OCI⁺ Project Partners

• Deborah Gordon

  Deborah Gordon is the principal investigator of the Oil Climate Index plus Gas (OCI⁺), a first-of-its-kind analytic tool that compares the life-cycle climate impacts of global oil and gas resources. Gordon is a senior principal in the Climate Intelligence Program at RMI where she leads the Oil and Gas Solutions Initiative. Gordon serves as a senior fellow at the Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University and is an affiliate at Brown University’s Climate Solutions Lab. Before joining RMI, Gordon was the director of the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She began her career with Chevron and directed the Energy Policy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Gordon has taught at the Yale School of Environmental Studies and Brown University. She is a stakeholder in NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System and has testified before Congress and served on National Academy of Sciences panels. The OCI⁺ is the topic of Gordon’s new book, No Standard Oil (Oxford University Press, 2021).

  

• Adam Brandt

  Adam Brandt is an Associate Professor in Stanford University’s Department of Energy Resources Engineering. He also leads Stanford’s Natural Gas Initiative (NGI). Brandt’s research has focused on reducing the environmental impacts of energy systems. Specifically, his lab seeks to measure and estimate impacts from technologies at broad scales, and to help reduce these impacts. Applications include reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, and from power systems through optimization of renewable energy integration. He has led much of Stanford’s research to measure and economically detect natural gas leaks at production sites and from pipelines. Methane, the primary component of natural gas. Brandt has been a collaborator on the OCI⁺ project since 2013. He is the principal investigator of the Oil Production Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimator (OPGEE) model, which is used to estimate upstream production greenhouse gas emissions.

  

• Joule Bergerson

  Joule Bergerson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary. She is also the Canada Research Chair in Energy Technology Assessment. Joule is the lead researcher on the open-source tool, the Petroleum Refinery Lifecycle Inventory Model (PRELIM), which was released in April 2015, and has been adopted as part of the Oil Climate Index plus Gas (OCI⁺). Her research centers on the use of modern hybrid life-cycle assessment techniques to assess the economy-wide impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, of current and proposed oil sands projects. projects. These techniques will help prioritize research and development activities, by identifying technologies – or optimal combinations of technologies – that would provide particularly large life-cycle benefits. Dr. Bergerson’s primary research interests are systems-level analysis for policy and decision making of energy system investment and management. The focus of her work is developing tools and frameworks for the assessment of prospective technology options and their policy implications from a life-cycle perspective.

  

• Jonathan Koomey

  Jonathan Koomey’s research focuses on the economics of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the effects of information technology on resource use. From 2016 to 2018, Koomey was a lecturer in Earth Systems, from 2012 to 2016 he was a research fellow, and from 2004 to 2012 he was a consulting professor, all at Stanford University. For over two decades, he worked at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and has been a visiting professor at Stanford University, Yale University, and the University of California Berkeley’s Energy and Resources Group. Koomey holds master’s and doctoral degrees from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s in history and science from Harvard University. He is the author or co-author of nine books and more than 200 articles and reports, including Turning Numbers into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving, and Cold Cash Cool Climate: Science-Based Advice for Ecological Entrepreneurs (both published by Analytics Press).

  

RMI OCI⁺ Team Members

• Rose Yuan Wang

  Rose is a Manager in the Climate Intelligence Program at RMI. She is working to apply data analytics and data science to drive emissions reductions in the oil and gas sector. Before joining RMI, Rose lived in the UK for about two years and worked as a project manager on the Extractives Hub project, a platform that provides free and open knowledge on natural resources governance. While in the UK, she cofounded a startup that applies data science to predict turbine blade failure. She also worked as a senior development officer and senior consultant in the Singapore Building and Construction Authority, where she focused on green building standards and policies. Rose holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Tufts University and a M.S. from Singapore Stanford Partnership (an NTU-Stanford joint program).

  

• Frances Reuland

  Frances (Fran) is a manager with RMI’s Climate Intelligence Program. She supports the institute’s efforts to reduce methane emissions from the global oil and gas industry through OCI+ modeling, research of advanced monitoring technologies, and development of market- and policy-based mechanisms to encourage low-emissions natural gas.

  

• Lauren Schmeisser

  Lauren is a data scientist in RMI’s Climate Intelligence Program. Her expertise is in analysis of large climate datasets, drawing out actionable insight from complex information. Before joining RMI, Lauren was a postdoctoral researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She holds a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences, a MSc in Earth Sciences, and a BS/MS in Environmental Engineering.

