Speakers

In her role as Acting Center Director for the Oil and Gas Center of Excellence at NETL, Alexandra (Ale) Hakala leads the strategic development of NETL research around technical challenges associated with the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors of the oil and gas value chain, in coordination with the Hydrocarbon and Geothermal Energy Office Headquarters.

As the Senior Fellow for Geologic and Environmental systems, Ale leads the strategic development of multidisciplinary geoscience and engineering research across NETL’s Centers of Excellence in Coal, Oil & Gas, and Critical Minerals. Prior to her current roles, Ale’s research focused on geochemical reactions and the behavior of naturally-occurring geochemical tracers in oil and gas, geologic carbon storage, and geothermal reservoirs. She became a Federal scientist at NETL in 2009 after completing a postdoctoral appointment, also at NETL. Ale was an Oppenheimer Science and Energy Leadership Program fellow in 2023 and a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2017. She earned her Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from The Ohio State University in 2008, and her Bachelor of Arts in Geosciences Cum Laude with a focus in Environmental Studies from Princeton University in 2003.