UPDATE: 2020 WORKSHOP CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC
To Shale Network participants:
The Shale Network Workshop team has decided that we need to cancel the Shale Network workshop for this spring because of the novel coronavirus. We make this decision based on the latest request from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to cancel events scheduled within the next two months. We regret to cancel because this year’s lineup was to be terrific, covering many new and emerging topics including, ironically, aspects of issues around human health. We have chosen dates for next year, May 13-14, 2021, and we invite you to pencil this time in for the workshop, once again in State College, Pa. We worked very hard on the planning for this year and we very much hope that all of our speakers will commit to coming next year, perhaps for the same line-up for the agenda, but with, of course, updated talks. In addition, we hope to run the same (or better) field trip next year. In the meantime, please, please be healthy and safe.
Regards, The Shale Network Workshop Team
Susan L. Brantley
Distinguished Professor of Geosciences
Workshop Announcement
Registration for the ninth annual Shale Network Workshop is now open. The theme of the 2020 workshop is “Shale Gas: Future and Developing Issues” and includes presentations on the health effects related to shale gas development by Donna Vorhees, director of energy research at the Health Effects Institute, and Joan Casey, assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University. The workshop will be held May 14-15 at the Graduate Hotel in State College, Pa.
The workshop provides an opportunity for citizen scientists, researchers, government officials, energy company representatives, and environmental professionals to compare lessons learned about water and environmental issues within areas where shale energy development is occurring.
The 2020 workshop features a field trip to several alternative energy-related sites on the Penn State campus, including a gas-powered steam plant, solar array, nuclear reactor, and other available facilities. Participants who want to visit the nuclear reactor must provide their home address information when they register for the workshop. The tentative field trip schedule is as follows:
| 9:30 a.m. | Meet at The Graduate |
| 9:45 a.m. | Depart for field trip |
| 10:30 a.m. | Visit the Sandy Ridge wind farm (tentative per company approval) |
| 11:15 a.m. | Depart from wind farm |
| 12:00 p.m. | Arrive on Penn State campus, lunch (pack your own) with discussion on PSU campus energy conservation initiatives |
| 1:00 p.m. | Break into two groups to tour the Brazealle Nuclear Reactor and East Campus Steam Plant |
| 3:00 p.m. | Tour the Penn State solar array |
| 4:00 p.m. | Arrive back at The Graduate |
Shale Network is a collaborative effort between Penn State, the University of Pittsburgh and the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Sciences Inc. (CUAHSI) to collect and analyze data on water quality in the Marcellus Shale drilling region. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection participates in organizing parts of the workshop. Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) has also provided funding in past years.
Agenda
Click here for the 2020 Shale Network agenda
Continuing professional education
Attendees can receive:
- Professional Development Hours for professional engineers, land surveyors and geologists.