Master’s Thesis Presentations – Archives
The Master of Science (MS) degree at the Jackson School of Geosciences is considered to be the professional degree for a career in the Geosciences. This degree is the foundation for students pursuing employment in the petroleum industry, environmental and hydrogeological fields, state and federal government agencies, and other related geoscience fields. Some students also use the MS degree as preparation for pursuing a Ph.D.
The Energy & Earth Resources Interdisciplinary program provides the opportunity for students to prepare themselves in management, finance, economics, law and policy leading to analytical and leadership positions in resource-related fields. The private sector and government organizations face a growing need for professionals that can plan, evaluate, and manage complex resource projects, commonly international in scope, which often include partners with a variety of professional backgrounds.
As requirements for these degrees, students must present a professional talk on Master’s Thesis Presentations.
Agenda and schedule below were from 2019 to 2024
Master’s Thesis Presentations Agenda for Friday, April 19, 2024
- First Place: Nick Regier, “Paleozoic Basin Evolution during Tectonic and Climatic Transitions in the Eastern Precordillera of Argentina”
- Second Place: Daphne Smith, “The Impact of Drought on Root-Zone Water Storage Dynamics in Fractured Carbonate Bedrock of the Edwards Plateau”
Session 1A: JGB 2.216
Session Chairs: Ebony Williams & Sawsan H Almalki
Theme: Powering Tomorrow: Sustainable Solutions for Energy Transition and Urban Development
Time | Student | Advisor(s) |
2:00-2:15 | Tara Greig (EER) Environmental Impacts and Social Implications of Onshoring the Lithium-ion Battery Supply Chain, an LCA approach |
Michael Young, Gürcan Gülen |
2:15-2:30 | Dariya Fallon (EER) – VIRTUALLY (ZOOM LINK) The Path to Net Zero Cities: An Analysis of Coupling Electrochromic Glazing (EC) with Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPVs) in Austin, Texas |
Dev Niyogi, Michael Garrison |
2:30-2:45 | Hari Keerthana Kamalakannan (EER) Optimizing Green Hydrogen: Out-of-Plant LCOH Reduction through IRA and Oil & Gas Asset Integration |
Ehud Ronn, Sergio Castellanos |
2:45-3:00 | Esther Gnaridia Goita (EER) Hydrogen Emissions and Associated Warming Effects During Production and Across Hydrogen Supply Chains |
Michael Webber |
3:00-3:15 | Alejandro Omana (EER) Technical and Environmental Evaluation of Geothermal-Driven Hydrogen Production in Mexico |
Sergio Castellanos, Carey King |
3:15-3:30 | BREAK |
Session 1B: JGB 2.216
Session Chairs: Ebony Williams & Sawsan H Almalki
Theme: Exploring Texas Underground: From Minerals to Subsidence
Time | Student | Advisor(s) |
3:30-3:45 | Zahra Mohammed Al-Awami (GEO) The Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of Salt Creek Field, Kent County, Texas |
Charlie Kerans |
3:45-4:00 | Natalie deHueck (EER) Untangling the Causes of InSAR-Derived Land Subsidence in Galveston County |
David Mohrig |
4:00-4:15 | Shelby Robyn Short (EER) Application of Satellite and Airborne Remote Sensing Techniques to Assess Critical Mineral Potential in Trans-Pecos Texas |
J. Richard Kyle |
4:15-4:30 | J. Evan Sivil (GEO) – VIRTUALLY (ZOOM LINK) Geological Characterization and Reservoir Analysis of the Lower Eagle Ford Group in DeWitt County, East Texas |
Robert Loucks |
Session 2A: JGB 2.218
Session Chair: Kaixuan Kang
Theme: From Watersheds to Urbanization: Interrogating Changes in Water Systems
Time | Student | Advisor(s) |
2:00-2:15 | Isabel Keddy-Hector (EER) – VIRTUALLY (ZOOM LINK) An analysis of water-borne arsenic in mining communities of Zacatecas, Mexico |
David Eaton |
2:15-2:30 | Sneha Nachimuthu (GEO) Natural Archives to Understand Temporal Changes of Municipal Water Input to an Urbanizing Watershed |
Jay Banner |
