From the ASEE aggregator. Hopeful that BC can capitalize on the findings of this research…
The Casper (WY) Star-Tribune (12/19, Storrow) reports on the University of Wyoming’s School of Energy Resources Improved Oil and Gas Recovery program, which unites “four faculty members from the chemistry, geology, chemical engineering and chemical and petroleum engineering departments” in the search for ways to increase oil and gas production. One of those faculty members, associate professor Vladimir Alvarado, said the goal is to foster collaboration among energy specialists by helping them communicate better. The Star-Tribune writes that, currently, “Techniques like fracking and horizontal drilling usually help recover between 4 to 12 percent of the oil and gas” thought to be in shale formations. Alvarado said the “real R&D question” is how the industry can improve on this, and he thinks they will be able to transfer what they learn about relatively simple shale gas production to shale oil, thus keeping research costs down. The piece notes that ExxonMobil gave $2.5 million to the program earlier this year, which was followed by a matching contribution from the state.

Interesting stats… Pulled from the ASEE aggregator:

The New York Times (11/15, Rampell) “Economix” blog reported that a report released last week from the National Science Foundation said that more women are pursing degrees. More than fifteen percent in 1991 compared to “18.4 percent in 2010.” The number of women pursing computer science has fallen. Women were awarded close to 30 percent of computer science B.A.’s in 1991, versus 18.2 percent in 2010.

Yes! I’ll have to get a copy of this survey, as reported in Inside Higher Ed and highlighted by the ASEE aggregator:

Inside Higher Ed (11/20, Grasgreen) reported a survey conducted by Worcester Polytechnic Institute researchers to see how its project-based curriculum impacted “students in the long term” came across “evidence that WPI’s approach to engineering education appeared to be substantially more effective for women, suggesting that a project-based curriculum may boost female success in the” STEM fields. WPI students must complete two projects. One project must address an interdisciplinary problem. The other must address “a problem in the student’s major field.” More than 60 percent of the female respondents to the survey said the curriculum “helped them understand the connections between technology and society ‘much’ or ‘very much.’”

I will have to make sure I connect with Maria Klawe when my research begins. This is from the ASEE aggregator:
In USA Today (11/2, Tadic) Nenad Tadic, a senior at Emory University wrote that, in 2005, when Maria Klawe became president of Harvey Mudd College ten percent of graduates with computer science degrees were female. By 2011, 40 percent of computer science graduates were women. Klawe said the college “fosters a collaborative and supportive environment, one that starts the minute students are enrolled.” Columbia University’s Women in Computer Science program hosts female speakers in the technology industry. Also, the program runs “a graduate-undergraduate mentorship program to aid underclassmen women in anything from study methods to applying for jobs.”

The professional conference for geoscientists and engineers in BC, held in beautiful Whistler, was educational, informative and engaging. Geoscientists abounded! It seemed as if every second person I spoke to was in geoscience — that couldn’t have been true, but it felt that way!

As councillor, I was busy at divisional meetings and so did not have the opportunity to attend the workshops and lectures (more than poking in my head, that is, and snapping a photo!). I heard from others, however, that the sessions were fantastic and each person I spoke with told me they learned something valuable to their work as a geoscientist or engineer.

Most of my time was spent networking and attending those meetings. I enjoyed hearing from student representatives about their branch experiences and their unanimous interest in becoming more involved in the association. That was encouraging and speaks well for future association growth. Surprisingly, most of the student reps were women, which gave the impression that more women are studying applied science; although the engineering students reported similar numbers to those I experienced in the ’80s, it appears that geoscience classes are approaching gender balance. I look forward to confirming these numbers in the near future!

I will add the link to more AGM photos when available…