UNews - oil and gas

Research dollars continue to flow

trevor.kenney — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 23:15:12 +0000

The business of research at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge keeps growing and, like any other business, needs people and resources to keep the wheels of innovation turning.
Recent rankings which place the U of L's research efforts at the top and near to the top of influential listings of Canadian research universities, show and tell the U of L's research achievements based on numbers.

But there are more than numbers to this success – there are people who, through very diverse projects, demonstrate the unique ways in which the U of L is, as described by the editors at Maclean's magazine, "…Alberta's rising research star."

Dr. Paul Hayes is part of a team of U of L researchers to receive significant funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

Recent funding announcements by the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Canada Research Chair program have brought to the U of L new or renewed funding in excess of $2.4 million. Many of the funding awards are eligible for matching funds, or can be used to lever additional resources which further advance the U of L's research agenda. As more research funding is confirmed, other U of L researchers will be profiled.

Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk

Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk, a researcher at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience who studies the development of avian brains, will use his Canada Foundation for Innovation funding to purchase a sophisticated slide scanner, microscope and related equipment which will allow his research team to create what are known as virtual slides. ($131,000)

From these virtual slides, he will be able to perform a myriad of measurements and analyses to better understand how the brain is organized and how brain damage arising from exposure to environmental toxins occurs in various bird species. In addition to these direct research uses, Iwaniuk has amassed the largest collection of bird brains in the world, which at present includes over 500 specimens representing more than 150 different species from North America, Australia, Africa, Australia and Europe.

One of his aims over the next several years will be to digitize this entire brain collection and make it available to researchers, educators and students worldwide. By creating a virtual museum within which anyone will be able to look at virtual slides and photos of entire brains, researchers from around the world can more readily collaborate and provide information to educators and the general public on how the brain has evolved among birds.

Dr. Louise Barrett

Dr. Louise Barrett studies the social processes and behaviour of people and primates. Her research will determine how social functioning can be improved by examining connections between social environment and the development of interpersonal skills. Barrett, a Canada Research Chair in Cognition, Evolution and Behaviour, is aiming to discover how the actions of others help shape our social worlds – and therefore our psychology. She's doing so by studying the social behaviour and cognition of both humans and our primate cousins in Canada and South Africa. ($1.4 million/seven years)

Primates are known for their intense sociability, which is thought to have shaped the ways in which we think about the world. Research in this field has usually considered that social information is processed solely inside the head. However, Barrett is emphasizing how physical or bodily engagement with the world – and with other individuals – can and should be recognized as part of our psychology. In that respect, cognitive processes can be considered as both visible and social, and not just invisible and private.
In addition, Barrett is studying how various types of 'social niches' help shape psychology from infancy to adulthood, and how language and culture influence generate differences between humans and primates.

By challenging long-held beliefs about the way primates think and socialize, Barrett's work is paving the way for new forms of psychology that could improve people's social experiences by increasing the understanding of the social skills they need in a complex society.

Dr. Stacey Wetmore

Dr. Stacey Wetmore, Canada Research Chair in Computational Chemistry was recently renewed as a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair ($500,000/five years).

Wetmore uses computers to explore the reactions between DNA and various harmful chemicals in order to understand how DNA gets damaged. And in order to clarify how nature affects repairs, she studies how enzymes in our body repair our DNA by chemically removing the damaged sections of DNA.

Computers help Wetmore examine molecules that are difficult or impossible to learn about using traditional experiments. For example, it is difficult to study some molecules experimentally because they live for such a short time; using computers, however, speeds up the process so she can investigate their properties thoroughly.

Computer simulations are the tool of choice that not only allow Wetmore to study molecules quickly and cheaply but also allow her to study chemically modified DNA pieces that have applications as drugs or tools for biotechnology.

Drs. Paul Hazendonk, Michael Gerken and Paul Hayes

The trio of chemistry researchers has received substantial funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation ($400,000) to purchase a significantly more powerful NMR system, which will allow the researchers – who envision collaboration with researchers working on wide-ranging projects from the oil and gas, agriculture and pharmaceutical industries – to more accurately measure the structure of various solid and liquid compounds down to the atomic level of accuracy.

Their research – and the current NMR facility, which is also in the process of receiving a significant upgrade – is already attracting worldwide attention. With the addition of the new equipment, they expect to expand their programs, ability to work with graduate and undergraduate students, and enhance their relationships with a wide variety of collaborators. The facility is expected to take about a year to fully commission.

This story first appeared in the November 2012 issue of the Legend. To view the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Wiebo's War latest NFB offering

trevor.kenney — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:08:48 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library presents Wiebo's War, the latest screening of the library's NFB Film Club series, Wednesday, May 16 at 7 p.m. in room L1060.

