Scott Tinker, State Geologist of Texas, to Discuss the Energy Industry
Scott Tinker, director of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin, will give a lecture on energy at Washington and Lee University on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 5:30 p.m. in the Stackhouse Theater in Elrod Commons.
The title of Tinker’s talk is “The Global Energy Transition.” It is sponsored by the Johnson Lecture Series and is free and open to the public.
Tinker will talk about the energy industry being in transition from using oil and coal resources to new alternatives and the need for more information so that the public can make better-informed decisions. He will explore the future of energy, showing segments from his soon-to-be-released documentary, “Switch.” Tinker will answer questions such as:
- If coal is dirty, why do we keep using it?
- Can we really clean it up?
- Will oil get too expensive or run out?
- How quickly will we adopt alternatives and which ones?
- How dangerous is nuclear energy?
- What are the biggest challenges, and best solutions, to our energy transition?
- What can each of us do?
At the Bureau of Economic Geology, Tinker is responsible for the strategic direction and financial health of a $40 million soft-money organization with federal, state and private grants and contracts, among other things.
Tinker is also the state geologist of Texas and serves as the Edwin Allday Endowed Chair of Subsurface Geology at the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also the director of the Advanced Energy Consortium, chairman-ex officio, of the AEC Board of Management and executive director of activities for the $10 million-per- year consortium to facilitate pre-competitive research in the recovery of oil and gas.
He earned his B.S. in geology and business administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, his M.S. in geological sciences from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. in geological sciences from the University of Colorado.
