Monica was recently selected as the first recipient of a new Methane Hydrate Research Fellowship awarded by the U. S. Department of Energy in a program directed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). In her research, Ms. Heintz will concentrate on identifying the microorganisms responsible for methane oxidation in the marine water column and will investigate the ways in which this “biological filter” controls how much of the methane released from the seafloor, either from hydrates or seeps, eventually reaches the atmosphere.

Monica’s interest in science started early. “I really can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a scientist,” she says. “In my childhood years, I remember working on science fair-type projects in the garage with grandfather—an electrical engineer. When I went to CSM I was determined to be a physicist, until an introductory earth science course drew me into the geological engineering program. Then, when I made the decision to go on to graduate school I realized I could focus on practically any problem I wanted.” Ms. Heintz chose to begin by studying microbial communities associated with marine hydrothermal systems under the leadership of U.C. Santa Barbara professors Rachel Haymon and Dave Valentine, soon after a visit to the campus. “The people there were terrific, I loved southern California, and two months after starting graduate school I was on a ship, at the Galapagos Spreading Center, collecting samples from plumes of hydrothermal fluid emanating from the mid-ocean ridge with the goal of identifying members of the microbial community that harvest energy from the chemicals in hydrothermal fluids.” She is currently working toward a PhD in Earth Science as part of Dr. Valentine’s biogeochemistry group.

Monica’s research under the Methane Hydrate Research Fellowship will ramp up this summer when she participates in a July research cruise in the Santa Barbara and Santa Monica Basins, offshore southern California. The goal of the cruise is to balance the methane budget for the major seep fields in the area. Monica will be collecting samples to screen for methanotropic microbes and will be using radioactively-tagged methane to determine how quickly they oxidize methane in the water column. She will apply results from the work on this cruise to investigate how much of the 40 metric tons per day of methane seeping from the seafloor at the shallower Coal Oil Point seep just off the Santa Barbara coast might be oxidized by bacteria before it escapes into the atmosphere. In this effort, she will be working with Dr. Susan Mau, a post-doctoral researcher in Dr. Valentine’s group.

Laura Lapham
Post-doc, Florida State University
Marine Sciences (Ph. D. 2007), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chemistry, (B.S. 1997), Florida State University
Email: lapham@ocean.fsu.edu

Laura Lapham arrived at Florida State University expecting to study math. “I wanted little to do with science,” she recounts. An inspirational first year chemistry professor (coupled with the sudden prospect of life as a statistician) diverted her towards the laboratory. For the next 3 years, Laura worked in an Oceanography lab under the direction of Dr. Jeff Chanton. During this time, she conducted research on carbon-dioxide/methane cycling in a Canadian wetland and a local landfill. After graduation and a year working as an organic chemist (“I learned that spending all day under a hood synthesizing novel compounds just wasn’t for me”) she decided to follow up on her earlier interest in carbon cycling. This brought her to the University of North Carolina, where she worked with her co-advisors, Dr. Chris Martens and Dr. Chanton, to develop a better understanding of biogeochemical and physical controls on methane and sulfate in cold seep environments.

As part of the Gulf of Mexico hydrate research consortium managed by the Center for Marine Resources and Environmental Technology (CMRET) at the University of Mississippi, Dr. Chanton and Laura have developed a Pore- Fluid Array (PFA) which uses OsmoSampler technology to collect and store pore-fluids at different depths in the sediments over time. The instrument has a detachable OsmoSampler package (developed at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) that can be collected and replaced by a remotely operated vehicle. The idea behind the PFA is to monitor pore-fluid salt and methane concentrations in order to observe hydrate formation or decomposition events, since hydrates exclude salts during formation. The first PFA was placed at Mississippi Canyon Lease Block 118 in May 2005 and is scheduled to be collected in September 2006, after an extended stay on the seafloor (courtesy of hurricanes Katrina and Rita).

Laura considers herself fortunate to have participated in nine research cruises related to methane hydrate research over the past six years: five different visits to sites in the Gulf of Mexico, three trips to offshore Vancouver Island (Barkley Canyon, Cascadia Margin), and one to the Blake Ridge diapir offshore South Carolina. “The main goal of the Gulf of Mexico hydrate consortium is to develop and maintain a long-term hydrate monitoring station on the seafloor,” says Laura. “My contribution to the project has been to help develop and deploy the PFA and collect gravity cores to determine the spatial variability of microbial processes such as sulfate reduction, anaerobic methane oxidation and methanogenesis; processes that control hydrocarbon distributions in surface sediments.”