Wiebo Ludwig, who died recently of esophageal cancer, was a controversial figure in Alberta. The fundamentalist Christian minister and patriarch of a self-sufficient communal farm in northwestern Alberta has been labelled an eco-warrior and a terrorist for his resistance against the oil and gas industry that has taken over the land in that region.

There were numerous poisonous gas leaks that the Ludwig clan believe caused illness, deaths and miscarriages amongst their family and their livestock. Their complaints went unresolved by the industry and the government, and so began their long struggle against the oil and gas companies in the area.

In 2001 Ludwig was convicted of charges related to the bombing of an oil and gas installation, and he was suspected of involvement in later pipeline bombings.

The 93-minute documentary, Wiebo's War, begins with filmmaker David York trying to convince the family to allow him to document their lives and their story in spite of his atheism. Apparently he won them over, because they allowed he and his film crew to live with them on their compound for up to two weeks at a time over a two-year period. The film goes on to present an inside view of the family's life on the communal farm, their religious faith and their battle against the oil and gas industry.

"A rude guest, believe me," says Ludwig of the gas company invading his family's land.

The animated short film, A Prairie Story, by Calgary director Anne Koizumi, will precede the screening of Wiebo's War.

Leading behind the scenes

trevor.kenney — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:39:46 +0000

Forget about spreadsheets and market analysis. If you want to hatch an incredibly successful idea, one of the best ways to do it is to scratch your musings on a paper napkin. The method might be unorthodox, but it's hard to argue with its effectiveness when you consider the list of businesses and ideas that got their start that way. The founders of Southwest Airlines, the professor who came up with trickle-down economics, and the duo who created the game Trivial Pursuit all used napkins as a springboard for their ideas. It's not a bad club, and it's one that Christian Darbyshire (BMgt '99) is happy to be a part of.

Darbyshire is the co-owner and operator of tinePublic Inc. (pronounced "tiny" Public) – an internationally renowned special-events company with a rather prophetic origin.

Inspiration for tinePublic struck late one night in Toronto at a restaurant in Chinatown. Darbyshire was sitting across the table from his good friend Andy McCreath, eating soup and talking the way old buddies do. The duo has known each other since the age of 12 and has a long history together. As fate would have it, Darbyshire and McCreath had professional interests in common, too.

Christian Darbyshire has been able to secure some of the biggest names in the speaking business.

After serving several years in the trenches of the television industry, Darbyshire had carved out a profitable niche as a freelance production manager and publicist. McCreath was doing publicity work for the National Hockey League. As the night wore on, the soup disappeared and the conversation between the friends got inventive. They started to wonder what was stopping them from joining forces and creating their own company. They had been planning events and doing publicity for others for years. Why not combine their expertise and strike out on their own? They envisioned putting together speaking engagements that featured big headline names, producing and promoting the events, and selling tickets for a tidy profit. Darbyshire used the proverbial paper napkin to jot down a business plan. Before the night was over, he and McCreath were partners in a new event-planning venture – tinePublic Inc.

"We wanted to create events for young business professionals," says Darbyshire. "Most of the speaking engagements at that time were big-ticket dinner events that priced a lot of people out of the market. We wanted to produce events that drew a wider audience."

tinePublic's top choice for a first speaker was former U.S. president Bill Clinton. Darbyshire sent a letter to Clinton's organization requesting a meeting to discuss his company's proposal. It wasn't a big surprise that there was no response.

"I knew it was a long shot trying to line up such a big name right off the bat, but there was nothing to lose in trying," says Darbyshire. "I sent at least half a dozen letters to Clinton's office over two years, and made several phone calls, but it didn't get us anywhere. In the meantime I kept looking for another opportunity."

The brass ring presented itself a couple of years later in the form of a reality TV star – one Bill Rancic, winner of the first season of Donald Trump's television show, The Apprentice.

"The Apprentice was a massive success and Bill Rancic was huge," recalls Darbyshire. "It was 2005, and business in Alberta was booming. It was the perfect time to bring the current icon of business success to the public."

Darbyshire and McCreath contacted Rancic's people, scheduled a meeting and flew to New York. There, in Rancic's Manhattan office, the partners laid out a plan for the first speaking engagement the pair would produce. It would take place in Calgary, the epicentre of new business in Canada, and Rancic would be the headliner.

"He jumped on board right there," says Darbyshire, describing Rancic's response. "We couldn't believe it. Suddenly we were in business. That was it. The ball was in motion."
The next 30 days were a whirlwind of big-time planning on a shoestring budget. Darbyshire and McCreath cleaned out their bank accounts to pull it off, and a month later Bill Rancic was in Calgary in front of a group of 1,800 eager businesspeople. The success of that first engagement led to five more shows at venues across North America. The Rancic tour was tremendously popular and profitable.

