Our thoughts and opinions about gas extraction and related topics

Fossil Fashion: How Oil and Gas Fuel the Fashion Industry

Fast fashion relies heavily on synthetic materials and nonrenewable energy sources, leaving behind significant environmental footprints and often involving unethical labor practices.

Delaware River Feature

Staff Spotlight: Katie Jones

As part of FracTracker’s staff spotlight series, learn more about Katie Jones, one of the newest member of the FracTracker team, and what she will be working on with us.

Stop Toxic Threat: A Heavy Industrial Zoning Battle

The Norfolk Southern train derailment in February 2023 ignited a battle for public health, safety, and welfare over 100 miles away in Eaton Township, Ohio.

Where Do We Cross the Line: From Public Service to Public Threat

As industry expands within the primarily residential and agricultural community of Eaton Township, Ohio, community members wonder if the EPA and local government are doing enough to protect human health and the environment.

East Palestine Warning: The Growing Threat From Hazardous Waste Storage

Is the gradual increase in hazardous waste storage and incineration expansion in Eaton Township, Ohio, fueling a preventable future disaster?

Solar Grazing: Connecting Farming Communities and Solar Site Operators

Solar grazing offers a way to maintain farmland in agricultural production and build new, positive relationships between farming communities and solar site operators, which will be important for meeting clean energy climate goals.

Calling for Change: Life on the Fracking Frontlines

Frontline residents of the Ohio River Valley have first-hand experience of the impacts of fracking.

Delaware River Feature

Staff Spotlight: Gwen Klenke

As part of FracTracker’s staff spotlight series, learn more about Gwen Klenke, one of the newest member of the FracTracker team, and what she will be working on with us. Learn more about the FracTracker Alliance team.

Delaware River Feature

Staff Spotlight: Chloe Mankin

As part of FracTracker’s staff spotlight series, learn more about Chloe Mankin, one of the newest member of the FracTracker team, and what she will be working on with us.

Staff Spotlight: Cullen Smith

As part of FracTracker’s staff spotlight series, learn more about one of the newest member of the FracTracker team, Cullen Smith, and what he’ll be working on with us.

Time with FracTracker: Three weeks

Office Location: Remote

Title: Data Integration Specialist


Spotlight Interview

How did you first get involved working on oil and gas issues?

Growing up in northeastern PA fracking was in the local news though it wasn’t until I started preparing geospatial data for Phase I environmental assessment reports that I started to grasp the industry’s footprint.

What will you actually do in your role?

Cullen Smith, Data Integration Specialist. Read bio

The goal is to lay the groundwork enabling FracTracker’s data to flow freely amongst all of our projects as well as be accessible to the public in a user friendly way. To accomplish that feat I’ll be developing tools to interact with a relational database that houses our data.

Previous Position and Organization

After interning with the National Park Service, I started my career in GIS at a small company just outside of Boston where we focused on environmental site assessments. Following that company’s acquisition, I’ve spent the past decade helping understaffed organizations clean up their data and automate workflows while supplying geospatial support to a handful of larger telecom oriented companies. I’m really excited about having the opportunity to focus on a singular organization’s goals again.

What is one of the most impactful projects you are excited to be involved in with FracTracker?

It’s not so much an individual project, but the opportunity to set up a centralized data source that will support all of our projects is what drew me to this role. Data’s most useful when it’s clean and accessible so having a hand in designing that platform is extremely enticing.