Laura received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in 2007, and has gone on to a post-doctoral position at Florida State University. She also has an interest in educational outreach programs that help provide materials and resources to help middle school and high school science teachers strengthen their curricula (such as the Teacher Link Program in Raleigh, NC).

Ann Cook
Geophysics (Ph.D. expected 2009), Columbia University
Geophysics (M.S. 2006), Columbia University
Geology and Geophysics (B.S. 2004), University of Tulsa
Email: acook@Ideo.columbia.edu

That introduction was enough to send her to LDEO as a full-time graduate student with Dr. Goldberg and the Borehole Research Group, where she capitalized on her past experience working as a log analyst for Oklahoma independent, Kaiser-Francis Oil Company. Her master’s degree research utilized Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)data, acquisition of which was co-funded by DOE. Using acoustic log data collected during ODP Legs 204 (at Cascadia margin) and 164 (at Blake Ridge); the DOE-Chevron Joint Industry Project (JIP) gas hydrate drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico; and Mallik permafrost wells, Cook examined the relationship between gas hydrate saturation and the cohesive strength of marine sediments.

When we talked to Ann she had just returned from a 2-month hydrate cruise in the Indian Ocean (the first half of a four-month project mentioned elsewhere in this issue) where she served as a logging scientist during the acquisition of one wireline log and twelve logging-while-drilling (LWD) logs. “It was my first cruise and it was very exciting,” Cook recounts. “I now have a whole new perspective on the logs that I have been working with, having learned so much about how they are acquired and how logging conditions can impact the quality of the data.”

Ann will be working toward her Ph.D. for another three years, and at the moment is not sure where she will end up after that. She adds that, “While I enjoyed working as a teaching assistant here at Columbia last year, there is a real attraction to working in industry. I’m just enjoying the chance to do research while I can.”

Tae Sup Yun
Geotechnical Engineering (Ph. D. 2005), Georgia Institute of Technology
Geotechnical Engineering (M.S. 2003), Georgia Institute of Technology
Geology, (B.S. 1997), Yonsei University, South Korea
Email: taesup@gatech.edu

Dr. Yun received his degree last year and while continuing to teach at Georgia Tech, is now deciding among opportunities to work in industry or continue his academic research. His primary interest is in understanding the mechanical behavior of soils at a fundamental level. “I believe that it will be soil mechanics, more so than geochemistry or geophysics, which will determine in the end how easily we will be able to produce methane from subsurface hydrate deposits. Knowing how hydrate-soil mixtures will behave under dynamic conditions is the key issue”

Yun’s thesis work is perhaps best represented in a paper submitted to the Journal of Geophysical Research: B-Solid Earth, entitled “Mechanical properties of sand, silt, and clay containing synthetic hydrate,” by Yun, Ruppel and Santamarina. A second paper submitted to Marine Geology, titled “Instrumented pressure testing chamber for characterizing sediment cores recovered at in situ hydrostatic pressure,” by Yun, Narsilio, Santamarina and Ruppel, provides a good description of the tool developed for use by the JIP.

Camille Jones
Physical Chemistry (post-doc 2000), ORNL
Physical Chemistry (Ph. D. 1999), University of Toledo
Chemistry, (B.S. 1990), Butler University

In the spring of 2005 Camille Jones left her position as a Research Chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to become an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Hamilton College, a liberal arts college in Clinton, NY. “Hamilton has provided me with the opportunity and resources to continue my research, while also working with undergraduate chemistry students,” says Camille. “Undergraduate research is a priority at Hamilton and I am enjoying that aspect immensely.” Several of these students are currently helping Dr. Jones in a DOE-funded effort to use neutron diffraction to study the storage of hydrogen in clathrate hydrates.