  

• Adrienne Tecza

  Adrienne is a data scientist in RMI’s Climate Intelligence Program. Her work focuses on building data driven tools to monitor and analyze emissions from oil and gas operations and assess the impact of those emissions as it relates to issues of environmental justice. Prior to joining RMI, Adrienne worked as a Research Associate in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science’s Digital Research Lab. Adrienne attained a PhD in Political Science from Oxford University. She spent the first year of her PhD as a visiting student researcher in Princeton University’s Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department where she focused on modeling the interplay between human and natural systems.

  

• Sasha Bylsma

  Sasha is an Associate in RMI’s Climate Intelligence program working to bring transparency to the oil and gas sector by leveraging modelled, observed, and reported data to produce insights for emissions reduction and pathways for decarbonization. Before joining RMI, Sasha interned with SkyTruth, a small non-profit dedicated to exposing inconspicuous environmental harms such as oil spills from offshore platforms and illegal mining activity through processing and publishing publicly available satellite imagery. Sasha received a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley in 2021 where he studied environmental policy, data science, and geographic information systems.

  

• Shannon Hughes

  Shannon is the Strategic Communications Manager in RMI’s Climate Intelligence Program, where she tells stories that make emissions visible throughout supply chains. Her work is critical to understand where we are—and where we want to be—in reaching ambitious decarbonization goals. Shannon focuses on making highly technical information more personally relevant and translating concepts into clear calls for action. Prior to her role at RMI, she served as a marketing specialist and policy communications associate for the Governor of Montana; owned a branding and marketing agency for seven years; and served as the executive director for an ocean plastic elimination non-profit.

  

• Nils Jensen

  Nils Jenson is a senior associate in RMI’s Climate Intelligence program in the Oil & Gas Solutions Initiative, working to enable emissions visibility and reduction through newly available data and market-based mechanisms. Before joining RMI, Nils worked at Genscape (later acquired by Wood Mackenzie) where he developed and managed a product providing daily oil production estimates for ~70 percent of global production via satellite detection of flaring and other signals. Prior to Genscape/WoodMac, Nils worked as a hedge fund analyst focused on the energy sector, but also covered a broader range of equity, commodity, currency, and fixed income positions.

  

• John McGrath

  John is the technical product director for RMI’s Climate Intelligence Program, which leverages data and technology to enhance climate performance across material and energy industries. Before joining RMI, John was a sustainability product manager at Amazon Web Services. Previously, he was chief product officer and cofounder of the HR technology company Entelo, led product and software teams at Wordnik and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and was a software developer in the newsroom of The New York Times.

  

• Josh Henretig

  Josh is a Managing Director at RMI, leading the Climate Intelligence Program, which focuses on applying data and technology to differentiate climate performance across material and energy industries and their associated value chains. Climate Intelligence works to enhance emissions visibility via open-source data platforms; advance carbon accounting systems that attribute emissions at various levels (corporate, facility, asset, product, etc.); establish and/or harmonize standards and marketplaces that allow us to differentiate the emissions intensity of raw materials, goods, and services; and advance the digital infrastructure and exchanges for tracing, valuing, and transacting these differentiated goods and services.

  

• Linda Jirouskova

  Linda is a corporate engagement manager with the Climate Intelligence Program. She focuses on partnerships, collaboration, and external stakeholder engagement to drive decarbonization in hard-to-abate industrial sectors. She supports user-centric focus of OCI+ and helps strengthen external collaboration to further drive OCI+ application in different use cases and resulting impact. Prior to joining RMI, Linda led corporate partnerships, program design, and business development for international organizations, working on a variety of issues in the environmental and social impact arenas in developing countries. Earlier in her career, Linda worked in marketing research consulting.

  

• TJ Conway

  TJ Conway is a principal in RMI’s Climate Intelligence Program. He plays a leading role in the Oil and Gas Solutions Initiative, working with a range of stakeholders to help accelerate oil and gas firms’ decarbonization efforts. Conway is also Professor of the Practice at Georgetown University, where he teaches an energy course through the Landegger Program in International Business Diplomacy at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

  

• Joseph Fallurin

  Joseph (Joe) is a manager with RMI’s Climate Intelligence Program. He focuses on reducing emissions in the oil and gas sector through market-based mechanisms and policy levers related to oil refineries and petrochemicals.

  

• Meghan Peltier

  Meghan is a senior associate with RMI’s Climate Intelligence Program. Her work focuses on reducing emissions in the oil and gas sector through policy and market-based levers related to oil refining and petrochemicals. Prior to RMI, Meghan worked for Valero Energy as an engineer in a variety of process optimization and logistic roles.

