Who are we?

Burning fossil fuels (gas, oil, and coal) has measurably increased the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but one possible solution is carbon capture and storage (CCS).

This website was conceived by the Gulf Coast Carbon Center (GCCC) at The University of Texas at Austin, which seeks to impact global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide by:

conducting studies on geological sequestration of CO₂ in the deep subsurface, focusing on the Gulf Coast,
educating the public about risks that might limit deployment of geological sequestration and measuring the retention of CO₂ in the subsurface, and
enabling the private sector to develop an economically viable industry to sequester carbon dioxide in the Gulf Coast area.

Since 1998, GCCC has led the way in researching how to reduce the atmospheric release of carbon dioxide and monitoring the retention of CO₂ in the subsurface. In addition, the GCCC has spearheaded a number of diverse projects including estimation of storage capacity, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) screening and economic assessments, risk of leakage to water resources, assessment of pressure, and whole system integration.

So who are we? We are a group of scientists and engineers who study carbon sequestration from smokestacks down into geologic formations. We have collected information from the best possible sources all over the world and all of our FAQs are reviewed by experts. Below, you can read more about the people who make this website, and our research, possible.

GCCC Researchers

Dr. Sue Hovorka

has been a researcher at the GCCC since 1981. She studies salt as a containment, karst aquifers, and CO2 injection to assess effectiveness of geologic sequestration as a mechanism for reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions.

Dr. Katherine Romanak

has been a researcher at the GCCC since 2008. Her expertise is in geochemistry and isotope systematics of carbon cycling, soil-gas monitoring, geochemistry, and fate and transport of organic contaminants.

Dr. Tip Meckel

has been a researcher at the GCCC since 2006. His areas of expertise include tectonics, sequence stratigraphy, structural geology, monitoring design, and pressure evolution for CO2 injections.

Dr. Jean-Philippe Nicot

has been a researcher at the GCCC since 2002. He conducts numerical modeling of multiphase flow, geochemical modeling, and water resources management.

Our Partners

Dr. Steve Bryant

has served on the faculty of The University of Texas Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering since 1978. He researches variety of topics including: enhanced oil recovery, reservoir characterization, geochemistry and flow in permeable media.

Dr. Jon Olson

has served on the faculty of The University of Texas Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering since 1995. He studies the applications of rock fracture mechanics to fractured reservoir characterization, hydraulic fracturing, and rock mechanics.

Dr. Carey King

has been a researcher at The University of Texas Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy since 2008. His work focuses on the nexus of water and energy, as well as the impacts of carbon sequestration on power plant operations and pricing.

Dr. Larry Lake

is a chemical engineer who has led the way in the fields of digital petrophysics and nanoparticles for engineering applications, and has made some of the most significant advances in the past 20 years in porous media modelling, reactive transport theory and CO2 sequestration.

Dr. Alex Bump

is an experienced petroleum exploration geologist, teacher, and advisor, and has worked at the GCCC since 2019. He specializes in basin analysis, play description, prospect evaluation, communication, and coaching.

Dr. Patrick Mickler

has been a researcher at The University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology since 2011. His areas of expertise include methane migration, effects of soil and CO2 and organic-matter on compositions of cave waters, and supercritical CO2 interactions.

Vanessa Nuñez-López

is a petroleum engineer who has been a researcher at the GCCC since 2010. Her work involves CO2 sequestration and enhanced oil recovery, resource evaluation, reservoir characterization, and risk analysis.

Ramón H. Treviño

has been a researcher at The University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology since 2000. As both a project manager and a researcher, he spearheads studies on carbon storage, sequence stratigraphic interpretation, and reservoir characterization.

Dr. Alexander Sun

has been a researcher at The University of Texas at Austin since 2011. His areas of expertise include water resources management, multiphase flow in porous media, contaminant identification, karst aquifer systems, and optimization of geologic CO2 storage.

Dr. Seyyed A. Hosseini

is a chemical engineer who's been a researcher at the GCCC since 2010. His areas of expertise multiphase fluid modeling in porous media, CO2-EOR, and sequestration analytical and numerical modeling.

Ramon Gil

has been an economist at the GCCC since 2015. He assesses the impact of operational expenses, capital investment, supplies and price fluctuation in the energy sector on the performance of both scientific and market-oriented projects.

Michael V. DeAngelo

has been a researcher at The University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology since 1997. As a geophysics researcher, he specializes in seismic data analysis for both onshore and offshore projects.

Dr. Sahar Bakhshian

is a chemical engineer who has been a researcher at The University of Texas at Austin since 2018. She specializes in microscale fluid dynamics and computational modeling of multiphase flow in porous media.