State Oil and Gas official to offer program on "fracking"

Herschel McDivitt, director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas, will talk about "Hydraulic Fracturing and Other Trends in Oil and Gas Production" at 7 p.m. Thursday, October 10, in Education Center Room 1101 at the University of Southern Indiana.  

The Indiana Division of Oil and Gas is the regulatory agency responsible for the permitting and inspection of oil and gas production wells and facilities in the state. McDivitt was previously environmental and remediation manager for Shell Oil Products Company and held several posts at Pennzoil Quaker State Company, including manager of discontinued operations, manager of environmental and safety, and environmental and regulatory affairs coordinator.

McDivitt began his career in the Indiana Division of Reclamation as a coal mining and reclamation inspector. He also served as permit section head, assistant director of permitting and operations, and deputy director. He is a graduate of Ball State University with a bachelor's degree in natural resources.

The lecture is free and open to the public and co-sponsored by USI's Department of Geology and Physics and the City of Evansville's Environmental Protection Agency.

For more information, contact Dr. William Elliott, chair and associate professor of geology, at wselliott@usi.edu or 812/228-5053.