Oilfield Water Markets Conference Proudly Partners With Graduate Students Pursuing Advanced Water Studies

If you attended the Oilfield Water Markets Conference in Frisco last week, you might have noticed some graduate students manning the registration desk, passing microphones around the room in Q&A, networking with attendees, and helping to make it a great event.

Oilfield Water Connection is proud to partner with two leading universities in advanced produced water studies – University of Wyoming and University of Wisconsin Milwaukee – to provide networking and learning opportunities to some of their graduate students at our events.

Student volunteers and professors from the schools receive comped admission and recognition as supporting organizations at the event in return for volunteering.

In this post, we wanted to share a little more about the four graduate students you saw at the event and the exciting water research they are working on. These are the future leaders, innovators, and bright minds of our industry!

• Joshua Swigart is a Ph.D. Student at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the Department of Geosciences. He has over 15 years of experience as a geologist working in the oil industry, higher education, and environmental consulting field. In his environmental consulting career, he primarily focused on groundwater and soil contamination remediation projects, as well as environmental pipeline inspection. He attained an MS at the University of Arkansas, where he began to study the effects of produced water on soil properties. Previous to starting his Phd, Joshua worked as an Adjunct Professor in Geosciences at the University of Texas – Permian Basin, where he began his research and development of a produced water recycling system. After being accepted for PhD at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, he has continued research and development of his produced water recycling system and hopes to use this water for irrigation purposes in remote areas where fresh water supplies may be less readily available, making farming more practical in arid areas and helping to further feed and clothe the world’s expanding populations. His previous research publication relating to produced water can be found here.
• Tao Wu, who is from Hong Kong, is a doctoral candidate at the University of Wyoming in the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering. Tao has been working on the development of novel technologies for treating produced waters for over 4-yrs. His current work focuses on studying multidirectional magnetic fields to manipulate the physiochemical properties of water, inorganic (salts, minerals, metals), and organic compounds. This technology is being used to enhance the solubility (reduced scaling potential) of high-salinity brines and destruction of synthetic organic compounds in produced waters without the addition of chemical oxidants and other additives. This non-barrier and non-chemical treatment technology is envisioned as a low-energy and technically simple treatment alternative for produced water management applications.
• Joseph Barnes joined the graduate program at the University of Wyoming in 2020 and is pursuing his Masters in Environmental Engineering degree. Joseph’s research, which is sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE), involves developing electrospun, superhydrophobic membranes for selectively recovering hydrocarbons, and other apolar compounds, from produced waters. The motivation for this research arises from the presence of free/dispersed hydrocarbons after produced waters pass through more conventional separation processes. When impoundments are used for storing produced waters these residual compounds present air emission concerns, while also representing a source of lost revenue for producers. The “smart” membranes being developed by Joseph avoid fouling issues encountered by conventional filtration membranes by selectively permeating the hydrocarbon phase in place of the aqueous one.
• Elizabeth (Beth) Butler rejoined the University of Wyoming in 2020 after working in industry for approximately 7-yrs. She originally obtained her Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Wyoming and is now pursuing her Masters degree in Environmental Engineering. Beth’s research, which is sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE), centers on the development of superhydrophilic membranes via electrospinning/spraying techniques. Membrane fouling is a persistent issue in produced water management applications due to the high concentrations of solids, organics, and in some cases microbiological components. Beth’s works seeks to address these issues by creating a inhospitable attachment conditions to the membrane filter surface. Coupled with the high porosity of electrospun membranes, this membranes developed by Beth will deliver a new tool by which produced water stakeholders can facilitate water reuse in their operation schemes.

More About The University of Wyoming’s Center for Excellence in Produced Water Management (CEPWM)

The University of Wyoming’s Center for Excellence in Produced Water Management (CEPWM) provides innovative science and engineering research for application in the oil and gas industry for the purposes of reducing environmental impacts, improving industry process efficiencies, increasing profitability, and enhancing society benefits. Their efforts center on three key areas of produced water management: treatment technology development, resource extraction and monetization, and economics and logistics of water management. Current projects are directed at developing novel membrane materials for selective recovery of resources from produced waters, such as free hydrocarbons and precious elements (rare earths, lithium). They are also studying the usage of magnetic fields for applications like disinfection without the aid of biocides and scale control.

Here is a short video that overviews the CEPWM:

Detailed Agenda

Monday - May 5, 2025 | Pre-Conference

Start Time	Description
12:00 pm	Lorem Ipsum B3 Insight's Ripple Effects Luncheon Private meeting, separate registration required
1:00 pm	Lorem Ipsum B3 Insight's Ripple Effects Summit Private meeting, separate registration required
2:00 pm	Lorem Ipsum Exhibitor Set-up In the Irving Convention Center Ballroom
5:00 pm	Lorem Ipsum Happy Hour for B3 Insight's Ripple Effects Summit & Permian Basin Water Management Council Private meeting, separate registration required
6:00 pm	Lorem Ipsum Cinco De Mayo Welcome Celebration Open to all conference registrants; drinks, snacks, entertainment; sponsored by
6:30 pm	Lorem Ipsum VIP Cigar Reception Invitation only, sponsored by
7:30 pm	Lorem Ipsum Welcome Celebration Concludes

