SER in the news 2026
June
Sheridan Media published UW’s release about a nearly $400,000 award from the U.S. Department of Energy for UW researchers working to improve water efficiency and reduce the volume of wastewater requiring management at coal-based power plants.
In a Marketplace piece about the resurgence of Wyoming’s uranium industry, UW geologist Robert Gregory notes its boom-and-bust history.
A research partnership between the UW School of Energy Resources and Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC) was featured by PR Newswire and Morningstar in an article about NTEC’s recognition for excellence in mine reclamation and environmental stewardship from the United States' Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
In a Your Wyoming Link article about data center development in the state, UW engineering Professor Jonathan Brant says more data is needed to evaluate the potential impacts of data centers on Wyoming’s water and energy resources.
May
A UW release featuring publications led by Chengyi “Charlie” Zhang, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management, was reshared by Fuel Cells Works about mitigating risks and analyzing safety compliance for the rapidly evolving hydrogen energy sector.
Governor Gordon’s trade mission to Taiwan and Japan was featured by Goshen County News, Wyoming News Now, KGAB, Cowboy State Daily, and in the Taiwanese media. The mission included the signing of multiple MOU agreements by the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources with partner institutions.
UW Professor Jonathan Brandt is looking to find beneficial uses for produced water from oil and gas activities. That could include water for closed-loop cooling systems for data centers, according to a report in Cowboy State Daily and Oil City News.
The Boomerang also covered part of the Next Frontier Energy Summit at UW’s Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center. The two-day conference focused on the future of energy production, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and carbon management in Wyoming and across the nation.
April
Wyoming Public Media covered Governor Mark Gordon signing an agreement with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that gives Wyoming greater regulatory primacy through the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality over uranium and radioactive byproducts from mining rare earth elements. SER experts Matt Fry, director of the Center for Energy Regulation and Policy Analysis in UW’s School of Energy Resources, and Tyler Brown, program manager for the minerals team were quoted in the article.
The Rocky Mountain Land and Resource Management conference, hosted by the UW School of Energy Resources and the College of Agriculture, Life Sciences, and Natural Resources, was featured in the Wyoming Livestock Roundup.
WyoFile and the Gillette News Record covered the Emerging Issue Forum hosted by UW’s School of Energy Resources and Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources last week.
Matt Fry, the director of UW’s Center for Energy Regulation and Policy Analysis, is quoted in an Inside Climate News article about Summit Carbon Solutions’ shift from an emphasis on carbon sequestration to fossil fuel extraction for a proposed pipeline project. Fry says enhanced oil recovery was always mentioned as a possible purpose for the Midwest Carbon Express pipeline project.
The Laramie Boomerang made note of UW’s staff recognition day, which included awardees from the School of Energy Resources, James Christensen, Sabrina Summerfield, and Carrie Ver Burg.
A proposal for the state of Wyoming to buy a Campbell County family’s condemned coal rights and use them as leverage in a federal mineral exchange could unlock up to 250 million tons of coal stranded in state school trust land. But in a Cowboy State Daily article, Matt Fry, director of the Center for Energy Regulation and Policy Analysis in UW’s School of Energy Resources, says the specifics of the proposal raise questions that would need to be worked through -- including the state’s ability to sell the resource.
A visit to Wyoming from the UK Consul General was highlighted by Wyoming Public Media. The tour, which spanned Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, was intended to foster ties, share tech and energy solutions, and included meetings with the UW School of Energy Resources.
March
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s granting of a construction permit for TerraPower’s Natrium reactor in Kemmerer is a milestone potentially heralding a new era of nuclear construction, says Tara Righetti, co-director of UW’s Nuclear Energy Research Center and a professor of law and energy policy. She was quoted in a Cowboy State Daily article.
University of Wyoming Marketing and Communications and Public Relations Director Chad Baldwin mentioned the School of Energy Resources publication looking into finding rare earth minerals in Powder River coal in Wyoming and Montana on the Public Pulse podcast in Sheridan.
A UW release highlighting a publication from UW School of Energy Resources researchers Robert Cincotta and Charles Nye was reshared by BioFuel Digest and Fuel Cells Works.
The Laramie Boomerang made note of the reappointment of Donald Burkhart Jr. to the Energy Resources Council, the governing body for the UW School of Energy Resources.
A Cowboy State Daily article about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval of a construction permit for the TerraPower Natrium reactor in Kemmerer notes that the science underpinning the development was explored by UW School of Energy Resources guest speaker David Andersson, of Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The Laramie Boomerang covered a meeting of Cyrus Western, administrator for Region 8 of the Environmental Protection Agency, with UW students.
February
UW’s School of Energy Resources is one of the proposed recipients of funding from the Wyoming Energy Matching Fund Program, according to WyoFile. The project aims to help petroleum producer Continental Resources study strategies to tap the Mowry Shale formation in the Powder River Basin.
Mugglehead Investment Magazine published a story about UW and American Rare Earths having secured a U.S. research award to study commercial uses for mining byproducts at its Halleck Creek rare earths project. University officials said the projects aim to support both workforce training and Wyoming-based resource development.
Cowboy State Daily also published an article about the possibility of Wamsutter becoming a national hydrogen hub through transforming oil and gas field waste streams into hydrogen for markets in the Pacific Northwest. Kyle Summerfield, UW School of Energy Resources (SER) research program manager, and Charles Nye, a senior research scientist with UW’s Hydrogen Research Center, were quoted in the story discussing a pilot plant built south of Cheyenne that SER is developing with Williams Companies. The story was also shared by Fuel Cells Works, and Hydrogen Central.
Wyoming News Now published UW’s release about a new undergraduate certificate in subsurface energy. The certificate is a strategic collaboration between UW’s School of Energy Resources and the Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering within the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. The Way Ahead also covered the story.
The UW School of Energy Resources’ coal-to-products field demonstration plant at the Wyoming Innovation Center near Gillette was the subject of a Sheridan Media article. The project aims to create new and diversified markets for Wyoming coal.
January
The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) covered the Critical Mineral Leadership Academy that was hosted and arranged by the UW School of Energy Resources in August of 2025. The CMLA was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
A joint press release with American Rare Earths was shared through Business Insider, Stock Titan, Yahoo!Finance, Junior Mining Network, Mining.com, Mining.com.au, Tipranks, and Geomechanics discussing the collaborative project between its subsidiary Wyoming Rare Ltd. and the School of Energy Resources to investigate tailings and byproducts from the Halleck Creek rare earths project. The project is funded as a STAR Project award under UW's NSF-funded ART program.
UW environmental engineering Professor Jonathan Brant is quoted in an Inside Climate News article about a planned data center near Cheyenne, described as potentially the largest data center in the country. Brant says even closed-loop cooling systems like that planned for the facility will see water losses.
The coal-to-products field demonstration plant, under construction by UW’s School of Energy Resources near Gillette, was the topic of a Cowboy State Daily article. The facility will be capable of processing 8-10 tons of coal per day, producing intermediate materials that can be manufactured into asphalt products, building materials, agricultural soil amendments and nuclear-grade graphite.
The University of Wyoming has earned its Research Level 1 (R1) status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, placing Wyoming's only four-year university with the top research universities in the United States.