Joe Batir
Joseph Batir, Ph.D. is a Senior Geothermal Geoscientist at Petrolern and host of OGGN’s podcast, Low Carbon Solutions. While he is a Ph.D., in true Geologist fashion, he just goes by Joe. Born and raised outside Chicago, Illinois, Joe found an appreciation for natural resources at a young age, first touring a Vulcan aggregate quarry in 4th grade, and later living across the river from the Exxon Mobil Joliet refinery and Dresden Nuclear Power Plant. This led Joe to study Geology with a focus on geothermal energy. This interest in geothermal energy took Joe from Chicago to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale (B.Sc., Geology), then to the University of Akureyri (M.Sc., Renewable Energy Science) in Iceland, and finally to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX (Ph.D., Geophysics), where he now resides with his wife and son. Joe has worked with the mining industry, geothermal industry, and oil and gas industry on resource exploration and geothermal energy utilization, and has conducted large scale research for local, state, and federal level government entities.
As his work shifted from predominantly academic teaching and research into more energy resource exploration, Joe began listening to Oil and Gas this Week and connecting with energy professionals through OGGN TM . When Mark LaCour made mention of a future low carbon focused podcast, Joe reached out and offered to help in any way possible. Upon their meeting, it was clear – Joe’s passion and dedication to all forms of energy and resource production could be best utilized through hosting the Energy Transition Solutions podcast.