Events

MEI Seminar Series #1 - Conventional and unconventional natural gas

Thursday 13 March 2025, 2.00-3.00pm

About

We invite you to the first seminar in our MEI Seminar Series for 2025, presented by Steve Henzell, Senior Technical Advisor at Worley.

This seminar will outline the history and evolution of gas production and consumption in Australia. From the 1850s, cities were being supplied with town gas generated from coal sources. In the 1960s, onshore and offshore natural gas discoveries allowed the conversion to natural gas in most Australian cities. Coal seam gas has then been extracted for commercial use since 2001 and expanded significantly in Queensland in the 2010s. In contrast, shale gas has become a huge resource in the United States but remains in its infancy in Australia.

Steve will also describe the evolution of gas supply in Australia, growth into export markets and the transition into a mature resource.

Hosted as part of the Brotherton Fellowship program, Assistant Professor Joanne M Chung (University of Toronto Mississauga) will share her research journey, exploring how culture, race and ethnicity intersect with young people’s emotional lives and personality development.

Psychologists are deeply interested in how people change during key stages of development, such as young adulthood, but much remains to be understood about the experiences of people from minoritised groups in various contexts.

Throughout her talk, Assistant Professor Joanne Chung will discuss the benefits and challenges of integrating community-engaged research practices, particularly how she balances her existing research program with a shift toward more socially just, action-oriented research. She will also highlight how community-engaged approaches have the potential to make research not only more meaningful and impactful for participants, but also to create real change within the broader field of psychology.