Fracking Symposium Highlights Semester-Long Focus of First-Time Class

Bio-geo-chemist Amy Townsend-Small recruited industry, environmental, medical and academic experts to explore the pros and cons fracking for students in her new geology class, "Hhydraulic Fracturing: Implications for Environment, Economics, Policy and the Future."

The award-winning researcher and assistant professor of geology proposed the class as a way to introduce key environmental science lessons through the lens of a topic that’s often highlighted in the media. Fracking is the high-profile and controversial method of extracting natural gas and oil from layers of rock deep underground.

“I learned along with the students,” said Townsend-Small, who has led research about the impact of fracking on sites around the country, including in eastern Ohio. 

Her University of Cincinnati McMicken College of Arts & Sciences class featured local, regional and national experts, stretching far beyond the usual suspects in geology. Students heard from environmental historian David Stradling as well as researchers in the College of Medicine’s Department of Environmental Health, representatives of the Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund and local environmental lawyer and UC alumnus David Altman. She rounded out her roster of experts with representatives from industry, including Wickstrom Geoscience and GHD Associates.

“It was interesting to watch the students’ views evolve based on critical analysis of the readings and guest lecturers,” said Townsend-Small, who is working on developing more upper-level classes in the areas of energy and sustainability.

More than 50 faculty, staff and students attended a Fracking Symposium that marked the end of the semester. The symposium, which took place in TUC Cinema on Nov. 30, featured talks about the history of shale development, hydraulic fracturing job opportunities for graduates with geology degrees, the connection between fracking and earthquakes and the implications of divestment.