developing and selling prospects, evaluating the purchase and sale of properties, regulatory work with the State, DEQ, BLM, etc, legal testimony, mapping, geologic oversight of drilling projects.  

Tim Fischer, Oil and Gas Program Manager, Center for Economic Geology Research in the School of Energy Resources, University of Wyoming

Dr. Fischer recently joined the Center for Economic Development in the School of Energy Resources as the Oil & Gas Program Manager after a 12-year career at Chevron in Houston, TX. As a member of the Chevron Technology Center, he worked as a senior research scientist and petrophysicist with a focus on core-to-log integration and the petrophysics of unconventional reservoirs. He has studied and analyzed rocks and logs from unconventional plays worldwide and led major research projects on pore structure characterization and how variability in rock properties alters wireline log responses. 

Prior to joining Chevron, he worked at Miami University on electron microscopy of clay-bacteria interactions, a continuation of his graduate work at Penn State on the crystallographic evolution of oxide minerals in near-surface environments. He also conducted undergraduate research at the University of Arizona on the carbon isotope disequilibrium in cave air and soils. 

Bob Gregory, Associate Research Professional, Center for Economic Geology Research in the School of Energy Resources, University of Wyoming

Bob Gregory is an Associate Research Professional with an emphasis on mineral resource evaluation in the School of Energy Resources’ Center for Economic Geology Research. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Physical and Sedimentary Geology from the University of Wyoming in 1985, he embarked on a 30-year career as a geologist for the Wyoming State Geological Survey (WSGS). He later earned a master’s degree from UW in Metamorphic Petrology, graduating in 2009. He has experience in geologic mapping, geochemical analysis, and mineral resource evaluation, and has been a leader in the analysis of rare earth elements (REE), critical minerals (CM), uranium, and industrial minerals.  

Bryan Leonard, School of Energy Resources Associate Professor of Environment and Natural Resources

Bryan Leonard is a School of Energy Resources Associate Professor of Environment and Natural Resources. Housed in the UW Haub School for Environment and Natura Resources, his work focuses on the design of institutions to resolve collective action problems associated with sustainable resource management, focusing on land, water, and other resources in the Western United States. He uses a combination of formal theory, historical research, and econometric methods to study the evolution and performance of institutions that are crafted to solve resource challenges at a particular point in time. By studying the contemporary legacy of past policies, his research helps provide context for modern policy challenges while also informing the design of more sustainable institutions for the future. Before joining the faculty at UW, he was an Assistant Professor in the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University.  

Phil Lowe, Attorney Advisor, U.S. Department of the Interior’s Rocky Mountain Regional Solicitor’s Office

Phil Lowe is an attorney advisor with the U.S. 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. 

Jim Magagna, Executive Vice President, Wyoming Stockgrowers Association

Jim Magagna has served as Executive Vice President of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association since 1998.  Prior to assuming this position, he served as Director of the Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments and Office of Federal Land Policy. During that time he was also the Chairman of the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. 

Magagna is a native of Rock Springs, WY, and a lifelong sheep rancher in southwestern Wyoming.  Among other offices, he has served as President of the American Sheep Industry Association and President of the National Public Lands Council.  Magagna has represented agriculture on numerous national, state and local councils and advisory boards. From 2014-2018 Magagna served as a grazing representative on the USFS FACA Committee on the 2012 Planning Rule and co-chaired the committee in 2017-18. 

Magagna currently serves on the UW College of Agriculture Advisory Board and previously served on the Advisory board for the Haub School at UW. Magagna also served for nine years on the Board of the Wyoming Community Foundation. 

In 2008 Magagna was inducted into the Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame. He was a recipient of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture Pacesetter Award and was recognized in 2007 by Gamma Sigma Delta as the Outstanding Agriculturalist. 

Jim Magagna is a graduate of Rock Springs High School. He holds a BBA from the University of Notre Dame and a JD from Stanford Law School.  In 2021 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree by the University of Wyoming. 

Joseph Matoush, Vice President Subsurface & Powder River Basin Assets, The Anschutz Corporation

Joseph has over 25 years of Oil & Gas industry experience across a range of domestic U.S. and world-wide exploration, development, and production assignments.  These projects have been in both onshore and offshore operational environments and have included an array of conventional and unconventional play types spanning shallow water/deepwater clastics and carbonate depositional systems.  Over the course of his career, he has conducted and/or led many facets of subsurface “rocks-fluids-pressure” analysis including: well log/mud log/cuttings/outcrop interpretation, petrophysical/geophysical/geochemical/geomechanical analysis and integration, modeling and simulation prediction, routine decline and rate transient analysis, and appraisal/field development planning all in support of drilling and field management activities.  Joseph is currently the Vice President for Subsurface, Land, Regulatory, and Powder River Basin assets for Anschutz Exploration Corporation with offices in Wyoming and headquarters in Denver, CO. 

