Published December 06, 2024
By Christine Reed
Matt Fry has joined the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources (SER) as the new director of the Center for Energy Regulation and Policy Analysis (CERPA).
A center of excellence housed in SER, CERPA draws on interdisciplinary energy law, policy, technology and economic experts on and off campus to conduct world-class analyses of various regulatory issues within the energy industry.
Fry will lead a team of research professionals with backgrounds in economics, business and government to serve as a resource for decision-makers at the local, state, regional and national levels. He also will work to support SER’s other research centers to help bridge the gap between technical and policy issues.
“We are ecstatic that Matt has joined the SER research team and will lead such an important, forward-facing center of excellence,” says SER Executive Director Holly Krutka. “We have had the pleasure of working alongside and collaborating with Matt for many years in the Wyoming policy space, and his dedication and investment in the state’s energy economy are second to none. We are all looking forward to seeing him thrive in this role and help to connect SER, UW, community leaders, stakeholders and lawmakers on important energy topics.”
Serving Wyoming with more than two decades of experience in natural resource management, regulation and policy in both the public and private sectors, Fry brings a wealth of experience to the SER team.
Originally from Virginia, Fry began his career in fish and wildlife biology working for state wildlife agencies in Virginia, Arizona and Wyoming. While with the Wyoming office, he began to branch into the policy sphere, working alongside former Gov. Dave Fruedenthal’s staff on siting and mitigation issues for pipelines and electric transmission projects.
He then served as a senior policy adviser to former Gov. Matt Mead, focused on natural resources, energy and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) policy. During his tenure in that position, he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works about the deployment of CCUS technology.
Additionally, he developed and managed the Wyoming Pipeline Corridor Initiative, a project that culminated with a federal authorization for a statewide pipeline corridor system in Wyoming intended to facilitate development of carbon dioxide pipeline infrastructure and incentivize CCUS project deployment.
Most recently, Fry served as the policy and technical director at the Great Plains Institute, where he supported the carbon management program and was named to multiple prestigious committees and advisory councils.
In 2021, he was appointed to serve on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s committee on Carbon Utilization, Infrastructure, Markets, Research and Development. In 2023, Fry was appointed to the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s Carbon Dioxide Capture, Utilization and Sequestration Federal Lands and Outer Continental Shelf Permitting Task Force. He will continue to serve on the White House committee, where he is tasked with chairing the subcommittee on federal lands permitting.
Fry earned a B.S. in biology and chemistry from Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, W. Va., and an M.S. in natural resource law from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law.
“I am very excited to be working at the School of Energy Resources, where I can continue to serve Wyoming through applied research,” Fry says. “This is my first venture into academia, and it is very appealing to work in this space where I can incorporate my experiences in an applied perspective.”
