PA Environment Digest Blog: Dr. Susan L. Brantley Named A Distinguished Daughter Of Pennsylvania For Her Research On Water, Geology And The Environmental Impacts Of Natural Gas, Oil Extraction

The Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania recently honored eleven women for their professional contributions to the state and around the world as part of their Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania program

Their accomplishments were celebrated at the Governor's Residence on September 25 in Harrisburg during a luncheon hosted by Gov. Josh Shapiro and First Lady Lori Shapiro.

Since its formation in 1949, the group has recognized more than 560 women, including the 11 honored this year.

Among the inductees this year is Dr. Susan L. Brantley, Professor of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. Brantley is the Evan Pugh University Professor and Hubert and Mary Barnes Professor of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, where she also served as director of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute until 2022.

Brantley has published more than 300 scientific papers aimed at understanding what controls the chemistry of natural water and how water interacts with the rocks through which it flows.

Her recent work has focused on environmental impacts related to the use of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in natural gas and oil extraction.

She earned her Ph.D in geological and geophysical sciences at Princeton University.

Commenting on the honor, Dr. Brantley said, “I believe that a large part of my being chosen for this honor is the work I have been doing looking at water quality in areas of shale gas development in Pennsylvania.

“Along the way, I have at times been vilified by industry practitioners for papers we published or talks we gave, but I have also been vilified at times by environmentalists.

“I think the issue is a difficult one because we all need energy and yet we all need a clean environment. And all human activities have an environmental footprint.

“This means that all Pennsylvanians have to make choices, and if they are honest about the tradeoffs (money, clean air, clean water, jobs, warm homes, energy for travel, public health effects, etc.), every person will find the decisions difficult.

“I hope the work we have done at Penn State has helped clarify some of these tradeoffs.”

Lee Kump, the John Leone Dean in the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, said, "Sue is a truly visionary scientist whose remarkable career has made profound contributions to the field of environmental geochemistry on an international scale but also in the state.

“Our understanding of Earth’s critical zone, that part that supports life, has been significantly advanced through her research and scientific leadership.”

Resource Links - Dr. Brantley:

-- Penn State Professor Susan Brantley Named A Distinguished Daughter Of Pennsylvania

-- HEI Energy, Penn State Study Uses 28,500 Water Sample Results To Help Identify Oil & Gas Industry Groundwater Pollution [500 Foot Setbacks Are ‘Way Too Short’] [PaEN]

-- Penn State: Big Data Approach To Water Quality Applied At Shale Gas Drilling Sites [PaEN]

-- Penn State Research Links Groundwater Contamination To Areas Of Unconventional Shale Gas And Conventional Oil And Gas Drilling [PaEN]

-- Penn State Ground And Stream Water Research Reveals Clues To Shale Drilling Impacts [PaEN]

-- New Techniques Shows Shale Drilling Additives In Drinking Water Taps Near Leak [PaEN]

-- Algorithm Helps Unlock Connections Between Stream Chemistry, Environment At NSF Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory In State College [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- WVIA: Distinguished Daughters Of PA To Induct 11 New Members

-- TribLive: Shapiro Selects 4 Western PA Women For Distinguished Daughter Award Honoring Community Service

Oil & Gas - National Debate