Camille began her post-doctoral research career at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she worked in the Metals and Ceramics Division. It was there that she first found out about clathrate hydrates and began using neutron diffraction to study their crystal structures. She expanded her work after moving to NIST, using quasi-elastic neutron scattering to look at a variety of cyclic ether guest molecules in hydrates. “We are learning some interesting things about how these molecules rotate within their cages, depending on their size and the temperature,” says Dr. Jones. Currently, Jones and her collaborators are employing computational methods to help interpret the results of the neutron scattering experiments, and she has a new collaboration with a Hamilton undergraduate researcher and his mentor, a colleague in the Chemistry Department, to synthesize custom-designed organic molecules that will simplify interpretation of quasi-elastic data.

Her current work, funded by the DOE’s Office of Science and part of a collaboration with Tulane University and Los Alamos National Laboratory, began last fall. Three of her eight undergraduate research students are involved in designing new pressure cells and methodologies for synthesizing hydrates for that project. The other five are working on problems related to the synthesis and fundamental properties of hydrates, like studying the behavior of hydrateforming liquids in the vicinity of the hydrate formation temperature.

Dr. Jones is not studying methane hydrates at this point. “They’re harder to make and other very well established groups are studying them. But by looking very closely at some hydrates that receive less attention, I hope to create a research program integrated with undergraduate education where students can expand their scientific knowledge and skills as well as add something to the overall understanding of hydrate formation and why guest molecules behave the way they do,” Dr. Jones adds.

At the same time, she is thoroughly enjoying the classroom. “I introduced two X-ray diffraction experiments and even included some hydrates-related bench experiments in the physical chemistry course I taught for the first time last year. I wanted to expand students’ knowledge of materials chemistry and awareness of energy-related issues,” explained Jones. “These students are smart, conscientious, and enthusiastic--our best hope for addressing energy-related issues in the future.”

Evan Solomon
Earth Sciences (Ph. D. expected 2007), Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Geology, (B.S. 2001), University of Nevada at Reno
Email: esolomon@ucsd.edu

We talked to Evan as he was packing to leave on an upcoming methane hydrate research cruise to the Indian Ocean. Most grad students take part in perhaps four such cruises while completing a Masters and Ph.D. in an oceanographyrelated specialty … this will be Evan’s ninth. “I’m interested in understanding the dynamics of fluid flow within sediments, particularly as they relate to ocean chemistry,” says Evan. “I had focused a lot on hydrogeology at UNR, and when a visiting speaker gave a talk about methane hydrates, it seemed to be a very interesting topic, so I sought out Dr. Miriam Kastner at Scripps.” Evan’s seafaring has been the direct result of that decision.

Evan’s work with Kastner has involved long-term continuous chemical and fluid flux monitoring of two dynamic subsea systems: the Costa Rica subduction zone and the Bush Hill gas hydrate field in the Gulf of Mexico. Off Costa Rica they used continuous water samplers within a borehole observatory to record the chemical and fluid flux. This was the first high-resolution time series data set of chemistry and fluid flow at a subduction zone.

At Bush Hill, as part of a project funded by DOE, Evan helped to develop and deploy a new design of flux meter called the MOSQUITO (Multiple Orifice Sampler and Quantitative Injection Tracer Observer). The device contains a network of osmotic samplers and a tracer injection feature. The tracer is injected at a single point beneath the seafloor and fluid chemistry and tracer concentrations are continuously sampled simultaneously at multiple depths in a three dimensional array relative to the tracer injection point. The data collected over 430 days in 2002-03 have been used to help characterize the complex hydrology around hydrate mounds and their related benthic communities. The results show that methane from active gas vents adjacent to the mounds act to keep the methane hydrate deposit stable.

In an associated experiment, Evan is using methane concentration data from bubble plumes above the active seafloor methane seeps to model the methane flux from the ocean surface to the atmosphere at four sites in the Gulf of Mexico. Ultimately he hopes to combine his results with remote sensing imagery of over 400 active seeps, to extrapolate these flux rates to the entire northern Gulf of Mexico basin. The Gulf of Mexico is one of the few places in the ocean where methane is not oxidized in the water column. If its contribution of methane to the atmosphere can be more accurately quantified the impact of oceanic methane on the atmosphere will come into sharper focus.

Evan is clearly excited about continuing his research beyond the award of his degree. “I am hoping to do a post-doc where I can apply some of what I have learned to the study of freshwater lake sediments,” said Evan. A post-doc study on methane fluxes and gas hydrate formation and distribution in the Indian Ocean is also on his list.

