Research Focus Areas

The following chart highlights some of SRSI’s participating departments and their research foci. (partial list)

Discipline Faculty Expertise/Research Interests
Geology Geochemistry, including hydrogeochemistry & environmental geochemistry

Structural geology

Reactions of organic compounds & migrating fluids with solid phase carbonaceous matter

Desorption/adsorption in fractured shales; transport of toxic metals; role of bacteria in metal solubility and transport

Powder X-ray diffraction of shales

Shale thermal history

Trends of faults, fractures, and folds in black shales                            

High-resolution sequence stratigraphy

Total Organic Carbon (TOC) in the Devonian shales (including the Marcellus)

Impact of natural gas production on water quantity (NY State)

Modeling the response of surface water-groundwater systems to variable pumping scenarios (south-central NY State)

Ordovician Utica Shales and tectonics.

Sedimentology, lithostratigraphy, facies analysis
Law Regulatory & environmental issuesEffects of oil & gas development on societal issues
Engineering Chemical engineering

Phenomena at solid/liquid interfaces

Formulation of hydraulic fracture fluids: - the formulation/ingredients

 - interactions with shale

 - fate in the environment

Environmental engineering
Anthropology Environmental, public, and economic anthropology

Cultural resource management & historic preservation

Archaeological method and theory

Political economy of alternative energy

Lithic analysis
Sociology Effects of environmental factors on families and communities

As this table shows, the researchers who make up SRSI come from many disciplines. Additionally, SRSI has developed an external research associates program in which researchers from other academic institutions and industry can collaborate with the UB team.