Becoming More Ethical Oil-and-Gas Industry Leaders

Outcome/Accomplishment

Ethics was a common theme that ran through conferences, workshops, and other meetings for Fellows and graduate students at the Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR), a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC) based at Purdue University.

Impact/Benefits

A vast majority of participants rated each of the ethics-related presentations as “good” or “excellent.” The Center’s Fellows in particular described how they were struck by how business ethics affect so many workplace decisions.

Explanation/Background

The past year’s focus was on exploring with NSF CISTAR Fellows the ethical implications engineers often face, including when developing and implementing new technologies or working as engineers in the oil-and-gas sector. Meanwhile, 15% of Graduate Fellows attended a 2-day IEEE ETHICS-2023 Conference. They joined a global community of STEM practitioners from industry, academia, and civil society interested in exploring how ethics intersects with their disciplines.

NSF CISTAR also added an ethics-related workshop to the Center’s Research and Mentoring (REM) program on Environmental and Energy Justice. And graduate Fellows at NSF CISTAR’s Biannual Meeting in Austin, TX toured the Bullock History Museum to learn about Texas history, where they also enjoyed an interactive workshop with a retired oil and gas executive who spoke about “Ethical Issues in the Oil and Gas Sector.”

1) IEEE ETHICS Plenary on “Thinking Like an Engineer: Studies in the Ethics of a Profession”; 2) EPA's environmental justice mapping and screening tool, presented in the Environmental and Energy Justice Workshop; 3) Fellows visiting the Bullock Texas State History Museum; and 4) CISTAR’s Biannual Meeting workshop on “Ethical Issues in the Oil and Gas Sector.”
Credit:
CISTAR

Location

West Lafayette, Indiana

e-mail

cistar@purdue.edu

website

https://cistar.us/

Start Year

Energy and Sustainability

Energy and Sustainability Icon
Energy and Sustainability Icon

Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure

Lead Institution

Purdue University

Core Partners

University of New Mexico, Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame, University of Texas at Austin

Fact Sheet

CISTAR Fact Sheet.pdf
1) IEEE ETHICS Plenary on “Thinking Like an Engineer: Studies in the Ethics of a Profession”; 2) EPA's environmental justice mapping and screening tool, presented in the Environmental and Energy Justice Workshop; 3) Fellows visiting the Bullock Texas State History Museum; and 4) CISTAR’s Biannual Meeting workshop on “Ethical Issues in the Oil and Gas Sector.”
Credit:
CISTAR

Outcome/Accomplishment

Ethics was a common theme that ran through conferences, workshops, and other meetings for Fellows and graduate students at the Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR), a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC) based at Purdue University.

Location

West Lafayette, Indiana

e-mail

cistar@purdue.edu

website

https://cistar.us/

Start Year

Energy and Sustainability

Energy and Sustainability Icon
Energy and Sustainability Icon

Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure

Lead Institution

Purdue University

Core Partners

University of New Mexico, Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame, University of Texas at Austin

Fact Sheet

CISTAR Fact Sheet.pdf

Impact/benefits

A vast majority of participants rated each of the ethics-related presentations as “good” or “excellent.” The Center’s Fellows in particular described how they were struck by how business ethics affect so many workplace decisions.

Explanation/Background

The past year’s focus was on exploring with NSF CISTAR Fellows the ethical implications engineers often face, including when developing and implementing new technologies or working as engineers in the oil-and-gas sector. Meanwhile, 15% of Graduate Fellows attended a 2-day IEEE ETHICS-2023 Conference. They joined a global community of STEM practitioners from industry, academia, and civil society interested in exploring how ethics intersects with their disciplines.

NSF CISTAR also added an ethics-related workshop to the Center’s Research and Mentoring (REM) program on Environmental and Energy Justice. And graduate Fellows at NSF CISTAR’s Biannual Meeting in Austin, TX toured the Bullock History Museum to learn about Texas history, where they also enjoyed an interactive workshop with a retired oil and gas executive who spoke about “Ethical Issues in the Oil and Gas Sector.”