Somebody tell David Boren and Harold Hamm to brew a new pot of coffee! There’s a new state seismologist in town for them to coerce and intimidate.
Last Friday, the Oklahoma Geological Survey presented by Continental Resources announced it has hired Jacob Walter, a scientist from the University of Texas, to fill the open seismologist position that was made available when Austin Holland wisely got the hell out of Oklahoma in August of 2015. Yes, that’s right. We finally got someone from Texas to move to Oklahoma for a job. Way to go, Chamber of Commerce!
Here are the details via NewsOK.com:
University of Texas geologist Jacob Walter has been named lead seismologist at the Oklahoma Geological Survey, the survey said Friday.
Walter is a research associate at the Institute for Geophysics at the University of Texas at Austin. He will take over his new role in November.
“We are pleased to add Dr. Walter to the Seismology team at the Oklahoma Geological Survey,” OGS Director Jeremy Boak said in a statement. “He brings valuable research capabilities, and we look forward to working with him.”
The role of lead seismologist has become much more high-profile as Oklahoma has in recent years become the most seismically active state in the nation. Experts have linked the surge in earthquakes to wastewater disposal activity of the state’s oil and gas industry.
Holy shit. Did you see that? The Oklahoman admitted the recent surge in earthquakes are linked to the oil and gas industry. What the hell is going on inside the offices of the Oklahoman? First they investigate Scott Pruitt’s campaign spending, and now they’re admitting that the energy industry causes earthquakes. Did Devon Energy cut some of its advertising spending? Is there a small revolt going on over there? We need answers please!
Walter holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Physical Doctorate in Earth Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
He worked as a geologist at the Trihydro Corporation in Laramie, Wyo., and as a postdoctoral fellow at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He has worked at the Institute for Geophysics at the University of Texas at Austin since 2014.
Walter’s research interests include ice sheet and glacier dynamics; tectonic tremor and slow slip; earthquakes; and seismic triggering of earthquakes. He has conducted research in Antarctica, Costa Rica, the Solomon Islands, Greenland, Texas and Alaska.
Awesome! We’ll finally have a qualified scientist on hand to investigate the many ice sheets and glaciers kniving their way through Oklahoma. That may not seem like a top priority at the moment, but then again, nobody really gave a shit about earthquakes in Oklahoma 10 years ago either. Kudos to the OGS for planning ahead!
Anyway, Walter looks very qualified based on his resume, but you have to wonder why it took the state over a year to hire a new seismologist. Did the energy industry want some say in the matter, or was it difficult to find a qualified geologists who actually wanted to move here? Both scenarios are kind of disturbing when you think about it.
Please check out this article……
New state seismologist anticipates scientific challenges
By: Sarah Terry-Cobo The Journal Record September 16, 2016
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma’s new state seismologist said he’s looking forward to the scientific challenges he’ll face at his new job. Jake Walter is young, has studied triggered earthquakes, and has skills that will complement those of the other employees, said Oklahoma Geological Survey Director Jeremy Boak.
Petroleum engineer Kim Hatfield said Walter is likely to face scrutiny from all sides. Walter will be more insulated from the public pressure his predecessors faced, said Hatfield, the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association’s chairman of the induced seismicity work group.
Walter will begin his new post on Nov. 1. The University of Oklahoma regents approved his appointment on Wednesday. The OGS is housed on the university’s campus.
Walter is a research associate at the University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Geophysics, where he studies induced earthquakes. He studied earthquake faults in California and Costa Rica and studied how friction contributes to temblors in Antarctica.
Boak said Walter’s university research on triggered temblors will help the OGS collaborate with OU’s geology and geophysics professors. Scientists from many disciplines must work together to learn more about Oklahoma’s unique situation, Boak said.
Walter also has the practical skills needed to work with Jefferson Chang, the OGS’ interim seismologist who has managed the earthquake equipment and software since former seismologist Amberlee Darold left in November 2015.
Walter said he’s excited to dive into the specifics of Oklahoma’s seismic situation, as well as providing the Oklahoma Corporation Commission staff the information needed urgently after a temblor. He said he hopes he can improve the public – and politicians’ – understanding of science as it relates to earthquakes.
It’s not clear that oil and gas wastewater injection triggers every earthquake in central and northern Oklahoma. But university researchers agree that fluid injection exacerbates the issue, he said.
“The goal of becoming state seismologist is not to say every earthquake is induced, but to understand the processes going on there and get a better understanding of what’s going on,” Walter said.
Hatfield said people should have realistic expectations about what Walter can contribute to researching earthquakes.
“If he could figure all this out, answer all the questions, he’d be a rock star and his career would be made,” Hatfield said.
It’s highly improbable Walter alone will solve Oklahoma’s earthquake problem, Hatfield said.
Hatfield said Walter can avoid some of the pitfalls of his predecessor. Former state seismologist Austin Holland was lambasted for his frank and narrowly scientific explanations to the public about what caused the ongoing earthquake swarms and how to stop them.
Holland also handled much of the public communications for the agency from 2014 until Boak became the director in late 2015. Holland received interview requests daily toward the end of his tenure, cutting into time he would have otherwise spent studying the state’s quakes, Hatfield said. Boak said he will continue to handle most media requests, so Walter can focus on the science.
Hatfield said it’s difficult to convey complex science to the public and Holland’s remarks to lay audiences were frequently misinterpreted. The state seismologist’s word is taken as irrefutable, Hatfield said. Walter can avoid that if he doesn’t speculate about the science.
“When making statements about things about which we are uncertain, you must communicate the uncertainty,” Hatfield said.
Walter said he’s looking forward to the scientific challenges he will face.
“The amount of seismicity in Oklahoma perplexes a lot of seismologists,” he said. “It’s an exciting thing to look at and I’m excited for that challenge.”
Umm, guys? The Oklahoman did not admit that earthquakes are linked to the oil and gas industry industry. The admitted that (so-called) experts link earthquakes to the oil and gas industry.
It needs to be pointed out, per Charles Pierce in his book Idiot America that “In the new media age, everybody is a historian, or a scientist, or a preacher, or a sage. And if everyone is an expert, then nobody is, and the worst thing you can be in a society where everybody is an expert is, well, an actual expert.”
“If everbody’s somebody, then no one’s anybody.”–Gilbert and Sullivan
What is a “Physical Doctorate” (in the NewOK.com story about Dr. Walter)? Is that what somebody at the Oklahoman thinks “Ph.D.” stands for??
Perhaps it’s one of those bogus doctorates for Physical Therapists.
I think I matched with that guy on Tinder…
Let us know what he registered on his Richter scale after your first night out/in.
“When making statements about things about which we are uncertain, you must communicate the uncertainty,” Hatfield said. So sayeth the shill for the petroleum industry, a line that is lifted verbatim from the climate-change and evolution denier playbook.
Only a weasel would say that.
When you dig deep, there isn’t much that we know for certain.