Published November 21, 2024
By Christine Reed
The School of Energy Resources (SER) welcomed two new faculty members in the fall of 2024.
Under SER’s unique structure, faculty have a primary appointment in a home department with an affiliation to SER. This structure allows SER to work across the university to recruit and retain faculty with instruction, research and service interests relevant to Wyoming and its energy sector.
“SER aims to recruit and retain collaborative faculty who can help build bridges that maximize impacts across the university and across the state,” says SER Executive Director Holly Krutka. “Our faculty structure provides a very natural interdisciplinary community of collaborators that wouldn’t necessarily exist otherwise.”
SER Academic Director Kami Danaei also praises the new faculty members for their contributions to students in academic programs within their home colleges and at SER.
“We are pleased to have Bryan and Jennifer on board and look forward to the ways in which they will shepherd the educations of UW students,” says Danaei. “SER faculty members are contributing to our academic mission by teaching in SER’s growing academic program or are teaching in other programs relevant to the energy sector — giving all UW students access to novel coursework and credentials across the university. As interest in our academic program grows and our offerings expand, we could not be more grateful to work with highly qualified educators and researchers like Bryan and Jennifer, making energy-related topics more widely available to UW students.”
Bryan Leonard
Housed in the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources (Haub School), Bryan Leonard joined the faculty as an SER Associate Professor of Environment and Natural Resources. Filling a new position in the Haub School, Leonard is tasked with engaging in impactful and applied research and scholarship that advances the field of energy and environmental policy.
Originally from Auburn, Wash., Leonard has cultivated a robust repertoire of research centered on natural resource economics. Earning a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Hillsdale College in 2010, he went on to compete a master’s degree in Applied Economics from Montana State University followed by a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara before starting a career in academia.
Joining Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability as an Assistant Professor in 2016, Leonard was promoted to an Associate Professor in 2022, a position he served in until his appointment with UW. He has taught multiple courses on economics and sustainability, as well as served as a mentor and advisor to graduate students.
In addition to his work in the classroom, Leonard is also a prolific researcher with a substantial list of publications on his resume. Throughout his scholarship, he has explored topics including the economics of water, oil & gas, renewables, wildfire, fisheries, and large-scale migrations. He has also examined the political economy of property rights, indigenous property rights, as well as the management of public lands and distributional effects of policy.
Within the first two months of his appointment at UW, he published an article entitled, “Economic potential of wind and solar in American Indian communities” in Nature Energy, a highly ranked and cited journal.
Leonard’s background and interests are ideally suited for Wyoming and allow him to connect the nuances between the legal, social, economic, and technical aspects of energy and the environment.
In his new role, Leonard will be teaching Federal Public Land Law for SER’s Energy Resource Management and Development (ERMD) undergraduate degree program, and Environmental Law and Policy for the Haub School, a course all ERMD majors at SER also take.
“All of the things I am most interested in are very relevant in Wyoming and I couldn’t be more excited to be here,” says Leonard. “I am especially pleased by the overlapping interest in both law and economics in the energy sector and the opportunities to collaborate with others here at UW that share my passion and desire support policy in the State. I’m so grateful to be at a university that has such a big impact.”
Jennifer Bell
A native of Laramie, Wyo., Jennifer Bell is pleased to return to her hometown as an SER Assistant Professor of Soil Science and Reclamation in the College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources (CALSNR) where her efforts focus on the soil aspects of land reclamation.
A graduate of the University of Wyoming, Bell earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and Molecular Biology before attending the University of Mississippi for her master’s degree in Microbial Ecology. She then attended the University of Saskatchewan for her Ph.D. in Soil Science where she specialized in grassland ecosystems.
Following her education, Bell went on to work as a postdoctoral researcher at the Morton Arboretum and Northern Illinois University where she worked in tallgrass prairie restorations. There she monitored the soil changes that occurred from agriculture as it was converted back to prairie and what happened with the microbes.
She also has substantial experience as a lab manager, supervising students and soil science projects at the University of New Mexico and the University of Wyoming.
In her new role, she is teaching the Reclamation of Drastically Disturbed Lands course and two additional Soil Science courses. She is also committed to experiential learning and has a strong focus in her courses on getting students out of the classroom and into the field. This method emphasizes active participation, reflection, and application of knowledge in practical settings, as well as fostering critical thinking, problem-solving, and personal growth by allowing learners to connect theoretical knowledge with real-life challenges.
Bell is also working closely with SER’s Center for Carbon Capture and Conversion on their coal char soil amendment project and working to revive the Wyoming Reclamation and Restoration Center.
“Reclamation is a really import component of energy development, and this is such a unique opportunity to work in restoration with people that are proactive and at the forefront in their research,” says Bell. “I am looking forward to engaging with students and working with both the CALSNR and the SER to advance innovative research that can benefit both our agricultural and energy sectors in Wyoming.”
