W. R. (Bill) Byrd is the President of RCP Inc., a Houston-based consulting firm. His expertise is industrial safety and his company provides professional engineering capabilities and regulatory expertise to energy and energy-related companies. Previously, Mr. Byrd spent 12 years with Exxon. His educational background includes both a Bachelors and Masters in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Dr. Don Capone obtained his BS in Physics from Boston College, and received his Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics from Tufts University. He has over 100 technical publications and eight patents on various aspects of materials science and technology. In 1988 he received the Department of Energy Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award for his work in Superconducting Materials Development. Dr. Capone came to Texas as Head of Superconducting Technology for the Superconducting Supercollider Project. Dr. Capone has more recently participated in the remediation of numerous sites contaminated with hazardous materials. He also co-authored the hazardous materials training manual currently in use by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency field personnel. Subsequently, Dr. Capone was responsible for new products and technology development for a Dallas manufacturing company.
Sarah Fullenwider has been employed with the City of Fort Worth since 1997. Fullenwider is one of four Senior Assistant City Attorneys for the administrative section of the City Attorney’s Office. She is primarily assigned to the Planning and Development Department and advises on all areas of land use law. Fullenwider authored the City’s first gas drilling ordinance in 2001, and chaired gas drilling task forces in 2001 and 2006. She was the City’s liaison charged with leading the 2008 gas drilling task force in revising the ordinance, adopted in December, 2008, to best benefit the citizens of Fort Worth. She graduated from Wake Forest School of Law in 1989; was licensed in North Carolina in 1989, practicing criminal defense and real estate law; and was licensed in Texas in 1997.
Linda Garcia has served Tarrant County College as an administrator for the past 12 years and worked in education long before that. As the Director of Corporate Services, she collaborates with area businesses and industry to provide solutions to their training needs. Linda helps establish working relationships between community organizations, businesses, and Tarrant County College in order to help address the community’s employment needs and the recruitment and retention needs of local employers.
Ed Ireland was selected as Executive Director to lead the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council. Ireland’s primary responsibilities include overseeing the activities of the BSEEC, a Texas non-profit organization. These activities include implementing educational and outreach programs in the Barnett Shale area in North Texas, including their Web site www.bseec.org. He also acts as an industry expert and spokesperson for the Barnett Shale as well as a community and media representative on behalf of its members. Ireland has held several executive management positions including president of an oil and gas exploration and production company, founder and president of a natural gas marketing and pipeline company, and chief financial officer of an internet service provider. Ireland holds a B.S. in Economics from Midwestern State University, a Ph.D. in Economics from Texas Tech University and did post doctoral work at the University of Chicago.
Wilma Lopez is the Employment Manager for XTO Energy Inc. Wilma has been a member of XTO Energy’s human resources team since February, 2001. While her primary focus has been recruiting for the oil and gas business for the past twelve plus years, she was also a part of the compensation and accounting teams while employed with Union Pacific Resources. She has a combined twenty-three years experience in the energy sector. Wilma currently leads the recruiting team at XTO in identifying and placing talent in XTO’s corporate campus located in downtown Fort Worth, Texas as well as supporting XTO’s recruiting efforts in the various field offices. Wilma has been a member of the Fort Worth Human Resource Management Association and Society of Human Resource Management Association since 2001. She is also certified as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR).
Ken Nicholsonjoined the Clean Energy sales and marketing team in 2007, specializing in alternative/renewable energy marketing, sales and policy development, contract negotiation, and state/local government lobbying. Mr. Nicholson oversees the sales, marketing and educational efforts for the South Central Region which accounts for almost half of Clean Energy’s business. Mr. Nicholson works on specific natural gas fueling technology applications for public/private partnerships with municipalities, transit agencies, trucking fleets, airports, and refuse companies. His focus is to assist in key infrastructure development and promote the benefits of diversifying fleets to operate certain types of natural gas powered vehicles, CNG and LNG.
Dr. Ray Perryman is president and CEO of The Perryman Group, an economic research and analysis firm based in Waco, Texas. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Baylor University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Rice University. Dr. Perryman has held numerous academic positions in his career including ten years as Herman Brown Professor of Economics and five years as University Professor and Economist-in-Residence at Baylor University, as well as five years as Business Economist-in-Residence at Southern Methodist University. In the professional arena, Dr. Perryman has authored more than 1,800 trade articles, publishes a subscription forecasting service and a monthly newsletter, writes a syndicated newspaper column, hosts a daily radio commentary, and appears regularly on National Public Radio. Some of his most gratifying work has been in the field of economic development, where he has played a key role in the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs. He now only hopes that someday at least one of his kids will hold one of those jobs. He is a past recipient of the Outstanding Texas Leader Award and has been honored by the Texas Legislature for his “tireless efforts in helping to build a better Texas.” (click here for more info)
Jerry R. Simmons is currently the Executive Director of the National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Before joining NARO in January of 2006 he spent the previous seven years as President of EnergyTech Group, Inc. in Bartlesville, Oklahoma providing technical support services to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Strategic Center for Natural Gas and Oil. Jerry was previously employed with TRW/BDM as Principal Environmental Engineer/Regulatory and Policy Analyst. He also served as Associate Executive Director of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission.
