Agenda — McCormick SRI on Shale Oil and Gas Development

The Society of Environmental Journalists Presents:

The McCormick Specialized Reporting Institute on Shale Oil and Gas Development

Pittsburgh, June 22-24, 2014  

Carnegie Mellon University’s Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation

 

Conference Hotel:

Wyndham Pittsburgh University Center – 100 Lytton Avenue, Pittsburgh; (412) 682-6200

 

Sunday, June 22

5pm-6pm   Reception, Hors d’oeuvres (Rooms 322 and 324 of the Faculty Conference Center, on the first floor of Posner Hall at Carnegie Mellon)

5:45p-6pm   Welcome from Carnegie Mellon University and Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation

(Opening welcome reception and buffet dinner courtesy of Carnegie Mellon)

• Jared L. Cohon; Former President, Carnegie Mellon University, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

6pm-7pm   Informal Panel: “Overview of Shale Gas and Oil Development”

• Terry Engelder; Professor of Geoscience, The Pennsylvania State University
• Scott Perry; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection – Director, Oil and Gas Division
• Stephen Cleghorn; Pennsylvania farmer opposing Marcellus Shale gas operations

7pm-8pm   Buffet Dinner

 

Monday, June 23

7:00-8:00 a.m.   Breakfast, CMU’s Information Networking Institute (INI) Distributed Education Center

(All panels take place in the INI Distributed Education Center in the Robert Mehrabian Collaborative Innovation Center, located on Forbes Avenue on the Carnegie Mellon campus: 4720 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213   (412) 268-2000)

8:00-9:00 a.m.   Panel 1: “ABCs of Hydraulic Fracturing and Regional Differences”

• Terry Engelder, Professor of Geoscience, The Pennsylvania State University
• Anthony Ingraffea, Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering at Cornell University

9:00-10:00 a.m.   Panel 2: “The ABCs of the Health Impact: What we Know, Don’t Know”

• Bernard D. Goldstein, MD, Faculty Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences; Former Dean, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh; formerly with the EPA
• Lisa McKenzie, Research Associate, Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado
• Stephen Cleghorn, Pennsylvania farmer opposing Marcellus Shale gas operations

10:00-10:15 a.m.   Break

10:15-10:45 a.m.   Sharon Friedman – Journalism Practices discussion

10:45-11:45 a.m.   Panel 3: “Policy, Transparency, Land Development, Infrastructure and More”

• Ben Grumbles, President, U.S. Water Alliance; served as EPA’s Assistant Administrator of Water under President George W. Bush
• Louis D’Amico, President and Executive Director, Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association
• Scott Perry, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection – Dept. Secretary, Oil and Gas Division
• Andrew Place, Corporate Director, Energy and Environmental Policy, EQT Corporation
• Deborah Lawrence Rogers, Executive Director, Energy Policy Forum

11:45 a.m.-Noon   Relax, chat, pick up box lunch for keynote address

Noon-1:00 p.m.   Speaker – Sandra Steingraber, Biologist, author, cancer survivor. An expert on the environmental links to cancer and human health

1:00-2:00 p.m.   Panel 4: “Environmental Effects of Shale Oil and Gas Development”

• Mark Brownstein, Associate Vice President, Chief Counsel, U.S. Climate and Energy Program, Environmental Defense Fund
• Ben Grumbles, President, U.S. Water Alliance; served as EPA’s Assistant Administrator of Water under President George W. Bush
• Louis D’Amico, President and Executive Director, Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association
• W. Michael Griffin, Associate Research Professor, Engineering and Public Policy – Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business; Executive Director, Green Design Institute; Executive Director, Center for Climate and Energy Decision Making
• Anthony Ingraffea, Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering at Cornell University

2:00-3:00 p.m.   Panel 5: “Federal, State and Local Legal Landscape”

• John M. Smith, Pennsylvania-based natural resources lawyer for Smith, Butz LLC
• Jason Hutt, Attorney, Bracewell and Giuliani
• John Dernbach, Professor, Environmental Law – Widener University
• Mark Brownstein, Chief Counsel, U.S. Climate and Energy Program, Environmental Defense Fund

3:00-3:15 p.m.   Break

3:15-4:30 p.m.   Panel 6: “Journalists Roundtable – The Challenges of Covering Shale Development”

• Valerie Volcovici, Reuters
• Bobby Magill, Climate Central
• Kevin Begos, Associated Press, Pittsburgh
• Reid Frazier, Allegheny Front
• Bob Downing, Akron Beacon Journal
• Tim Puko, Wall Street Journal, Energy reporter

4:30-5:30 p.m.   Pitch Slam: Journalists talk to editors

• Jennifer Szweda Jordan; Host and Managing Editor, Allegheny Front
• Brian Hyslop; Business Editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Jim Parsons; WTAE-TV

5:30-6:00 p.m.   Campus Tour

6:00-7:25 p.m.   Reception and tour, Phipps Conservatory’s “Center for Sustainable Landscapes”

7:30-9.p.m.   Dinner – ‘The Porch at Schenley,’ 221 Schenley Drive  (412) 687-6724

 

Tuesday, June 24

6:00-7:00 a.m.   Breakfast at Wyndham Hotel – bagels, yogurt, fruit

7:00 a.m.   Bus departs hotel for Fracking site tour, airport drop-off

1:00 p.m. (Noon for those with early flights)   Fellows dropped at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT)

 

 

This Specialized Reporting Institute on Shale Development was made possible by a grant from

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation

SRI agenda chairs: Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Carolyn Whetzel, Bloomberg BNA

SRI project manager: Dale Willman, Society of Environmental Journalists

Beth Parke, Executive Director, Society of Environmental Journalists
PO Box 2492, Jenkintown, PA USA 19046
215-884-8174   sej@sejorg   http:www.sej.org