MDCRES Monthly--Energy Stories: Informal Conversations from the World of Energy

NEW VENUE! FREE BEER AND PIZZA!

ENERGY STORIES--Informal conversations from the world of energy.

Storytellers will share personal experiences from oilfields and wind farms, utilities and small business, and together we’ll talk about how job skills overlap and complement each other in the fossil fuel and renewable energy arenas. Come prepared for fascinating stories and stimulating conversations.

Storytellers include:

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Dirk Olsen, owner, Advanced Oilfield Service Inc., Rifle, Colorado

AOS provides a wide range of downhole drilling tools and accessories, including everything from drill pipe and manual tongs to drilling rigs designed to complete wells down to 23,000 feet. Dirk will talk about his work in the field, the job skills his employees need, and the challenges he faces running a business.

Ned Burke, retired landman

Ned has negotiated land deals for fossil fuel producers, brownfields developers, and wind farms. He’s worked to balance complex and competing mineral and renewable interests, and has addressed a variety of landowners’ concerns, including the ways various projects will affect their environment and their worries about a wind turbine’s impact on their health.

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Auston Van Slyke, program director, Wind Energy Technology, Ecotech Institute

Auston’s career has included upgrading communication and weapon systems on Harrier jets in the Marines, repairing the world’s largest wind turbines for Vestas, and helping start a wind turbine maintenance company. After seeing the challenges in finding qualified employees, he went into education, and today directs Ecotech’s wind energy technology program.

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Jerry Marizza, new energy coordinator, United Power

Jerry has worked in a variety of energy-related, utility-level positions. At United Power, which serves 900 square miles along the north central Front Range, he brings a sophisticated understanding of complex supply and demand issues, and a deep appreciation of the changing energy world. Among other things, he’ll address changing energy markets and the value renewable energy professionals can bring to traditional providers.