March-April 2024
How Women Pioneered Alaska’s Oil And Gas Industry
“It was an opportunity women my age could have only in Alaska,” Joey Roth, a veteran drilling engineer for Shell, says of working on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) in 1976. “They didn’t care if you were a woman or black or green; they just needed people to do the job.”...
In Conversation With Justin Cohen, Founder Of Bionic Colabs
Angela McKane: Justin, hi! It is so lovely to speak together today. Justin Cohen: Hello! Yes, lovely to speak, and to speak with you here from Chicago! AM: Ah, Chicago is close to my heart. I used to spend a lot of time there (well, in Naperville) in my bp...
Sandy Rodriguez originally went to college thinking marine biology would be a good fit for her since she liked science and animals. While she did well in her classes, it wasn’t as much fun as she thought that it would be, and she began losing interest. In college, she was...
I grew up in a small town in Texas where pretty much everyone knew your name. My graduating class had 62 people and I had this idea in my head that if I wanted to be successful, I had to move to a big city like Houston. Looking back, I...
Texas Actress AnnaClare Hicks Strikes Oil
Twenty-five years ago, when Abilene, Texas, author Cole Thompson wrote his first novel, Chocolate Lizards – loosely based on some of his own experiences working in the oilfield – he, admittedly, was in his “good ol’ boy” period. Not only could he not have envisioned that a quarter of a...
Interview with Brandy Miles, INTE’ Measurement Consulting, LLC
Rebecca Ponton: Tell us a little bit about your current position and what you do. Brandy Miles: Having earned a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and accumulating over two decades of immersion in the oil and gas sector, I have cultivated a deep expertise in gas measurement and midstream...
De-bottlenecking The Energy Supply Chain
Let’s discuss de-bottlenecking in each segment of our industry down to each operational unit within each segment. For instance, we might target bottlenecks in a refinery and then zoom in on specific units like a distillation column in the refinery. However, if the next unit in the process flow lacks...
From Corporate to Startup: Melanie Adams’ Journey in Revolutionizing Women’s Workwear
Imagine standing in the middle of your favorite gas plant in picturesque Moab, Utah, its colossal engines humming with power. And you’ve just completed an environmental, health and safety (EH&S) audit, surrounded by a fractionation unit, sulfur recovery unit, helium processing plant, incinerator and flare. This was my reality, delving...
When asked what my greatest strength is, I can answer quickly. It’s curiosity. This is also one of the core values I hold dear to my heart. As a child, my curiosity was a double-edged sword. I took apart things that couldn’t be put back together again. I found myself...
Juno Jones Work Boots: Empowering Women
As women increasingly enter trades, especially industries such as oil and gas where physical demands and safety are paramount, the quest for the perfect pair of work boots can rival the challenges of the job itself. Securing functional, safe footwear designed specifically for women’s feet, capable of enduring long hours...
Bonnie Maillet: “Always Love Monday Mornings
Despite the influence she has had on women from as far afield as Lafayette, Louisiana, to Saudi Arabia, Bonnie Maillet has always been more comfortable promoting other women and their achievements than she is talking about her own. I have known Maillet for nearly a decade and it’s taken that...
Letter from the Editor-in-Chief (March-April 2024)
We joke at the (virtual) U.S. Energy Media offices that we’ve “gone Hollywood.” It all started when actor and environmental activist Jeff Bridges graciously agreed to appear on the cover of the Winter 2022 edition of ENERGIES Magazine. That was followed by an inside feature in the Winter 2023 edition...
Oil and gas operations are commonly found in remote locations far from company headquarters. Now, it's possible to monitor pump operations, collate and analyze seismic data, and track employees around the world from almost anywhere. Whether employees are in the office or in the field, the internet and related applications enable a greater multidirectional flow of information – and control – than ever before.