Eilis Rosenbaum
Chemical Engineering (M.S. 2004), University of Pittsburgh
Chemical and Mechanical Engineering, (B.S. 2001), Geneva College
Email: Ellis.Rosenbaum@netl.doe.gov

“Historically, methane hydrate thermal conductivity measurements have not been carried out on well characterized samples,” says Eilis. “Our objective is to develop the equipment and procedures that will enable us to obtain physical and thermal property information on samples of hydrate and sediment where the composition is well understood.” To do this, the team at NETL has modified an existing pressure cell by introducing a transient plane source (TPS) sensing element to determine the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity. “Most of my graduate work was focused on helping to develop the equipment and in writing the programs to automate the data collection and analysis process,” adds Rosenbaum.

After successfully defending her thesis in 2003, Eilis was hired by Parsons Corporation, an NETL contractor, to continue working on the project.

Arvind Gupta
Chemical Engineering (Ph.D. expected 2007), Colorado School of Mines
Chemical Engineering (B.E. 2000), Punjab University, India
Email: argupta@mines.edu

“We’ve formed pure samples of methane hydrate and also hydrate-sediment mixtures,” says Arvind. “With CT scanning we can quantify spatial heterogeneity in the laboratory prepared hydrate samples, and the locations where hydrate forms and dissociates with time. There is a lot of variation; even pure hydrate without any sediment is not as homogeneous as expected.” Arvind has also been involved with history matching of experimental results using the TOUGH-Fx/HYDRATE code developed at LBNL by George Moridis, one of his graduate thesis advisors. “The motivation for much of our research is to provide better physical property values for the model,” he adds.

At Colorado School of Mines Arvind has been working with his thesis advisor, Dr. Dendy Sloan, investigating the hydrate dissociation process at a microscopic scale using spectroscopic tools like Raman spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance and neutron diffraction. “My research interests also include measurements of hydrate properties such as thermal conductivity, heat capacity, heat of dissociation and permeability for hydrate bearing sediments,” adds Gupta. “I’m currently working on measuring the absolute and relative permeability of hydrate bearing sediments as a function of hydrate saturation.”

Although Arvind worked for two years as a process engineer in New Delhi after receiving his undergraduate degree, he now feels his future most likely lies in research rather than industry. He sums it up, “I enjoy the challenge and the people.”

Greg Gandler
Petroleum Engineering (M.S. 2006), University of Texas
Geological Engineering (B.S. 2004), University of Arizona

Greg Gandler’s academic experience with methane hydrates was not as extensive as many of the students highlighted on these pages, but it certainly made a big difference in determining how he got where he is today, working as a production engineer with Anadarko in Houston, Texas.

“I got introduced to methane hydrates while working as a research assistant with Dr. Bob Casavant at Arizona. We were tasked with identifying hydrates from log signatures and doing stratigraphic correlations in the Milne Point Unit on the Alaskan North Slope,” says Greg. His work, a preliminary spatial study of fault locations, morphology and inferred hydrate occurrence across the Milne Point Unit, resulted in a paper presented at the 2004 Hedberg Conference. Gandler’s study represented just one example of about 12 student projects that were undertaken at the University of Arizona as a result the industry-governmentuniversity collaboration associated with gas hydrate research.

As a result of his exposure to the project, Greg chose to pursue a graduate degree in petroleum engineering at the University of Texas, where he received his M.S. in May 2006, after working with Dr. Steven Bryant on problems related to waterflood sweep efficiency. Just a few months into his current position with Anadarko, Greg is now working on carbon dioxide flooding projects in Wyoming. Anadarko has enhanced oil recovery projects underway at three oil fields in central Wyoming, and is investigating the potential for similar projects in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.

According to Greg, “The geological engineering students at the University of Arizona generally end up working in hard rock mining, construction, or oil and gas. Working on the BP-DOE methane hydrates project definitely sparked my interest in a career in oil and gas production, and is the primary reason I am working where I am.”

