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.
Our thoughts and opinions about gas extraction and related topics
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.
Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance, 2019. Aerial support provided by LightHawk.
Book Review Part I: ‘Public Responses to Fossil Fuel Export: Exporting Energy and Emissions in a Time of Transition’
In this book review, Ted Auch, PhD, reviews the first three chapters of Public Responses to Fossil Fuel Export. Published in January 2022, this work explores the social dimensions of the global fossil fuel export system, with a focus on public perceptions and responses to new infrastructures.
Pitt School Of Public Health, PA Dept Of Health Abruptly Pull Out Of Public Meeting They Helped Convene
Our statement regarding the University of Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Department of Health abruptly dropping out of a public meeting on their own environmental health studies.
Staff Spotlight: Ashley Kosak
As part of FracTracker’s staff spotlight series, learn more about one of the newest member of the FracTracker team, Ashley Kosak, and what she’ll be working on with us.
Time with FracTracker: Three weeks
Education: Rochester Institute of Technology
Title: Research and Program Fellow
Spotlight Interview
How did you first get involved working on oil and gas issues / fracking?
Fracking was a huge issue in the town where I grew up. I saw a lot of signs all over encouraging others to vote on legislation about fracking, and as I grew older I better understood why it was such a big issue. Over the past couple years I’ve learned the dependence on petroleum was one of the biggest issues we currently have in our path forward for a more climate friendly future.
What will you actually do in your role?
Ashley Kosak, Research and Program Fellow. Read bio
I’ve been working on a project to help us establish a process flow for ongoing mapping! I really hope to make a system that allows us to be flexible with the work we do as a team. With how quickly things change and comment periods arise, I want to help this team keep track of the technical backlog and keep all the data organized.
I hope to have completed a research project by the end of my fellowship as well regarding the impacts of the oil industry here in California.
Previous Position and Organization
I used to work for SpaceX where I was an engineer building their rockets and dragon space crafts. While I was there I created their Sustainability Initiative which has blossomed into a company wide effort.
I also sit on the steering committee for SoCal350 in Los Angeles!
What is one of the most impactful projects you are excited to be involved in with FracTracker?
I’m a big tool maker type of person so I really hope I can help automate a few day to day tasks for the team so they can really focus on their research and advocacy. I feel like it’s something very simple but it will help everyone in the team.
New Film Tells Story of Community’s Fight Against Fracking Waste
“Hellbent,” a new documentary slated for release in August 2022, tells the story of a small town in Pennsylvania and a species on the brink of extinction that are unlikely allies in the fight for a clean, livable environment.
Staff Spotlight: Erika Ninos
As part of FracTracker’s staff spotlight series, learn more about one of the newest member of the FracTracker team, Erika Ninos, and what she’ll be working on with us.
Time with FracTracker: Almost 2 weeks!
Education: Slippery Rock University (MS), University of Pittsburgh (BA)
Office Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Title: Program Manager
Spotlight Interview
How did you first get involved working on oil and gas issues / fracking?
I’ve had a lifelong interest in the environmental and social issues related to the extractive economy in western Pennsylvania. I am originally from Fayette County, Pennsylvania and have seen first hand the impacts of coal mining and fracking on communities, the environment, friends and family. I feel deeply connected to the land and communities of western Pennsylvania and my hope is that through my work with FracTracker we can assist local communities in their efforts to resist and fight the damaging effects of oil and natural gas development in this region and to find a new path of just transition towards an economy that works for ALL people and respects the land.
What will you actually do in your role?
Erika Ninos, Program Manager. View bio
I like to think of my role with FracTracker in terms of capacity building! What does that mean? It means assisting the FracTracker team to ensure that all of our staff have the resources they need to work efficiently, collaboratively and that they can continue their amazing work within the communities and the regions we serve. Specifically, I will be working in the strategic, programmatic, operational, and fundraising spheres.
Previous Position and Organization
Prior to joining FracTracker Alliance, I worked in a number of roles in the Pittsburgh sustainability and environmental community. Most recently, I served as a Sustainability Coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh with a focus on community programs and student facing sustainability. I have also worked at Carnegie Mellon University, Chatham University, Pennsylvania Resources Council and Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.
What is one of the most impactful projects you are excited to be involved in with FracTracker?
One of the first projects I’ll be working on is the 2022 Sentinel Awards! I am incredibly excited to lift up and honor the voices of frontline and fenceline communities who are the backbone of the movement resisting oil and natural development and rethinking energy and economic systems.
Staff Spotlight: Sarah Carballo
As part of FracTracker’s staff spotlight series, learn more about one of the newest member of the FracTracker team, Sarah Carballo, and what she’ll be working on with us.
Time with FracTracker: Three weeks
Education: University of North Carolina at Asheville
Office Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Title: Communications Specialist
Spotlight Interview
How did you first get involved working on oil and gas issues / fracking?
An early experience that increased my awareness of oil and gas issues was visiting friends in Susquehanna County, Pa., at the beginning of the shale gas boom. That summer in Pennsylvania, I experienced firsthand how the encroaching industry was disrupting the lives of longtime residents. I recall talking on their porch and having to raise our voices to be heard over the incessant din of gas wells being drilled nearby. We split firewood, watched lightning bugs, and played ladder ball late into the evenings basked in the glow of lights on heavy machinery. Worst of all, we were forbidden to drink the well water, which reeked of sulfur as a result of new fracking operations on adjacent property. The close proximity to some of the direct effects of fracking made a particularly powerful and lasting impression on me, and that experience—and many others since—constantly remind me of the importance of working on these issues.
What will you actually do in your role?
Sarah Carballo, Communications Specialist. View Bio
I’ll be supporting FracTracker by helping to communicate the risks of oil, gas, and petrochemical development. My role includes managing social media, writing the monthly newsletter, creating digital content, and maintaining our website, among other responsibilities.
Previous Position and Organization
I was most recently the Communications Specialist with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, but have worked with numerous nonprofits across Central and Southern Appalachia in various capacities since 2015.
What is one of the most impactful projects you are excited to be involved in with FracTracker?
I’m very excited about the opportunity to use our data and analysis to help tell stories of impact through multimedia. But most importantly, I’m excited to continue supporting the movement in any way I can.
FracTracker Alliance Names Shannon Smith as Executive Director
FracTracker Alliance names Shannon Smith as Executive Director. Shannon has been with FracTracker since May 2019, initially in the role of Manager of Communications & Development, and more recently as Interim Executive Director.
216 Franklin St, Suite 400, Johnstown, PA 15901
Phone: +1 (717) 303-0403 | info@fractracker.org
FracTracker Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit: Tax identification number: 80-0844297