Scott Maxwell, Chief Geoscientist, Denbury Inc. 

Scott Maxwell is a Chief Geoscientist at Denbury Inc., a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, where he oversees geoscience technical work for all CO2 EOR development, production, saline aquifer storage, and Class VI permitting. For the last several years at Denbury, his work has focused on decarbonizing the world’s energy resources through CO2 utilization, sequestration, and storage. His professional career began in conventional oil and gas with ExxonMobil where he worked in oil shale research, exploration, and as part of the subsurface interpretation team. He holds a bachelor's degree in Geology and Earth Science from Brigham Young University and a master's degree in Structural Geology from Rice University.  

Joe Nicholas, Chief Operating Officer, Frontier Carbon Solutions

Bringing more than two decades of engineering and project management experience, Joe leads the technical growth of Frontier Carbon Solutions. Prior to joining Frontier, Joe spent 7 years at Fleur de Lis Energy, ultimately serving as the Chief Operating Officer. At Fleur de Lis Energy, Joe was responsible for onboarding and integrating 5 major transactions and managing 100,000 boepd of production, including two CO2 enhanced oil recovery fields in Wyoming. He played a critical role in preparing multiple asset divestiture packages totaling $1.4 billion in successful sales. Joe’s prior experience includes technical roles with ConocoPhillips, Merit Energy Company and Nerd Gas Company. Joe earned his BS in Chemical Engineering at University of Wyoming and a PhD in Chemical Engineering at Colorado School of Mines. He is a registered Professional Engineer and an active volunteer in Wyoming youth sports. 

Erin Phillips, Program Manager, School of Energy Resources Center for Economic Geology Research

Erin Phillips, Ph.D., is the Director of Cross-Cutting Programs at the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources (SER). Erin is the Principal Investigator for the DOE-sponsored Powder River Basin Carbon Ore, Rare Earths, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) project and has contributed broadly to Critical Minerals and Carbon Capture and Storage research at SER. She is currently working on multiple energy-related workforce development initiatives. Erin completed her Ph.D. at the University of Wyoming Department of Geology and Geophysics and is an adjunct faculty member in that department. 

Originally from the Black Hills of South Dakota, Dr. Phillips earned her bachelor’s degree in geology in 2000 from Macalester College followed by her master’s degree in 2004 from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. She worked for the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources working on waste rock pile characterization and spent several years as a research associate for Black Hills State University before deciding to pursue her Ph.D. at the University of Wyoming. After completing her Ph.D. in 2017, Phillips immediately went to work for the School of Energy Resources in the Center for Economic Geology Research.

Ellen Polites, Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Wyoming, Department of Geology & Geophysics

Ellen Polites is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Wyoming, Department of Geology & Geophysics with plans to work at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as a postdoctoral researcher after graduation. During her time at UW, Ellen received the Department of Energy (DOE) Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship and participated in the DOE Office of Science Graduate Research (SCGSR) program. She studies subsurface metal mobilization in the context of carbon storage and mineral resource exploration. At PNNL, Ellen will work on CO2 enhanced mineral recovery in mafic and ultramafic rocks. 

Temple Stoellinger, Associate Dean, Haub School of Enviroment and Natural Resources, Associate Professor and Wyoming Excellence Chair

Temple Stoellinger is the Associate Dean and a Wyoming Excellence Chair at the University of Wyoming with a dual appointment in the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources and the College of Law. She is also an adjunct professor with the School of Energy Resources and a co-director of the Gina Guy Center for Law and Energy Resources in the Rockies. Professor Stoellinger's research integrates thinking from the fields of law, economics, policy, and other disciplines to explore relevant and timely approaches for decision-making around wildlife, public and private land, energy, and other valued natural resources. At the University of Wyoming, she teaches wildlife law, environmental and natural resources law and policy, public land law, and a course on the National Environmental Policy Act. Before joining the University of Wyoming, Professor Stoellinger served as a natural resource advisor to Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal, worked as legal counsel for Shell International B.V., and served as natural resource counsel for the Wyoming County Commissioners Association.