The Institute for Community and Society Transformation (ICAST) and the Native Nation Center for Tribal Policy Research (NNC-TPR) hosted the U.S. Department of Energy's Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Tribal Working Group (FECM-TWG) on September 23-25 for their quarterly meeting. The Federal Government holds treaty obligations and a trust responsibility to uphold Tribal sovereignty and support the revitalization of Tribal communities, including efforts in economic growth and energy development. In response, the Department of Energy formed the FECM-TWG in the Fall of 2024. Through outreach and coordination, this group helps to ensure that Tribes can access available funding and resources to utilize the development of Tribal energy resources for sustainable Tribal economies.
During this meeting, the FECM-TWG had the opportunity to learn about some of the innovative energy and carbon management research at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Steven Crossley discussed a recent NSF project to develop new technology for utilizing methane as a feedstock for hydrogen production and Dr. Tim Filley discussed work on methane detection and management. The FECM-TWG attended part of the College of Earth and Energy's Enchanced Oil Recovery and Carbon Management Symposium. They also toured the Oklahoma Geological Survey labs (Dr. Carrie Miller-DeBoer) as well as the Integrated Core Characterization Center (IC3) labs (Dr. Son Dang and Dr. Mark Curtis).
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
Three University of Oklahoma graduate students have been named winners of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis competition, which challenges participants to explain their research in three minutes to a non-specialist audience.
Sarah Sharif, a researcher with the University of Oklahoma, has been awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to create innovative light detectors that pick up mid-wave and long-wave infrared signals at higher temperatures than previously considered achievable.
A team from OU and WVU recently earned a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how concept cigarillos influence the potential for addiction. The results will be used to inform the FDA’s impending flavor ban on cigar products and could have wider-reaching implications for other tobacco products that come in flavors, such as e-cigarettes and tobacco-free nicotine pouches.