  

• Jikai Wang

  Jikai is an Associate with RMI’s Climate Intelligence Program. He works on oil and gas (refinery and petrochemical) industry decarbonization strategies, with a concentration on emission data transparency and analysis. Prior to RMI, Jikai had a background in SAF LCAs, synthetic hydrocarbon techno-economic analysis, emission trading scheme mechanism, and corporate ESG reviews. He holds a Master’s in Environmental Management and B.Eng in Environmental Engineering.

  

• Suzy Schadel

  Suzy is an environmental engineer and associate within RMI’s Climate Intelligence Program. Her work focuses on oil and gas emissions reduction strategies and data transparency and traceability. Suzy assists with OCI⁺ model development and annual emissions calculations. Before joining RMI, Suzy worked within Shell’s Environmental & Regulatory team, at AidData researching Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11), and at GHD as a project manager for water/wastewater engineering and international environmental impact assessment projects, as well as a program coordinator for the Sustainability & Resiliency program. She is an ENVISION Sustainability Professional, and holds a BSE in Environmental Engineering.

  

Contributing Researchers

• Mohammad Masnadi

  Mohammad Masnadi is an Assistant Professor of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. His lab includes two research levels: Process-level by working on novel class of catalysts which are robust and durable in reactions with contaminated environment (e.g., plastic chemical recycling, biomass conversion, biofuels upgrading, carbon-rich feedstock conversion); System-level by taking data-driven approach to assess environmental environmental footprints of different energy systems and design strategies and policies to mitigate such emissions. He is one of the main developers of the Oil Production Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimator (OPGEE) model, which is used to estimate upstream production greenhouse gas emissions.

  

• Liang Jing

  Liang (Liam) Jing is a research associate working with Joule Bergerson in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary. He is the current lead developer of the PRELIM model to assess greenhouse gas emissions and reduction potential from the global oil and gas supply chain. His research interests revolve around techno-economic and environmental assessment of conventional and emerging energy technologies, energy systems modeling, systems analysis and management for sustainability, and decision making under uncertainty. Liam is currently working as a research scientist at Aramco Americas.

  

• Jeff Rutherford

  Jeff Rutherford is a Ph.D. student working at the intersection of energy, economy, and environment, using life-cycle assessment tools to better understand the impacts and trade-offs of energy technologies. His current work focuses on incorporating methane emissions into assessment of oil and gas carbon intensity, uncovering the sources of historic underestimation of methane emissions, and producing tools to improve our estimates moving forward. Rutherford holds an MSc in Oceanography and Coastal Science from Louisiana State University and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta.

  

• Zachary Schmidt

  Zachary Schmidt has over a decade of experience working as a researcher and analyst for Koomey Analytics. He has a BA from UC Berkeley with a major in English Literature and a minor in Energy and Resources. He has also completed the Certificate Program in Data Science from UC Berkeley Extension. Schmidt builds software to help understand and solve energy-related problems. He coded the OPEM model into Python for OCI⁺ v1.0.

  

• Wennan Long

  Wennan Long is a Ph.D. candidate of Energy Resources Engineering. He is an active member of Environmental Assessment & Optimization Group led by Dr. Adam Brandt. He has a background in both subsurface flow life-cycle assessment. His research interest is measuring and simulating the upstream greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of various production methods including thermal enhanced recovery method (TEOR), CO₂ flooding, and gas lifting. Long is the author of the python version of the Oil Production Greenhouse Gas Emission Estimator (OPGEE python).

  

• Tinu Abraham

  Tinu Abraham is a Research Associate in the Energy Technology Assessment research group at the department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering in the University of Calgary. She has research interests and experience in the field of sustainable energy development and environmental remediation with goals of reducing GHG emissions. Her current research involves investigating life cycle assessment of GHG emissions of existing and emerging technologies for oil sands facilities, with focus on informing mitigation measures for improving emissions from Canadian refineries. She is also involved in researching transformations that would affect refineries of the future in a decarbonized world using PRELIM (Petroleum Refinery Life Cycle Inventory Model). She has worked on sustainable processing of both unconventional oil such as oil sands and renewable energy resources such as solar photovoltaics, hydrogen and fuel cells. Her PhD and Postdoctoral research were in investigating novel technologies for extracting unconventional oil sands and dewatering mature fine tailings, with overarching goals of reducing energy, water, cost and GHG emissions. She completed her PhD from the Department of Chemical & Material’s Engineering at the University of Alberta in 2016 and her Master’s in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India.

  

Contributing Organizations