DEPARTMENT EVENTS

Chevron Lecture on Energy

The Rice Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering is excited to host the annual Chevron Lecture on Energy on May 23, 2025.

About the 2025 Chevron Lecture

This year's Chevron lecture:

"The Global Methane Cycle: Emissions, Tipping Points, and Opportunities for Atmospheric Removal"
Dr. Rob Jackson, PhD,
Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Friday, May 23, 2025
9:30 am - Lecture, Ralph S. O'Connor, 5th Floor
10:30 am - Reception, Ralph S. O'Connor, 5th Floor

Jackson

About the Lecture

Methane is responsible for two thirds as much warming as carbon dioxide in recent decades. Its potency and relatively short lifetime also make it the only greenhouse gas for which mitigation today can reduce peak temperatures over the next decade or two. This talk will discuss current sources and sinks of methane, include fossil fuel, agricultural, and natural systems, and opportunities for reducing emissions cost effectively. It will also examine the emerging field of methane removal from the atmosphere—and the role chemical engineers may play in this solution space.

Dr. Rob Jackson is an Earth scientist at Stanford University (https://jacksonlab.stanford.edu/) and chair of the Global Carbon Project (https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/). One of the top five most cited climate and environmental scientists in the world, Jackson’s current projects include establishing a global network of methane monitoring towers across the Amazon and measuring and reducing methane emissions and air pollution from oil and gas wells, city streets, and homes and buildings. His writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Scientific American, and many other outlets. He is also the author of two books of children’s poetry with Highlights magazine. His new book on climate solutions, Into the Clear Blue Sky, was recently named one of “The 8 best science books of 2024” by The Times. Jackson received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Rice University.

Past Chevron Lectures

2025 - The Global Methane Cycle: Emissions, Tipping Points, and Opportunities for Atmospheric Removal
Rob Jackson, PhD
Stanford

2023 - New Directions for Chemical Engineering
Jose G. Santiesteban PhD, NAE
ExxonMobil

2022 - We Can Use Carbon to Decarbonize - and Get Hydrogen for Free
Matteo Pasquali, PhD
A.J. Hartsook Professor
Rice University

2021 - Corporate-academia partnership for driving innovation in Energy
Akshay Sahni
General Manager, Strategy and Technology for Chevron Technology Ventures

2020 - Outlook for Energy: A Perspective to 2040
T.J. Wojnar
Exxon Mobil Corporation

2019 - Houston: Challenges and Opportunities
Ed Emmett, Ph.D.
Professor in the Practice
Rice University

2018 - The View 2018
Janeen Judah, JD
Chevron Corporation

2017 - Enhancing Carbon Dioxide Enhanced Oil Recovery
George Hirasaki, PhD
A.J. Hartsook Professor Emeritus and Research Professor
Rice University

2016 - The Uncertain Energy Future
Kenneth B. Medlock III
James A. Baker III, and Susan G. Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics, James A. Baker III Institute

2015 - America’s Prosperity Through America’s Energy: Our Sustainable 21st Century Opportunity
John Hofmeister
Founder and Chief Executive of Citizens for Affordable Energy
Former President Shell Oil Company

2014 - The Role of Oil and Gas in the Global Energy Picture
Carlos Aguilera
Vice President and General Manager, Business Development
Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Company

2013 - Transforming Energy in the Twenty-First Century
Franklin M. Orr Jr.
Director, Precourt Institute for Energy
Stanford University