Duke Team Sees Opportunities for Studying How Fracking Affects Society

Rooted in the science of Duke University professor Avner Vengosh, a team of 11 faculty members and students are in the midst of a yearlong effort to understand the effects of unconventional shale development on rural communities.

The project is part of Duke’s Bass Connections program, which asks students to address real-world problems across five themes: neuroscience, information technology, global health, education and energy. Under the energy umbrella, Vengosh is leading an exploration of the social and environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing. When he began the project, Vengosh envisioned using his research on the land and groundwater impacts of shale extraction to populate an interactive map of oil and brine spills.

But students on the team are more interested in the social impacts of the domestic energy boom, said team leader Erika Weinthal, a professor of environmental sciences and policy at Duke. They're in control of the project's direction: That's part of the beauty of the program – and research at Duke in general, she said.

“You see something, and you run with it,” Weinthal said.

Vengosh, who is married to Weinthal, said the student pitches he has received so far involve following the money generated in shale-rich communities and comparing crime rates in counties with fracking to those without.

The Bass Connections team is embarking on the type of research that is sorely lacking in the energy world, said Brian Southwell, program director of science in the public sphere for RTI International.

Read the rest of Pamela King’s article in EnergyWire, learn more about the project team The Effects of Unconventional Shale Gas Development on Rural Communities and find out how to get involved with Bass Connections.