Former University of Wyoming PhD student Mike Curran, Abnova Ecological Solutions, joined Jason Spiess to discuss innovation in energy reclamation.
Curran examined 28 reclaimed well pads in the two Green River basin gas fields from 2015 to 2017. The first study, focused on the Anticline, found a surge of bug numbers and families where native grasses were planted on reclaimed well pad ground — and even greater gains where Rocky Mountain bee plant was seeded.
A subsequent study, examining infill drilling sites on the more southerly Jonah Field, suggests that native, flowering vegetation planted on rehabilitated ground provided nodes of seasonal habitat for pollinator insects that were well occupied relative to undeveloped sagebrush.
Abnova Ecological Solutions is owned and operated by Ecologist, Dr. Michael Curran. Dr. Curran is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner (CERP) and received both the top M.S. and top Ph.D. Student Award in the country by the American Society of Reclamation Sciences upon completing his graduate degrees.
He developed techniques to improve reclamation & restoration monitoring which not only improve data quality, but also reduce field time by 10-40x (depending on if handheld or drone imagery is used). He also pioneered the use of spatially-explicit dashboards to rapidly report reclamation monitoring results, allowing for informed decision making and easy-to-interpret data.
Dr. Curran worked with 26 oil & gas companies in reporting reclamation and restoration data to the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s Conservation Efforts Database prior to the 2015 Endangered Species Act listing decision of the Greater sage-grouse and was acknowledged by the USFWS for the importance of his contributions. He has experience transitioning the reclamation monitoring and reporting techniques he developed to conservation bank monitoring.
Dr. Curran has experience developing reclamation plans which go beyond satisfying regulatory criteria towards restoring food webs and creating pollinator and wildlife habitat. Aside from holding a PhD in Ecology, Dr. Curran has a Master’s degree in Rangeland Ecology & Watershed Management and a Graduate Minor in Statistics.
Prior to graduate school, Dr. Curran worked in documentary video with experience covering social and environmental issues. After graduate school, he took a post-doc research position in Mississippi studying how drones can be used to monitor wildlife and then worked at a large plant nursery in New Jersey, growing and selling native plants to restore ecosystem services in suburban landscapes. Dr. Curran has given workshops or been a presenter at over 65 conferences or symposia throughout the United States and Canada.
The Carbon Conference 2024 will bring sustainable stakeholders and energy enthusiasts together that wish to capture CO2 emissions safely and transport the CO2 via pipelines, allowing the captured CO2 to be permanently stored in deep underground formations. The Carbon Conference 2024 is dedicated to advancing the necessary conversation regarding carbon emissions, capture, transportation, and storage.
The Conference Center at the Tuscany Suites & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the perfect venue to encourage productive discussions and diverse dialogue - both pro and con - everyone’s voice will be heard in order to find a positive path forward for all parties concerned.
The Carbon Conference has partnered with the Energy Exposition & Resources Symposium for multiple reasons. Their 25 years of successful Energy Exposition conferences is extremely valuable experience in the Carbon Conference's first year, however what may be more important is why it started.
Over 25 years ago, Wyoming was in the middle of an energy dispute similar to the carbon pipeline and storage issues. The Energy Exposition was started in order to broker peace and bring all voices to the table in a conference format. Twenty-five years later a similar situation is presented in the world of carbon.
We believe this partnership with the Energy Exposition & Resources Symposium will ensure fair deals will get done and peace will be brokered at the Carbon Conference 2024 Las Vegas.
The Carbon Conference is limited to 500 stakeholders, policymakers, impacted parties, and industry experts to ensure a solution-focused event, bringing together as many decision-makers to the table in order to discuss all the pressing issues related to carbon emissions.
We encourage you and/or your company to participate in this remarkable event. Sponsorships will not only allow your participation at the conference, but also provide your company with valuable exposure to a diverse audience of multi-industry professionals and stakeholders.
To reserve Exhibit Space at the Energy Exposition or Carbon Conference, contact
Austin F. Jennings III
239-898-3923
austin (at) energyexposition (dot) com
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