Matt Hornbach
Geophysics (Research Associate), University of Texas
Geophysics (post-doc 2004-2006), University of Texas
Geophysics (Ph.D. 2004), University of Wyoming
Physics (A.B. 1998), Hamilton College
Email: matth@utig.ig.utexas.edu

Analysis of the data led to a number of conclusions, “One of which was that critically pressurized volumes of methane gas exist below methane hydrate deposits, resulting in a potentially unstable ocean floor that is highly sensitive to changing conditions,” says Hornbach. “A change in temperature or pressure can cause hydrate to convert into methane gas, causing faulting that allows the gas to escape.” This mechanism for the sustained ocean-wide release of methane was the topic of an article in Nature authored by Matt and his professors in 2004.

The study also revealed that while a number of seismic indicators can be used to identify hydrates, remote quantification of hydrate concentrations is best performed through detailed velocity analysis and comparison to rock physics models. This approach forms the basis of ongoing work funded by DOE at the University of Texas, where Matt is now a research associate.

“One of the surprises that came out of the submersible dives at Blake Ridge was the recognition of just how dynamic the methane flux situation is there, at a spot that was previously thought to be relatively static,” adds Matt. “My research focuses on using high-resolution seismic data to link shallow geological structure and fluid dynamics in the marine environment. I hope it will lead me to a better understanding of methane mobilization, its impact on climate and its role in sustaining chemosynthetic biological seafloor communities.”

Jennifer Dearman
Chemical Engineering (Ph.D. expected 2006), Mississippi State University
Polymer Science and Engineering (M.S. 2000), University of Southern Mississippi
Chemistry, (B.S. 1997), University of Arkansas

Jennifer Dearman has been working with Dr. Rudy Rogers at Mississippi State University on DOE-funded methane hydrate research. Their focus has been on understanding how hydrate formation rates and induction times vary with depth within subsea sediments. In particular, they are investigating the influence that clay type and the presence of microbially-produced surfactants might have on hydrate formation.

Using sediment samples from a core recovered by the Marion Dufresne in 631 m of water in the Gulf of Mexico’s Mississippi Canyon, the research team measured the rates at which hydrate formed in these sediments in a 450 psi pressurized test cell. “We observed that hydrate formation is most rapid at about 15-18 m of depth,” says Jennifer. “Also, hydrate induction time reaches a minimum at about 12 m.”

Corollary experiments have shown that biosurfactants catalyze hydrate formation, even at very low concentrations, increasing hydrate formation rate and decreasing induction time. Analysis of the silt, sand, and clay percentages in the core samples, as well as the percentages of various clay minerals present, are being carried out. “Ultimately, we hope to relate bioagents and bio-agent-mineral interactions with hydrate formation trends,” says Dearman.

John Pohlman
Chemical Oceanography (Ph.D. expected 2006), The College of William and Mary
Biological Oceanography (M.S. 1995), Texas A&M University
Zoology, (B.S. 1992), Louisiana Tech

John has worked as a contractor for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory since 1996. “I had been working for NRL for three years on various coastal ecological studies when the opportunity to work on gas hydrates came up in 2000,” recounts John. “One of my first projects was developing a laboratory to perform radiocarbon analysis on gas, sediments and pore fluids to trace the fate of methane carbon in gas hydrate systems.”

Subsequently, John had the opportunity to participate in a number of research cruises, including the DOE-supported Marion Dufresne voyage to collect cores in the Gulf of Mexico in 2002, and the IODP leg 311 cruise of the Joides Resolution to the Northern Cascadia Margin in 2005, where he was one of two organic chemists responsible for on-board chemical analysis of pore fluids collected from cores.

John saw an opportunity to combine his “day job” with an effort to further his education, and enrolled at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), which is associated with The College of William and Mary. Data collected at biogenic and thermogenic gas hydrate sites off Vancouver Island during the Northern Cascadia Margin cruise formed the basis of John’s research for his Ph.D. He is investigating the methane biogeochemistry and sulfate reducing bacteria chemotaxonomy at these sites.

“Performing geochemical analysis on pore fluids and sediments from relatively shallow cores, and trying to understand the dynamics of fluid flux at those depths, can help us understand the deeper hydrate systems,” adds Pohlman. “We can also infer some things about sediment deposition and stability, an important issue in the Gulf of Mexico.”

