Agenda

Webinar instructions will be emailed before the date of the webinar.

Please log into the webinar 15 – 30 minutes before start time.

Wednesday, September 28, 2022 
8:30 am – 4:30 pm CDT (including a 30-min. break)

 

Presented by:
Charles “Charlie” Werth
Audra Smith
Jay Banner
Becky Johnson. P.G.

Agenda
Geologic Carbon Sequestration
Above ground capture
Deep injection and sequestration
Geochemical changes
Geomechanical changes

Ownership of and Access to Surface Lands and Minerals
Legal rights of mineral and surface owners
Legal and practical exercise of access rights
Where do one party’s rights end and the other’s begin?
Rights of adjacent property owners
Resolving disputes

Developments in Federal and Texas Environmental Law
Reviewing recent changes to and enforcement of:
• Pollution prevention
• Water quality enforcement
• Stormwater permitting
• Watersheds, wetlands, lakes and streams
Reviewing recent and anticipated developments at the US EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

Understanding Texas Groundwater Regulation and Use
Texas rule of capture
Ownership of groundwater
Groundwater regulation by conservation districts
Legal standards related to water well construction
Prohibition against commingling of waters of different quality
Achieving sustainability

Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources: Science and Policy
Predictions of climate science based on a warmer atmosphere
The 100th Meridian climate boundary
Reconstructing past climate and projecting future climate change
Texas climate change and population change impacts on water resources
Science and policy of climate change: example of Texas

Ethical Issues in the Practice of Geoscience
Understanding and complying with American
Geoscience Institute Ethics guidelines
Day-to-day ethical practices
Protecting public health, safety and welfare

 

Webinar Instructions
All attendees must log-on through their own email – attendees may not watch together if they wish to earn continuing education credit. HalfMoon Education Inc. must be able to prove attendance if either the attendee or HalfMoon Education Inc. is audited.

Certificates of completion can be downloaded in PDF form upon passing a short quiz. A link to the quiz will be sent to each qualifying attendee immediately after the webinar. The certificate can be downloaded from the Results page of the quiz upon scoring 80% or higher.

Webinars are presented via GoToWebinar, an easy-to-use application that can be run on most systems and tablets. Instructions and login information will be provided in an email sent close to the date of the webinar. It is highly recommended that you download, install and test the application before the webinar begins by clicking on the link in the email.

GoToWebinar App requirements:
Windows 7 – 10 or Mac OSX Mavericks (10.9) – macOS Catalina (10.15)

Web Browser:
The two most recent version of the following browsers:
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge
Internet Explorer v11 (or later) with Flash enabled

Internet connection: Minimum of 1Mbps       Hardware: 2GB RAM or more

For more information, visit the Support section at www.gotowebinar.com

Credits

Geoscientists:
7.0 CE Hours (including 1.0 Ethics Hour)

 

Continuing Education Credit Information
This course is open to the public and is designed to qualify for 7.0 CE hours, which includes 1.0 hour of professional ethics, for professional geoscientists in Texas.

The Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists does not endorse or pre-approve continuing education courses. However, this course has been designed to comply with Rules 851.32(a)(4) and 851.32(g).

Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the webinar for those who attend the entire course and score a minimum 80% on the quiz that follows the course (multiple attempts allowed).

Speakers

Jay Banner

Professor at Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas

Professor Banner studies water resources, climate change and environmental justice. This research combines geoscience and chemistry to examine streams, aquifers, caves, and tree rings, and it takes him to Barbados, Guam, and Texas among other places. Professor Banner is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, a member of UT’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers, and currently is a finalist for the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, which is the largest teaching prize in the country.

Becky Johnson P.G.

Becky Johnson P.G. Chair of the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists
Ms. Johnson is a board certified professional geoscientist and geologist, an environmental science professor at Texas Christian University, and consultant/trainer with more than 26 years of experience. She is a founding member of the Society of Texas Environmental Professionals Sustainability Chapter, and a volunteer with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality EnviroMentor Program. She served for the last 10 years as past president/officer of Society of Texas Environmental Professionals. Ms. Johnson received a bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of Texas at Arlington and a master’s degree in Environmental Science and Hydrogeology from Texas Christian University. 

Audra Smith

Attorney & Founder at Audra Smith Law, El Campo, TX

Ms. Smith is an attorney based in Wharton County, Texas. Her practice focuses on a wide variety of agricultural issues, especially those involving cattle. She additionally spends a significant portion of her time on oil and gas title examination, farm and ranch transactions, and real estate litigation. Ms. Smith also assists clients with estate planning, probates, and business planning needs. Ms. Smith is a graduate of El Campo High School. She received her bachelor of science degree in Agricultural Science from Texas A&M University in 2009, and received her doctor of jurisprudence degree from South Texas College of Law in 2014. She was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 2014 and is also admitted to the Southern District of Texas. Ms. Smith is a member of the Wharton County Bar Association, formerly serving as president, and she is a member of the Texas Bar College. 

Charles "Charlie" Werth

Charles “Charlie” WerthProfessor and Bettie Margaret Smith Chair in Environmental Health Engineering University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Charles J. Werth is a Professor & Bettie Margaret Smith Chair of Environmental Health Engineering in the Department of Civil, Architecture and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the UT faculty in August of 2014, after spending 17 years on the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Werth’s research and teaching focus on the fate and transport of pollutants in the environment, the development of innovative catalytic technologies for drinking water treatment, and the mitigation of environmental impacts associated with energy production and generation. He is presently the Principal Investigator of an NSF NRT on “Reducing Energy Barriers for Novel Water Supply Use in Sustainable Agriculture”, as well as on other NSF, DOD and DOE grants.