Tuesday - May 6, 2025 | Conference Day 1

Start Time	Description
7:30 am	Lorem Ipsum Networking Breakfast In exhibit hall; one exclusive event coffee sponsorship is available
8:15 am	Lorem Ipsum Opening Remarks kick-off sponsored by Pete Cook, Oilfield Water Connection Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection
8:30 am	Lorem Ipsum Shale Data Trends Keynote Ryan Hassler, Rystad Energy
9:00 am	Lorem Ipsum Texas O&G Economic & Regulatory Update Tracee Bentley, Permian Strategic Partnership [Chair] Ray Perryman, The Perryman Group Karr Ingham, Texas Alliance of Energy Producers Kirk Edwards P.E., Latigo Petroleum
9:45 am	Lorem Ipsum Water Data Trends Keynote Kelly Bennett, B3 Insight
10:15 am	Lorem Ipsum Networking Break In Exhibit Hall break sponsor
10:45 am	Lorem Ipsum E&P Water Manager Perspectives Steven Runyan, Coterra Energy John Cave, Expand Energy
11:30 am	Lorem Ipsum Evaporation Lies - Basic Principles vs Claimed Rates Robert Ballantyne, RWI Enhanced Evaporation
11:35 am	Lorem Ipsum Where Are Produced Water Costs Going? Bentsen Falb, Raymond James [Chair] Nick Patterson, Aris Water Solutions Jon VandenBrand, Western Midstream
12:15 pm	Lorem Ipsum Networking Lunch With time to visit exhibit hall; Sponsorship available
1:30 pm	Lorem Ipsum Delek's Water Vision Post-Acquisitions [Fireside Chat] Matt Tate, Delek Logistics Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection
1:50 pm	Lorem Ipsum Corporate Strategy & Finance Case Study Michael Bodino, Texas Capital Bank
1:55 pm	Lorem Ipsum Risk Mitigation Trends In Produced Water [Fireside Chat] Tim Carroll, Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. James Brewins, Price Forbes & Partners Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection
2:15 pm	Lorem Ipsum E&P Hosted Round Table Session 3 rotations (15-minute each) to join tables hosted by E&P representatives for candid dialog Phillip Douget, Civitas Resources Steven Runyan, Coterra Energy Evaporators & Crystallizers (Paul Hart, Diversified) Beneficial Reuse Public-Facing Strategy (Stuart Mussler, Chevron) Water Reuse & Recycling (John Cave, Expand Energy) ...more to be added soon...
3:00 pm	Lorem Ipsum Networking Break In Exhibit Hall In exhibit hall; Break sponsorship available!
3:30 pm	Lorem Ipsum Pressure Risk Rising - So What & What Next? Patrick Patton, B3 Insight [Chair] Ted Wooten, Railroad Commission of Texas Annan Pascoe, Deep Blue Water
4:10 pm	Lorem Ipsum Case Study Nick Jeffries, Concept Tanks
4:15 pm	Lorem Ipsum Capital Market Trends In Water Midstream Casey Lowary, Texas Capital Bank [Chair] Cory Hall, AQT Water Management Stan Berry, S&P Global Commodity Insights
5:00 pm	Lorem Ipsum Ranch Water Networking Reception In Exhibit Hall Sponsored by
6:30 pm	Lorem Ipsum Ranch Water Networking Reception Ends Evening free for client dinners

Wednesday - May 7, 2025 | Conference Day 2

Start Time	Description
8:00 am	Lorem Ipsum Networking Breakfast In exhibit hall; one exclusive event coffee sponsorship is available
9:00 am	Lorem Ipsum Opening Remarks Pete Cook, Oilfield Water Connection Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection
9:15 am	Lorem Ipsum The Battle For Produced Water Ownership - Concho vs. Cactus Case Update Jason Schumacher, O’Melveny & Myers LLP
9:45 am	Lorem Ipsum Out-Of-Basin Disposal & New Infrastructure Trends Dane Broussard, CORE Linepipe [Chair] Robert Crain, Texas Pacific Water Resources Taylor Spalla, Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP Chris Harich, XRI
10:30 am	Lorem Ipsum Networking Break In Exhibit Hall Sponsorship available
11:00 am	Lorem Ipsum Aligning Interests As Water Midstream Business Models Evolve
11:30 am	Lorem Ipsum Beneficial Reuse, Desal, Power & Data Center Opportunities Rob Rice, Gravity
12:00 pm	Lorem Ipsum Closing Remarks Pete Cook, Oilfield Water Connection Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection
12:15 pm	Lorem Ipsum Conference Sessions Conclude Exhibitor breakdown; time for pickleball tournament preparation, transportation, and lunch at courts
1:00 pm	Tournament play will be from 2:30-5:30, but we are allowed on the courts for warm up starting at 1pm and food and drinks will be out at that time so you can plan to have lunch here after the morning sessions and before tournament play. We will have pickleball pros giving lessons on 3 of the courts from 1:30-2:30. Produced Water Pickleball Tournament At Chicken N Pickle with open bar and food provided; open only to conference registrants who sign up for player or spectator passes during online registration; swag and pro lesson included plus play for bragging rights. title belt and trophies sponsored by paddle and ball sponsored by towels courtesy of socks courtesy of sweat bands courtesy of
5:30 pm	Lorem Ipsum Pickleball Ends Conference adjourns