UC Davis Pilot Scientist Contributes to a Solution for California’s Methane Gas Leak

Hardly a week goes by on our campus where we don’t read or hear about some extraordinary work being done by a UC Davis expert. The past week provided yet another example of this.

There was a fascinating article in last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine about the giant methane gas link that has plagued the Porter Ranch community in Southern California.

As the Times points out, when an oil and gas expert from the Environmental Defense Fund attended a meeting with “100 panicked residents” complaining about headaches, nosebleeds and other health issues, one person who could contribute to finding a solution came to mind.

Concerned that the full scope of the leak and its potential effects were not understood, a call was placed to Stephen Conley, a UC Davis atmospheric scientist.

Conley has received much-deserved recognition in California media and with our own university news service. Now his work has been exposed to an even broader audience.

“He flies a single--engine Mooney TLS that looks like something Cary Grant might have flown in ‘Only Angels Have Wings,’” the Times article points out. “Public agencies, scientists and nonprofit organizations that study the climate hire Conley to loop over oil and gas fields at low altitudes, measuring methane concentrations with a device called a Picarro analyzer.”

With Conley’s help, the true nature of the leak is known and state officials are able to deal with it more effectively. I was proud to read about his important contributions, just as I am of so many other UC Davis faculty, staff and students making our world a better place.

Connect with me on social media; visit my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram , Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn profiles or my Huffington Post Blog.