We talked to John by phone as he was sitting on the dock in Wellington, New Zealand, preparing to embark on a two-week DOE-supported cruise aboard the R/V Tangaroa to the Hikurangi Margin off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island. “Previous seismic work by scientists at the New Zealand Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences has identified a number of bottom simulating reflectors (BSR’s). We’re going to sample the sediments at these sites and look for evidence of active methane flux,” says Pohlman. “We’ll also be looking at carbon isotope ratios to determine thermogenic or biogenic origin.”

After defending his thesis this fall, John hopes to continue to apply geochemistry to the study of gas hydrates, either with NRL or elsewhere.

Phil Tsunemori
Petroleum Engineering (B.S. 2005), University of Alaska, Fairbanks

The path that brought Phil Tsunemori to a University of Alaska laboratory performing experiments to validate published methane hydrate dissociation data was not your typical academic ladder. Phil, an instrument technician at a Nebraska sugar beet processing plant, came to Alaska looking for a good oil refinery job. He enrolled at UAF to take some basic math prerequisites, discovered petroleum engineering, and never looked back. Today, four years later, he is a practicing petroleum engineer with ConocoPhillips in Anchorage, thoroughly enjoying his new career.

“As an undergrad, I was assisting the graduate students doing the lab work. We were performing methane hydrate dissociation experiments based on data from North Slope cores, checking to see if the published dissociation curves were representative. We were able to find out that some of the data were not, and that the actual hydrate stability zone was not where one might expect it to be.” Tsunemori’s paper based on his summer work won the SPE’s Student Paper Contest at the Western Regional Meeting in 2004, competing against both B.S. and M.S. students from West Coast universities.

Although he is not currently working on methane hydrates, Tsunemori believes that his research experience helped him get an internship with his current employer the following summer, a post that led to his new job. “I also have found that I have a better feel for the reservoir engineering aspects of my job— particularly the geology—having worked with cores in the laboratory,” adds Phil. He was also able to contribute to the research effort in his own way, drawing on his unique background to automate the data gathering instrumentation at the UAF laboratory.

Phil’s path may take him back through that laboratory; he has not discounted the possibility of a part-time effort toward an advanced degree at some point in the future.

Mea Cook
Marine Geology & Geophysics (Ph.D. 2006), MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography
Geosciences, (A.B. magna cum laude 1999), Princeton University
Email: meacook@whoi.edu

“We proposed a project to compare the timing of the carbon isotopic anomalies in the cores with known millennial-scale, warm climate events that occurred during the last glacial period, to see if there is a correlation,” adds Cook. “Then, we will look for molecular biomarkers of methane oxidation in the sediment where the anomalies occur. If they are present, they show that the isotopic anomalies are indeed associated with the presence of methane.” If the correlation and the biomarkers are found, this is strong evidence of methane hydrate outgassing as a positive feedback in climate change. This would support the hypothesis that a change in ocean currents triggers the dissociation of hydrates close to the stability zone, and that the released methane makes its way to the atmosphere, adding to climate changes underway. Mea and her colleagues hope to complete their data gathering for this DOE-funded project, both the isotopic stratigraphy and the biomarker analysis, by the end of the 2006.

When not tracking down the role of methane hydrates in climate change, Mea plays the cello. She has been playing since she was eight years old, and received a Certificate in Violoncello and Viola da Gamba Performance, from Princeton along with her geosciences degree.

Namit Jaiswal
Petroleum Engineering, (PH.D. in progress), Texas A&M University
Petroleum Engineering (M.S. 2004), University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Chemical Engineering, (B.S. 2002), UICT, Mumbai, India
Email: NamitJaiswal@GMAIL.com

While working on his M.S. at the University of Alaska (Fairbanks), Namit built a unique, state-of-the-art experimental set up for studying the relative permeability of gas hydrate-water systems as part of the BP/DOE-funded assessment of North Slope methane hydrates. This equipment was the first of its kind, giving Namit an invaluable perspective on the joys (and disappointments) of original research. The set-up is being used for formation damage, production profile and phase behavior studies for gas hydrate saturated porous media.

Namit feels fortunate in having had the opportunity to study three different examples of unconventional hydrocarbon resources, and looks forward to applying what he has learned in the industry.

