State, national and international media frequently feature the University of Wyoming and members of its community in stories. Here is a summary of some of the recent articles where the School of Energy Resources or its scholars are making the news.

 

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April

Cowboy State Daily noted that a Denver-based company is working with UW’s Center for Biogenic Natural Gas Research to increase natural gas production using agricultural byproducts and microorganisms. Cowboy Clean Fuels is developing a facility about 30 miles southwest of Gillette to work with UW to increase natural gas production.

The Gillette News Record publicized a UW Pre-K Roadshow program recently to one of Campbell County’s elementary schools. Teams of UW undergraduate and graduate students, along with faculty members, travel throughout the state facilitating hands-on learning in pre-K-12 STEM classrooms using active-learning techniques through the Science Initiative Roadshow.

March

UW’s Holly Krutka, School of Energy Resources executive director, and Fred McLaughlin, director of the Center for Economic Geology Research, were both interviewed for a Cowboy State Daily piece that focused on President Donald Trump’s proclamation to increase the nation’s production of rare earth elements that could be a major boon for Wyoming to become a leader in that energy sector.

SVI.news, in Afton, interviewed Chad Baldwin, UW associate vice president for marketing and communications, who provided various university updates, such as the significant advancements in nuclear energy research at UW and the announcement that six innovative nuclear-related research proposals have been selected for funding by UW’s School of Energy Resources.

Comments from Davin Bagdonas, a UW School of Energy Resources research professional III, have been included in a widely published article, including Interesting Engineering, which focuses on the work from University of Texas at Austin researchers who have identified $8.4 billion worth of rare earth elements locked within the country’s coal ash deposits. The discovery was published in related articles by MSN and Coal Zoom.

Peter Gottfried, president of Natural Systems Analysts Inc. in Dubois, was among four individuals appointed to the UW School of Energy Resources’ (SER) Energy Resources Council (ERC). The ERC plays a vital role in advising SER on its research priorities, educational programs and outreach initiatives, according to a UW media release published by WyoToday Media.

Davin Bagdonas, a UW research scientist, offered comments in a SciTech Daily piece that focused on the more than $8 billion cache of rare earth elements that has been discovered in the U.S. Bagdonas discussed coal ash as a readily available rare earth elements resource.

February

The Wyoming Integrated Test Center, managed by UW’s School of Energy Resources, has been selected to negotiate a substantial funding award to continue and expand testing operations for carbon dioxide capture, removal and conversion. The High Plains Journal reports that the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management has invested $101 million in five selected national test centers.

The Riverton Ranger published UW’s release noting that the Center for Energy Regulation and Policy Analysis at UW’s School of Energy Resources released a white paper exploring spent nuclear fuel management as part of a set of six articles delving into the economic feasibility of developing an integrated nuclear sector in Wyoming.

Coal Zoom published UW’s release reporting that the School of Energy Resources, in collaboration with the National Energy Technology Laboratory, is developing technologies and methods for extracting rare earth elements from coal fly ash. Testing on a pilot-scale production facility at the Wyoming Innovation Center near Gillette recently began.

January

The Wyoming Integrated Test Center, managed by UW’s School of Energy Resources, was provisionally selected to negotiate a substantial funding award to continue and expand testing operations for carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture, removal and conversion. Other entities also will receive funds, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Also publishing the news were National Energy Technology Laboratory, Carbon Herald, Innovation News Network and The Casper Star-Tribune.

In Cowboy State Daily, the science of cracking the Mowry shale was part of a lengthy article that focused on Wyoming’s Powder River Basin’s oil and gas potential. The article noted that the Wyoming Legislature granted $2.5 million to UW’s School of Energy Resources to study the Mowry shale.

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SER in the News Archives

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