"That's when we knew we were really onto something," says Darbyshire.

tinePublic was enjoying its first taste of success. Darbyshire and McCreath were busy planning a stream of new engagements when one day, out of the blue, Darbyshire picked up a call from the office of the man he'd been waiting for since day one – Bill Clinton. Clinton's office had received all the letters Darbyshire had sent over the years and was impressed by the company's recent success. They offered tinePublic the opportunity to co-ordinate speaking engagements for the former president and Darbyshire accepted the job on the spot.

"It wasn't until I hung up the phone that it occurred to me that maybe we'd bitten off more than we could chew," says Darbyshire.

Putting his worries aside, plans for the Clinton engagement went full steam ahead. The event took place several months later at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ont., in front of a crowd of 6,500 riveted attendees. Darbyshire and his partner doubled their investment that day, and went on to produce 10 more events with Clinton over the next two years.

The rest, as they say, is history. tinePublic has gone on to organize touring events for Tony Blair, Alan Greenspan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Colin Powell, George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, Rudy Giuliani and Lance Armstrong among other cultural and political icons. The company has also expanded its business scope to include concert promotion (they've worked with performers like Elton John and Diana Ross). In addition to his work with McCreath, Darbyshire runs a public-relations firm that works with major finance, cosmetic, oil and gas, and mining companies across North America. In recognition of his hard work, Darbyshire was named to Canada's Top 40 Under 40™ in 2011.

Stories and anecdotes about the famous people Darbyshire has met are just under the surface of his speech, but he's far too professional to let any cats out of the bag. The most he'll tell you is that everyone he's worked with is quite candid, and the insights he's gained from high-profile people are extraordinary. When it comes to sharing the secret of his own success, however, Darbyshire is a lot more forthcoming.

"You can't let fear stop you, in life or in business," Darbyshire says. "I've been scared plenty of times, but I've always followed through. If you really work at something, it will most likely end up being OK, or really good, or even spectacular. You've got to use fear in a positive way. Never give up. And think big."

This story first appeared in the Fall 2011 issue of SAM magazine. For a look at a flipbook version of SAM, follow this link.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ hosts special SACPA session on fracking

trevor.kenney — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 19:10:24 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will host a special session of the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs Thursday night, 7 p.m. in PE264.

Should a Moratorium and a Full Scale Environmental Assessment Precede Any Further Development Using Hydraulic Fracturing? That is the question that guest speaker Jessica Ernst will debate.

Ernst is an environmental scientist with 30 years of oil patch experience. Her career and personal experience make her uniquely qualified to talk about drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Ernst must haul water from outside sources because her well has been poisoned by unnatural and dangerous concentrations of methane gas and other industrial toxins.

She filed legal action against EnCana (a large oil and gas company), the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) which approves energy projects in Alberta and the Alberta Government for their responsibility. In May, 2011 Ernst was invited to New York to present her case and to make recommendations to governments at the United Nations 19th Commission on Sustainable Development. On October 1, 2011, UNANIMA International, a UN Economic and Social Council NGO, presented Ernst with its annual "Woman of Courage" award in New York, at the Church Center of United Nations.

Much of the general public know little or nothing about hydraulic fracturing (fracking), an increasingly popular, but controversial technique of drilling for oil and natural gas. Fracking involves vertical and sometimes horizontal drilling into coal bed, or shale rock using extreme pressure for the fracture treatments. Anywhere from 200,000 to 1500,000 liters of water and various stimulation and fracturing fluids, and from 75,000 to 320,000 pounds of propellant are consumed during a typical hydraulic fracture of a single well.

Fracturing fluids can contain chemicals toxic to humans and wildlife, chemicals that are known to cause cancer. These include diesel fuel, which contains benzene, which in very small quantities can cause cancer and are capable of contaminating millions of gallons of water. Drilling chemicals can be more toxic than fracturing chemicals. The speaker will relate her experiences with fracking in her community of Rosebud, Alberta and her fight to bring the many issues associated with drilling and fracking to the public.

Miltenberger on campus to address water strategies

trevor.kenney — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:04:41 +0000

The Honourable J. Michael Miltenberger (BASc '75,) MLA Thebacha, Deputy Premier and Minister of Environment and Natural Resources for the Northwest Territories (NWT), is acutely aware of the increasing pressure for development activity in the NWT related to oil and gas, oil sands, mining, hydro and other industrial developments. These activities place great demands on water resources, land and wildlife – a concern for both Miltenberger and his constituents.

On Tuesday afternoon, Miltenberger will be at the U of L discussing the water resource management strategies his government is working on with both Aboriginal governments and the federal government.

Miltenberger, along with the Hon. Jackson Lafferty, MLA Monfwi, Minister of Justice, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment will discuss the water strategy and other key environmental initiatives, and the importance of collaborative partnerships between all levels of government to ensure wise and sustainable use of the NWT's natural resources. The talk goes at 1:40 p.m. in classroom W870.