2:30-2:45 | Daphne Smith (GEO) The Impact of Drought on Root-Zone Water Storage Dynamics in Fractured Carbonate Bedrock of the Edwards Plateau |
Daniella Rempe |
2:45-3:00 | Lynsie Patschke (EER) Evaluating the Implications of Accurate Methane Emissions Reporting on the Waste Emissions Charge in the Inflation Reduction Act |
Arvind Ravikumar, David Spence |
3:00-3:15 | BREAK |
Session 2B: JGB 2.218
Session Chair: Kaixuan Kang
Theme: Exploring Geological Dynamics Across Time and Space
Time | Student | Advisor(s) |
3:15-3:30 | Nicholas A. Regier (GEO) Paleozoic Basin Evolution during Tectonic and Climatic Transitions in the Eastern Precordillera of Argentina |
Brian Horton |
3:30-3:45 | Soraya Alfred (GEO) Insights into Chicxulub’s Post-Impact Hydrothermal Dynamics: A Numerical Approach |
Sean Gulick, Marc Hesse |
3:45-4:00 | Ever “Hoss” Hostettler (GEO) Origins of Rodingite-Forming Fluids from Seafloor to Exhumed Terranes: Insights from Ca, Sr, & O Isotopes |
Jaime Barnes |
Session 3A: JGB 2.324
Session Chair: Mrittika Kabir
Theme: Assessing Carbon Management Strategies: From Performance Calibration to Financial Implications I
Time | Student | Advisor(s) |
2:00-2:15 | Chinemerem Clement Okezie (EER) Calibrating Performance Prediction for Large-Scale Injection |
Alexander P. Bump, Susan D. Hovorka |
2:15-2:30 | Christopher Deranian (EER) Evaluating the Financial Implications of Injectivity Risk in Compartmentalized Reservoirs for CCS |
Sahar Bakhshian, James Dyer |
2:30-2:45 | Julia Skrovan (EER) – VIRTUALLY (ZOOM LINK) The Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM) Under Pressure: Decomposing GHG Model Pathways and Evaluating CRREM Results under Asset and Environmental Changes |
Varun Rai |
2:45-3:00 | Ismail Halim Faruqi (EER) CO2 Storage Potential in the Late Neogene Interval, Federal Offshore, Gulf of Mexico Shelf |
Alexander P. Bump, Susan D. Hovorka, Carlos Uroza |
3:00-3:15 | Richard Larson (EER) The Effect of Microscale Heterogeneity on the Transport of Carbon Dioxide in Geologic Carbon Sequestration |
Sahar Bakhshian |
3:15-3:30 | BREAK |
Session 3B: JGB 2.324
Session Chair: Mrittika Kabi
Theme: Exploring Energy Frontiers: From Assessing CO2 Storage to Optimizing Power Dispatch and Drilling Sequences
Time | Student | Advisor(s) |
3:30-3:45 | Maria Paula Madariaga Cubides (EER) Assessment of CO2 Storage Potential of the Wilcox Group, Onshore Texas, USA |
Carlos Uroza, Susan D. Hovorka |
3:45-4:00 | Suprajha Nagaraja Sudhakar (EER) Assessing and Optimizing the Backup Power Dispatch of Solar PB and Battery Systems during Extreme Weather-Induced Power Outages: Case of Texas Winter Storm Uri of 2021 |
Sergio Castellanos, Bridget Scanlon |
4:00-4:15 | Karthik Menon (EER) Drilling Sequence Optimization for Subsurface Exploration using Reinforcement Learning and Data-Driven Modeling |
Eric Bickel, Michael Pyrcz |
4:15-4:30 | Vivek Singh (EER) Modeling EV Charging Demands on Grid using Deep Learning Approaches and Exploring Cost-Effective Grid Integration Strategies |
Javad Mohammadi |
Master’s Presentations Agenda April 14, 2023
Session 1: JGB 2.218
Session 2: JGB 2.202
Session 3: JGB 3.222
Master’s Tuesday Agenda November 29, 2022
4:00pm to 4:15pm | Rachel Blandon (EPS): Effect of rigid crystals on the experimental sintering of rhyolitic ash under shallow conduit conditions (James Gardner) |
4:15pm to 4:30pm | Ashton Grace Crues (EER): Analysis of the Temperature Effects Related to Power Generation Surrounding Wind Turbine Installations Southwest of Abilene, Texas (Carey King, Zong-Liang Yang) |
4:30pm to 4:45pm | Siang-Huei Liao (EER): The Challenge of Addressing Impact of China’s Crude Steel Production on Global Warming (Melinda Taylor) |
Master’s Saturday Agenda April 30, 2022
Presentation awards for 2022 Best Talk went to Gabrielle Varona (1st place) and Andrew Kleiman (2nd place) — please see below.
