The combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling that has occurred in the last decade has environmental implications, and learning more about those effects and what policies need to be made to control them is important, says U-M Assistant Professor Brian Ellis. Ellis, who is studying the potential water quality impacts of hydraulic fracturing activity, explains the process and why it motivates his research interests.

ABOUT THE PROFESSOR: Brian Ellis is an assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan. His research interests cover topics related to the sustainable and safe development of emerging energy technologies, including geologic storage of CO2 and large-scale hydrualic fracturing of unconventional oil/gas reservoirs.

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