Dr. Katherine Duncker Romanak
Since 2007, Dr. Katherine Romanak has been a lead geochemist who has developed environmental monitoring plans for over 6 actively injecting, large-scale CO2 storage projects. Katherine is an academic that works alongside industry to develop, innovate, and apply CO2 storage technology in real-world applications. Katherine pioneered a process-based soil gas monitoring approach, which avoids costly and complex baseline data collection and initiated the paradigm shift of near-surface monitoring. Katherine’s CO2 monitoring method has become a standard approach to environmental monitoring worldwide. She has championed the concept of leakage “attribution” as a critical part of monitoring in the near surface.
Katherine was an independent technical lead assessing the first-ever claim of CO2 leakage by a landowner living on the Kerr Farm near a CO2 injection site. Using attribution techniques, Katherine and her team determined that no leakage had occurred at the Kerr Farm, and the experience outlines the importance of having protocols for responding to stakeholder concerns in place before a project begins.
Katherine is often the scientist-in-the-room providing technical information into global regulations at the UNFCCC COPs and in the USA (Class VI and California Low Carbon Fuel Standard CCS protocol), which has led to an improvement of responsibly injecting CO2 and their regulations that protect both the environment and carbon storage projects. Katherine serves on many international advisory panels, and technical boards, and continues to effectively convey monitoring and environmental safety for geological CO2 storage to wide stakeholder audiences. Katherine provides professional training for subsurface oil and gas professionals who want to repurpose their skills for CCS. Katherine is the co-instructor who helped develop the new online CCS certification program at The University of Texas at Austin.
Research Interests
Geochemistry and isotope systematics of carbon cycling in the vadose zone and in freshwater aquifers.
Soil-gas monitoring at CO2 sequestration sites.
Geochemical behavior of fluids in deep engineered reservoirs
Fate and transport of organic contaminants.
Education
Ph.D. Geology, 1997, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
M.S. Geology, 1988, University of Texas, Arlington, TX
B.S. Geology, 1984, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
Professional History
Research Professor, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Present–September 2023
Research Scientist, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, August 2023–September 2015
Research Associate, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, August 2015–June 2008
Consulting Geochemist, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, May 2008–October 2007
Staff Scientist, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Division of Mineral Sciences, Global Volcanism Program, Washington D.C., May 1990–July 1988
Selected Publications
Romanak, K. D., P. C. Bennett, C. Yang, and S. D. Hovorka (2012), Process-based approach to CO2 leakage detection by vadose zone gas monitoring at geologic CO2 storage sites, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L15405, doi:10.1029/2012GL052426.
Romanak, K. D., Smyth, R. C., Yang, C., Hovorka, S. D., Rearick, M., and Lu, J., 2012, Sensitivity of groundwater systems to CO2: application of a site-specific analysis of carbonate monitoring parameters at the SACROC CO2-enhanced oil field: International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, v. 5, no. 1, p. 142-152.
Sherk, G. W., Romanak, K. D., Dale, J., Gilfillan, S. M. V., Haszeldine, R. S., Ringler, E. S., Wolaver, B. D., and Yang, C., 2011, The Kerr investigation: findings of the investigation into the impact of CO2 on the Kerr property: IPAC Research Inc., final report prepared for property owners Cameron and Jean Kerr, 181 p. [link]
Smyth, R. C., Hovorka, S. D., Romanak, K. D., Partin, J. W., Wong, C., Meckel, T. A., Nicot, J. P., and Holt, R. H., 2008, Assessing risk to fresh water resources from long term CO2 injection—laboratory and field studies (abs.), in 9th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Technologies, November 16–20, Washington, D.C.
Romanak, K. D., Bennett, P. C., and Nicot, J. P., 1996, Vadose zone processes beneath a perched playa wetland, Texas High Plains (abs.): Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, South-Central Section, v. 28, no. 1, p. 61.
Duncker, K. E., Wolff, J. A., Harmon, R. S., Leat, P. T., Dickin, A. P., and Thompson, R. N., 1991, Diverse mantle and crustal components in lavas of the NW Cerros del Rio volcanic field, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico: Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 108, 331–345.