Session 1:
Session Chair: Ethan Conrad
Session 2:
Session Chair: Mariel Nelson and Emily Bamber
Session 3:
Session Chair: George Segee-Wright
Session 4:
Session Chair: Rawan Alasad
Master’s Thursday Agenda December 9, 2021
12:30pm to 12:45pm | Xin Liu FEASIBILITY OF PREDICTION OF PRINCIPAL STRESS FROM REFLECTION OF SEISMIC DATA (Mrinal Sen) |
12:45pm to 1:00pm | Matthew Nix SHIFTS IN DEPOSITION, SEDIMENT DISPERSAL, AND PROVENANCE FOR THE LATE JURASSIC-EARLY CRETACEOUS KOOTENAY AND BLAIRMORE GROUPS: IMPLICATIONS FOR FORELAND BASIN DYNAMICS IN WESTERN CANADA (Brian Horton) |
Master’s Saturday Agenda May 1, 2021
Session 1: Sediment Deposition and Tectonics from Multiple Perspectives
Session Chair: Rebecca Gao and George Segee-Wright
Session 2: Modeling in Many Forms
Session Chair: Eric Hiatt and William Nguyen
10:15am to 10:30am | Helena Rose Tiedmann MODELING IN A CRISIS: OVERCOMING THE WATER SECTOR’S DATA STRUGGLES TO REALIZE THE POTENTIAL OF HYDRAULIC MODELS (Kasey M. Faust) |
10:30am to 10:45am | Meiyan Chen OPTIMAL ELECTRIFICATION PATHWAYS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA (SSA) (Bridget R. Scanlon) |
10:45am to 11:00am | Bethany G Rysak ANALYSIS OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURE GROWTH AND SEGMENTATION: IMPLICATIONS OF THE HFTS1 SLANT CORE, WOLFCAMP FM., MIDLAND BASIN, WEST TEXAS (Julia F. W. Gale) |
11:00am to 11:15am | David Wiggs A GENERALIZED MODEL TO DESCRIBE THE ELASTIC STIFFNESS TENSOR OF MUDROCKS BASED ON THE FULL STRAIN TENSOR (Peter B. Flemings) |
11:15am to 11:30am | Ruide Ao SYSTEMATIC COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT MACHINE LEARNING BASED EARTHQUAKE DETECTION METHODS (Daniel Trugman and Steve Grand) |
11:30am to 11:45am | Jasmine Renee Nelson REASSESSING MIDDLE AND INNER EAR MORPHOMETRICS AS PREDICTORS OF AUDITORY CAPABILITIES IN REPTILES (Julia A. Clarke) |
Session 3: The Impacts of Carbon
Session Chair: Cameron deFabry and Shawn Fullmer
Master’s Tuesday Agenda December 1, 2020
BEST TALK: Brooklyn Gose Kinematic Restoration of the Costa Rican Convergent Margin: Exploring the Effects of a Rough Subducting Seafloor (Nathan Bangs)
Session 1: Master’s Tuesday
Session Chair: Eric Hiatt
3:30pm to 3:45pm | Colton Spears Analysis of the Depositional Systems, Lithofacies, Diagenesis, and Reservoir Quality of the Lower Cretaceous Pettet Limestone Reservoir Section in the Wright Mountain Field in the East Texas Basin (Robert G. Loucks, Xavier Janson) |
3:45pm to 4:00pm | Brooklyn Gose Kinematic Restoration of the Costa Rican Convergent Margin: Exploring the Effects of a Rough Subducting Seafloor (Nathan Bangs) |
4:00pm-4:15pm | Sergio Leon Marquez Selecting Green Strategies for New Stadiums: A Case Study of Austin FC (Atila Novoselac, James O’Connor) |
Master’s Saturday Agenda May 2, 2020
- BEST TALK: JSG Graduate Studies Program: Samuel Grant Robbins CONSTRAINING THE TECTONO-THERMAL EVOLUTION OF THE EGYPTIAN RED SEA MARGIN: LINKING OBSERVATIONS FROM THE PROXIMAL TO HYPEREXTENDED RIFT DOMAIN (Daniel F. Stockli)
- BEST TALK: EER Graduate Studies Program: Victoria Sanchez Ibarra CAN WE MEASURE EQUITABLE ACCESS AT THE INTERSECTION OF SOCIAL AND NATURAL SYSTEMS? A LOOK AT THE SPATIAL AND SOCIAL DISTRIBUTION OF URBAN PARKS (Kasey M. Faust)
Session 1: Advances in Sedimentary Rock Systems: From Texas to Beyond
