The University of Texas at Austin Bios

Dr. Susan Hovorka is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the Gulf Coast Carbon Center (GCCC) and Texas Louisiana Carbon Management Community (TXLA CMC). Since 1998, Sue has been leading the GCCC, which includes a large research team that focuses on the geologic storage of CO₂ or what is commonly referred to as the carbon storage portion of carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Sue is a sedimentologist who works on fluid flow across a range of applications such as water resource protection, oil production, and waste storage. In the past, GCCC Projects have included CO₂ injections at the Frio Test Site and Cranfield Field; EOR studies at SACROC oil field, Cranfield, Hastings and West Ranch industrial CO₂ utilization projects; as well as a GoMCARB offshore characterization studies. The GCCC is leading efforts to develop offshore storage capacity in the U.S.A, and globally.

Sue is known for her riveting CO₂ demonstrations for all ages and has a long-term commitment to public education and outreach. Sue has envisioned, and dreamed of, forming TXLA CMC over the past few decades and is delighted to be Principal Investigator. Sue hopes to inspire many individuals to provide educational information and materials about greenhouse gas. Sue would like to spread the word about CCS and hopes that all communities will 1) become more engaged with the reduction of greenhouse gas, and 2) understand CCS' benefits and risks, as well as how deep, well injections of CO₂ will support this effort.

Sue has worked on museum displays to help the public understand and visualize the Edwards Aquifer, has taught many students how to pan (for fool's gold) through the years, and has been involved with the preservation of dinosaur trackways since she was an undergraduate. Sue has a Ph.D. in Geology from The University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. from Earlham College, located in Richmond, Indiana.

Angela Luciano is the Program Manager for TXLA CMC and will help facilitate communications as well as coordination among a diverse group of stakeholders. Angela is currently a Research Engineering/ Scientist Associate at the Bureau of Economic Geology’s Gulf Coast Carbon Center.

Angela holds a Master's degree in Energy and Earth Resources and a Bachelor's degree in Petroleum Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. Angela’s thesis work, conducted under the supervision of Sue Hovorka at the Gulf Coast Carbon Center, focused on analyzing and displaying the success of other Underground Injection Control programs as an analog for CCS in the Gulf Coast of Mexico. She has previous experience as a Field Engineer in fracking operations.

Katherine Romanak's focus with TXLA CMC is to help educate and advise about CO₂ monitoring with respect to geologic storage along the Texas-Louisiana coastal region. Katherine is a world-renowned geochemist with 17+ years of experience monitoring CO₂ storage projects. She has developed, and implemented, environmental monitoring programs at several large-scale, U.S. Department of Energy CCUS project sites and has collaborated on projects in Canada, Australia, and Japan. Katherine has developed an innovative process-based method for environmental monitoring of active CCUS projects. She led a response team of scientists to determine that the alleged CO₂ leakage at the Kerr Farm near the Weyburn CO₂ Storage project in Canada was a false alarm. She serves on multiple international CCUS advisory boards and regularly informs global policy within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Katherine received a Ph.D. in Geology from The University of Texas at Austin, a M.S. in Geology from The University of Texas in Arlington, and a B.S. in Geology from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.