Prasad Kerkar
Material Science and Engineering (Ph.D. in progress), State University of New York at Stony Brook
Petroleum Engineering (M.S. 2005), University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Chemical Engineering, (B.S. 2002), Mumbai University, India
Email: PKerkar@ic.sunysb.edu

“I was looking for something different, not the same engineering courses with different titles,” says Prasad Kerkar. That was what brought him from balmy Bombay, India to the University of Alaska’s Fairbanks laboratory. His work, part of DOE’s collaborative project with BP Exploration (Alaska) and others, employed an experimental set up to quantify the potential for near-wellbore damage from drilling fluids designed for safe hydrate drilling.

After completing requirements for his degree at UAF, Prasad moved on to begin work on his Ph.D. in Material Science at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Currently, he is working with Dr. Devinder Mahajan at Brookhaven National Laboratory on understanding how hydrates grow within sediments, using x-ray microtomography. “Most of the models for methane hydrate distribution within sediments treat it as being homogenously disseminated as pore filling material, but we see plenty of core evidence of hydrates as massive layers, nodules and fracture fillings. We are trying to understand the geometry of hydrate formation at the grain-size scale, hoping to gain a better understanding of why and how hydrates behave the ways they do.”

Prasad enjoys the teaching and research aspects of his new position as a Ph.D. Fellow at SUNY Stony Brook, but while he had no second thoughts about pursuing his Ph.D., he plans on working in the energy industry after he catches it.

Tarun Grover
Petroleum Engineering (Ph. D. expected 2007), Texas A&M University
Chemical Engineering, (M.S. 2004), University of Mississippi
Chemical Engineering (B.E. 2001), Panjab University, India
Email: tarun@pe.tamu.edu

Tarun’s ultimate aim is to use these data sets to predict the performance of gas hydrate bearing sediments under different geological conditions. He is particularly interested in understanding the interaction of hydrate and sediment, an important issue for both gas production and geomechanical slope stability in hydrate bearing sediments. Grover is using the reservoir simulators TOUGH+/Hydrate and CMG-STARS to study various production schemes from different types of hydrate deposits. He is also using these simulators to history match production data from Messoyakha Gas Field in Siberia, a field where hydrates are believed to have sourced a portion of the gas production.

At the moment, Tarun is working on developing a standard procedure for producing hydrate-bearing cores in the laboratory that are representative of natural samples, to bring a degree of uniformity to the testing of cores by various researchers. This procedure will be used to create samples for testing the geomechanical properties of hydrate bearing sediments.

Tarun was drawn to the field of gas hydrates because of the challenges it poses from a petroleum engineering perspective. Says Grover, “Many researchers are doing extremely important work in studying the fundamental flow and geomechanical properties of hydrate bearing sediments. I want to combine that information to study the hydrate dissociation process on a field scale. Modeling is a very useful tool for predicting which parameters are important in determining the relative shortcomings or benefits of various production schemes, and for studying the slope stability of hydrate bearing sediments once basic geomechanical properties have been measured in the laboratory.”

After completing his studies, Tarun is hoping to work in the oil and gas industry in a research capacity.

Praveen K. Singh
Petroleum Engineering, (M.S.), University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Chemical Technology, (B.E. 2004), Napur University

Jaewon Jang
Civil and Environmental Engineering, (Ph.D. in progress), Georgia Institute of Technology
Engineering, (B.S.), Hanyang University, Korea

Jongwon Jung
Civil and Environmental Engineering, (Ph.D. in progress), Georgia Institute of Technology
Engineering, (B.Sc and M.Sc) Korea University, Korea

Patricia Toboada-Serrano
Environmental Engineering, (Ph.D.), Georgia Institute of Technology
Chemical Engineering, (M.Sc.), University Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela
Chemical Engineering, (B.S), Mayor de San Andrés University, La Paz, Bolivia

AntoneJain
Groundwater Hydrology, (Ph.D. in progress), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Environmental Engineering, (B.S.), Massachusetts Institute of Technology

ChristopherMacMinn
Mechanical Engineering, (Ph.D. in progress), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mechanical Engineering, (B.S.), Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A native of upstate New York, Chris's appreciation for conservation and efficiency have led him to pursue research in various related areas in the past, including noise-reduction technology for the flow of air over wind-turbine blades and polymer additives for reducing turbulent dissipation in the flow of liquids over solid surfaces. He also spent a year at a consulting firm in Washington, DC, working with the Department of Energy on the development of energy efficiency standards for appliances. Chris holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.