To ensure sound management of water resources in the NWT, the government of the Northwest Territories, in partnership with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, is developing the Northern Voices, Northern Waters, an NWT Water Resources Management Strategy. Three key areas of focus are: transboundary water management; the protection of community public water supply sources; and aquatic ecosystem integrity. The strategy will combine traditional Aboriginal knowledge of the environment with scientific knowledge to ensure future development is sustainable and compatible with protecting aquatic ecosystems.

As water is essential to all Canadians, Miltenberger challenges citizens to better understand water-related issues and lead by example.

"Encourage your community to continue improving knowledge and understanding of water and the environment through education and research," Miltenberger says. "Push your elected representatives to make the case with the federal government on the need for a national water strategy to ensure the protection, preservation and good management of our aquatic ecosystems from coast to coast."

Alumnus Miltenberger pushes water agenda

trevor.kenney — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:16:59 +0000

The Honourable J. Michael Miltenberger (BASc '75,) MLA Thebacha, Deputy Premier and Minister of Environment and Natural Resources for the Northwest Territories (NWT), is acutely aware of the increasing pressure for development activity in the NWT related to oil and gas, oil sands, mining, hydro and other industrial developments. These activities place great demands on water resources, land and wildlife – a concern for both Miltenberger and his constituents.

To ensure sound management of water resources in the NWT, the government of the Northwest Territories, in partnership with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, is developing the Northern Voices, Northern Waters, an NWT Water Resources Management Strategy. Three key areas of focus are: transboundary water management; the protection of community public water supply sources; and aquatic ecosystem integrity. The strategy will combine traditional Aboriginal knowledge of the environment with scientific knowledge to ensure future development is sustainable and compatible with protecting aquatic ecosystems.

As water is essential to all Canadians, Miltenberger challenges citizens to better understand water-related issues and lead by example.

"Encourage your community to continue improving knowledge and understanding of water and the environment through education and research," Miltenberger says. "Push your elected representatives to make the case with the federal government on the need for a national water strategy to ensure the protection, preservation and good management of our aquatic ecosystems from coast to coast."

U of L and Olds to sign agreement

trevor.kenney — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:06:42 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge would seem to have little in common with Olds College but a new cooperative agreement between the two institutions could see a number of Olds graduates headed to U of L campuses.

Bringing much-needed skill combinations to the Alberta workforce, representatives of Olds College and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will sign off on an agreement ultimately offering additional educational options for students and graduates of the Olds College Land Agent Diploma program. The signing will take place Friday at the U of L's Calgary Campus, located on the SAIT campus.

Land Agents (often called Landmen) are responsible for negotiating access to the land and freehold mineral rights for activities such as exploration, development and transporting of onshore oil and gas, or erecting and maintaining power lines. Millions of dollars in land claims are handled every year, with the oil and gas industry being a significant employer.

Approximately 1,500 land agents are registered in Alberta working for energy companies as well as landowners, and play a vital, irreplaceable role in land access negotiations. Approximately 50 students graduate from Olds College's Land Agent Diploma program per year.

With this new partnership, students who have earned a Land Agent Diploma from Olds College will be immediately eligible to enroll in the U of L's Bachelor of Management Degree Program.

In as little as two and a half years, students can obtain a General Management degree from the U of L at its Lethbridge, Calgary or Edmonton campuses, where they can choose from daytime programs (Lethbridge) or afternoon and evening programming (Calgary and Edmonton).

Where aquifers and accounting meet

trevor.kenney — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:54:31 +0000

On the surface, aquifers and accounting don't seem to have a lot in common. But if you dig a little deeper, the connection is much more apparent – just ask U of L Faculty of Management accounting instructor and doctoral student Deborah Jarvie. Jarvie is exploring ways to balance human interests and the health of aquifers, the underground layers of permeable rock, sand, silt or clay that have absorbed groundwater.

There is growing concern that aquifers may be increasingly at risk as coalbed methane – a form of natural gas extracted from coalbeds – becomes a more popular alternative to conventional energy like oil and gas. The extraction process requires removing large amounts of water, which could potentially affect aquifers and the environment.

"One of the ways to prevent some of the environmental problems we'll run into – or to help remedy situations that have arisen – is through policy," Jarvie explains.

Jarvie is working on an equilibrium model that will use policy instruments (like incentives or taxation) to encourage companies to be better environmental stewards while maximizing economic gain.

"The model is intended to incorporate and integrate the concerns of the economy, the environment and society, and thereby be used as a tool for determining the best policy mix for all parties concerned," she says.

Her research, once completed, will have direct applications to the corporate world.

"A model such as this would enable businesses to make the most cost-effective decisions based on the policy mixture."

UNews - oil and gas

Research dollars continue to flow

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