Session Chair: Benjamin E Rendall
Session 2: Energy, Climate, and Water (starts at 1.51 in the ZOOM video)
Session Chair: Natchanan Doungkaew
Session 3: Patterns and Technology in Earth Sciences (starts at 3.37 in the ZOOM video)
Session Chair: Wade L Aubin
Master’s Saturday Agenda May 4, 2019
BEST TALK: Jacob Makis GEOCHEMISTRY AND ZIRCON U/PB GEOCHRONOLOGY OF THE ERTSBERG PLUTON, ERTSBERG-GRASBERG MINING DISTRICT, PAPUA, INDONESIA: MAGMA CHAMBER RECHARGE AND MIXING (Mark Cloos)
Sponsored by Hess Corporation
8:00am to 8:30am | Breakfast Tacos, Holland Family Student Center and Patio |
8:30am to 10:00am | Session 1: Focus on Energy, JGB 2.216 Session 2: Indonesia and Beyond, JGB 3.222 |
10:00am to 10:30am | Break/Discussion Coffee provided in the Holland Family Student Center and Patio |
10:30am to 12:15pm | Session 3: Fluids and its Records, JGB 2.216 Session 4: Exploring the Underground, JGB 3.222 |
12:15pm to 1:00pm | Lunch, Holland Family Student Center and Patio |
1:00 pm | EPS Award Ceremony: Best Talk announced JGB 2.216 |
Session 1: Focus on Energy, JGB 2.216
Session Chairs: Dallas Dunlap
8:30am to 8:45am | Chinelo Agbim RESIDENTIAL TEXAS ENERGY POVERTY: A STUDY COMPARING SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE MEASURES OF ENERGY POVERTY (Kasey Faust) |
8:45am to 9:00am | Matthew Haley MODERNIZING COMMERCIAL RATE DESIGN TO ALIGN THE PRIVATE BENEFITS OF DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES WITH SYSTEM AND SOCIAL WELFARE (Fred Beach) |
9:00am to 9:15am | Cody Hoffman BOOM OR BUST: TEXAS OFFSHORE WIND INDUSTRY FACES ECONOMIC CHALLENGES (Fred Beach) |
9:15am to 9:30am | Mark Reid ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE EU ETS THROUGH THE OIL AND GAS SECTOR (Carey King) |
9:30am to 9:45am | Izaak Ruiz CHARACTERIZATION OF THE HIGH ISLAND 24L FIELD FOR MODELING AND ESTIMATING CO2 STORAGE CAPACITY IN THE OFFSHORE TEXAS STATE WATERS, GULF OF MEXICO (Timothy A. Meckel) |
9:45am to 10:00am | James Joseph Corboy TESTING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE FILM SWITCH AS A TEACHING TOOL TO IMPROVE ENERGY LITERACY (Scott Tinker) |
Session 2: Indonesia and Beyond, JGB 3.222
Session Chairs: Lily Jackson
8:30am to 8:45am | Dong Hyun Kim ECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND RISK MANAGEMENT FOR THE SOUTH SUMATRA NATURAL GAS PIPELINE PROJECT IN INDONESIA (David J. Eaton) |
8:45am to 9:00am | Josia Timothy Simanjuntak CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHALE GAS IN INDONESIA (William Fisher and Svetlana Ikonnikova) |
9:00am to 9:15am | Jacob Makis GEOCHEMISTRY AND ZIRCON U/PB GEOCHRONOLOGY OF THE ERTSBERG PLUTON, ERTSBERG-GRASBERG MINING DISTRICT, PAPUA, INDONESIA: MAGMA CHAMBER RECHARGE AND MIXING (Mark Cloos) |
9:15am to 9:30am | Clara Jean Brennan LASER STEP-HEATING AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF 4HE PARENT NUCLIDE ZONATION FOR ZIRCON 4HE/3HE THERMOCHRONOMETRY (Daniel Stockli) |
9:30am to 9:45am | Yining Wang FORMATION OF DENSE PYROCLASTS BY SINTERING OF ASH PARTICLES DURING THE 1991 MT. PINATUBO PRECLIMACTIC ERUPTIONS (James Gardner) |
Session 3: Fluids and its Records, JGB 2.216
Session Chairs: Sophie A Goliber and Clara Brennan
Session 4: Exploring the Underground, JGB 3.222
Session Chairs: Lily Jackson and Kiara Gomez