Beauty in Geology

Barbara Kutchko

26 June, 2017 | 0

soi-06jun-2017-beauty-in-geology-image1 — The shores of Presque Isle mimic an ocean beach – complete with waves breaking on large sandy beaches

From the sandy beaches of Presque Isle, to the numerous vineyards and lake cut bluffs along the shore, Lake Erie is a favorite vacation spot, especially for families that live in the four states (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan) and one Canadian province (Ontario) that border it.

Lake Erie not only has a fascinating geologic history in that it was carved by glacial ice, it also plays an important role in the present ¬– it provides drinking water to over 11 million people.

A fun fact: Lake Erie is the fourth-largest Great Lake and the world’s twelfth largest freshwater lake. More Lake Erie Fun Facts

soi-07jun-2017-beauty-in-geology-image2 — A long climb down to the shore of Lake Erie was worth the view. A lot of erosion can be seen along the cut bluffs.

Barbara Kutchko

Barbara Kutchko is a senior research scientist with the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), specializing in wellbore isolation, oil well cementing and subsurface materials characterization. She has a doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University’s Civil and Environmental Engineering and a master’s in geology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Barbara also serves as the principal investigator for a groundbreaking evaluation of foamed cement systems at in situ wellbore conditions. She works to mitigate the environmental impacts associated with offshore and onshore drilling and cementing. She supports the development of environmentally and socially sustainable shale resources and researches the effects of carbon storage and acid-gas injection on well cements. Her research has informed federal policy and increased scientific understanding of the chemical reactions that occur in geological formations under carbon sequestration conditions.

She currently represents NETL on the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) Cement Subcommittee 10C, which develops and maintains standards on various oil and gas wellbore cementing procedures for the U.S. petroleum industry and is actively involved in the foamed cement work group.

In addition, she is a member of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board. She is the recipient of a 2016 Pittsburgh Women in Energy award and a 2015 Energy Award in Upstream. In 2014, she received a Federal Executive Board (FEB) Excellence in Government Award for outstanding contributions to science and/or information technology.

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Barbara Kutchko