by Melissa Miller, Scott Baldridge, and Anthony Mancino
At a time when nearly all indicators of scientific and engineering dominance (e.g., patents, publications, new PhDs, and citations) show the U.S. losing its competitive edge, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) recognizes that energy security and economic competitiveness are intertwined and that both rely on educating and maintaining a sound scientific workforce.
To help keep the U.S. at the forefront of carbon sequestration science and engineering, and the underpinning geophysics, LANL has been conducting education programs to recruit and train early career professionals in related fields.
Choosing a scientific or engineering field is easier if one can get outside the classroom and experience what specialists do firsthand. Giving students that opportunity is the goal of two LANL-hosted summer geology education programs, RECS and SAGE.
SAGE (Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience) has operated in the Rio Grande rift in New Mexico since 1983.
The program promotes careers in geophysics by introducing students to handson exploration and research. Students, U.S. and foreign, are predominantly upper division or graduate students in geophysics or related disciplines, or professionals from various earth science fields. Students combine geophysical data, acquired using a variety of techniques, with knowledge of the geological setting to derive integrated subsurface interpretations. These data are processed
and modeled using state-of-the-art software. Various academic institutions and industrial affiliates provide modern field equipment and vehicles. The SAGE faculty consists of active and experienced researchers.
RECS (Research Experience in Carbon Sequestration) is a newer effort sponsored by the Department of Energy and conducted over the past two years. RECS focuses on the scientific and engineering challenges specific to geologic carbon sequestration. Unlike geophysics, carbon sequestration is not a well-defined discipline and involves students from many fields, including geophysics, geology, geochemistry, chemistry, biogeochemistry, atmospheric chemistry, engineering, economics, and law. The program was designed to help young researchers and professionals in diverse fields to network and establish a foundation for U.S. academic, scientific, and technical excellence in carbon sequestration.
The RECS curriculum is aligned with the three pillars of the Department of Energy's Carbon Sequestration Program: 1) separation/capture, 2) long-term storage, and 3) monitoring/mitigation. Twenty graduate students from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico attended the two-week program in July 2005, which took place at the College of Santa Fe, N.M., and at the Kinder Morgan oil field (SACROC) in Snyder, Texas. Experts from industry, academia, and national laboratories provided presentations and lectures. The program also included hands-on fieldwork, demonstrations, and student presentations.
LANL and EnTech Strategies, LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based carbon sequestration consulting firm, hosted RECS. The program was a followup to 2004's U.S.-Norway summer program on carbon capture and geologic storage—a collaboration among the National Energy Technology Laboratory, DOE's Office of Clean Energy Collaboration, and the Norwegian Research Council.
More info: www.ees1.lanl.gov/SAGE, and www.recs.lanl.gov
RECS students gather around a CO2 injection well at Kinder Morgan's SACROC site in Snyder, Texas.
SAGE students gather geophysical data using portable
instrumentation.
