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AMSO has an in-house team of leading experts in a wide range of fields, augmented by a number of world class experts who provide consulting services in areas such as process modeling, chemical engineering, geomechanics, reservoir engineering, permitting, hydrology, environment and civil engineering.

We greatly value building and maintaining ties to the region; so we have put an emphasis on hiring talent from western Colorado as we build our team. Our expanded team boasts decades of working and living in the Piceance Basin.


Consultants

W. Jack Clark, Ph.D.

Jack Clark earned his Ph.D. in entomology and wildlife management from Mississippi State University in 1974. He has worked as a consultant to natural resources extractive industries for twenty five years and has spent ten years managing environmental affairs for mining companies. Two of those consulting years and six years of the corporate work were for the C-a Oil Shale Tract, located about five miles from AMSO's RD&D Tract. He has a solid understanding of environmental management systems, diverse regulatory agency structures, the role of public interaction, and the techniques of permit acquisition and compliance. 

Jack began assisting AMSO in May 2007 with the preparation of a permitting "Road Map" for the RD&D Project. He assists AMSO management in preparing the project design and in preparing permit applications for federal, state, and county regulatory agencies. Jack interacts with those regulatory agencies as needed to facilitate permit acquisition, and he interacts with AMSO contractors to ensure permit compliance. He also advises and represents AMSO in certain activities regarding public and governmental relations.  

James R. McConaghy, Ph.D., P.E.

Jim McConaghy earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY in 1968.  His work experience included petroleum and synthetic fuels research as well as pipeline design and construction.

Jim joined Conoco Inc., in 1967 where he performed and lead research in both catalytic and thermal processing of petroleum. Jim was a project leader in the design, construction and operation of a demonstration scale facility in Conoco’s Ponca City refinery from 1977 through 1982 utilizing oil shale processing technology. Jim was Conoco’s technical representative for the joint Chevron/Conoco 350 ton/day shale plant at the Chevron Salt Lake City Refinery.  He remained Conoco’s primary technologist for oil shale interests until his retirement in 1998 after 31 years of service. 

In 1998 he formed Antero Engineering, LLC, (based in Salida, CO) and continued work for Conoco Inc. as a consultant in carbon fiber composite applications. In 2005, he participated in several oil shale development assessments. Antero Engineering also performs water conveyance system design and is a Technical Service Provider to the USDA-NRCS.

At AMSO, Jim is involved in the process design of surface oil and gas processing facilities and other aspects of the project.