Montana Technological University invites K-12 educators to Petroleum Resources Workshop

Joe Yakawich (Environmental Engineering, ’87), a 30-year U.S. military veteran, began his career after commissioning as an officer through Montana Tech’s Army ROTC program. While commanding the University of Montana’s Army ROTC program, he noticed that a significant number of students were struggling to find direction and purpose in their education.       

“Interviewing students as they entered their senior year, every year it was 80% of the students who did not know what they wanted to do when they graduated, and I thought that's a tragedy,” Yakawich said.

Now, as an engineering teacher at Sentinel High School in Missoula, he’s doing something to make sure students realize their potential.

“I kind of went on the warpath,” Yakawich said. “My goal is that before a senior from this school crosses the graduation stage, they're exposed to 60 different engineering fields to help inform their decision-making.”

Yakawich is introducing a new, more in-depth module this year on petroleum engineering, after attending the free Montana Petroleum Resources Workshop led by Montana Tech’s Petroleum Engineering Department faculty. The program is sponsored by Hess Corporation, and allows K-12 teachers and high school counselors to learn about the petroleum industry and its impact on their local community. Participating teachers receive 31 License Renewal Units or two graduate college credits from Montana State University-Billings.

“It’s a weeklong course for Montana K-12 school teachers,” Petroleum Engineering Department Head Todd Hoffman said. “It’s mostly math and science teachers, but anyone can come. We teach them about the oil and gas industry, and provide hands-on lessons and fun experiments they can take back to their classroom.”

The program includes presentations about the petroleum industry, including leasing land, regulations, exploration, geology, drilling and production basics. In addition, topics on the future energy supply, sustainability, and climate change are discussed. Potential solutions to climate change, such as CO2 sequestration, are also covered. Besides the classroom content, the program includes three field trips to oilfield operations to see how petroleum is produced and refined. The highlight of the course is the hands-on activities and experiments demonstrating different aspects of the oil and gas industry.

Yakawich called the experience enlightening. In addition to learning about how petroleum was extracted, the different products that are produced, and the engineering utilized in the production and refining processes, the field experiences gave excellent illustrations to what the industry is actually like.

“I'm super glad I did this workshop,” Yakawich said. “Really learning about this industry is something that can't be done just sitting in a classroom. Part of it can, but there really isn’t any substitute for getting out into the field, physically seeing some of these production fields — most of which look like pristine farmland— talking to some of the folks that are running them, and realizing where they are in our community. You know, Montana's a big oil and gas producer, but I didn’t know that.”

Yakawich says the experience could be valuable to other teachers.

“You’re not going to be able to teach kids this stuff if you don't actually experience something like this,” Yakawich said.

Ultimately, Yakawich wants students to understand where energy comes from, what direction the industry is going in, and about the career potential in the industry.

“Energy is the foundation of our quality of life,” Yakawich said. “We need to have a robust portfolio of energy resources that is ultimately all renewable, but we are not there yet. In the meantime, the reality is, it's going to be many years before we develop an affordable and reliable renewable resource that's going to keep us warm in this below-zero      weather that we live in for a chunk of the year. We need these fossil fuels to provide that high energy heat that we need, not only to be comfortable, but to, you know, to work and live. It’s important for everyone, especially young students,to understand that.”

In the end, Yakawich believes he’s now better able to teach his students.

“It's important for this generation of students to understand since they're the ones, in five to 10 years that are hopefully going to be out there continuing to find, extract, and refine  these resources for the world,” Yakawich said. “I believe that as educators,it is our duty to prepare these students to be both realistic and critical thinkers in regards to our energy needs. If we don't do it, we're going to end up with a generation neither curious nor interested in any of this engineering, and that's just going to exacerbate the problem.”

This year’s Petroleum Resources Workshop will be held in Billings June 9-13. For questions about the Workshop or registration, contact Lana Petersen at 406-782-2342 or ljpet@hotmail.com. The program brochure can be found  here.