Conference Chairs
Anne Blankenship
Energy Transfer
Anne C. Blankenship is a regulatory attorney at Energy Transfer in Houston, Texas, where she focuses on pipeline safety and environmental compliance and enforcement matters. Prior to relocating to Texas in August of 2025, Ms. Blankenship was in private practice in Charleston, West Virginia for the majority of her legal career at the law firms of Robinson & McElwee and Babst Calland. During her law firm years, she focused on environmental and utility matters, mostly in the oil and gas sector. Ms. Blankenship was also the Executive Director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association from 2016-2020. She has been a member of EMLF since 2002 and is currently a member of the Board of Trustees. Ms. Blankenship has been an active participate in EMLF annual institutes during her career and is looking forward to reconnecting with old colleagues and friends during the 2026 Annual Institute.
Elizabeth Elmore
Jackson Kelly
Elizabeth (Beth) Elmore is a member of Jackson Kelly, PLLC, and practices out of the Firm’s office in Charleston, WV. She is the leader of the Firm’s oil and gas industry group, and is the co-leader of the Firm’s land and natural resources practice group. She focuses primarily on oil and gas matters, with a wide range of experience, both transactional and land related. Along with her years in private practice, Ms. Elmore formerly served as general counsel and land manager for an independent oil and gas producer based in Charleston. As a native of South Carolina, she is looking forward to the Annual Institute in Charleston, SC and having the opportunity to connect with colleagues and enjoy Charleston and its many beautiful sights.
Michael Rush
EQT Corporation
Mike Rush is Managing Director of Land Support at EQT Corporation, where he leads land administration, title, unit development, division order, and landowner relations across EQT’s operations and strategic growth initiatives. He has over a decade of Appalachian oil and gas experience, with deep expertise in complex title curative, mergers and acquisitions, and regulatory matters. He has contributed to major transactions and integrations across the region and previously served as Director of Title at EQT, Senior Attorney at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, and Senior Title Manager at Rice Energy. Mike is a longtime leader in energy law organizations, serving as Co-Founder and former Vice President of the Energy & Mineral Law Society at Duquesne University School of Law, and is a frequent speaker at industry events including the Appalachia Energy Law Conference and Kentucky Mineral Law Conference. As co-chair of the EMLF Annual Institute, Mike is shaping the development of practical, forward-looking programming that brings together legal, land, and business professionals to address emerging issues at the intersection of energy development and AI-driven data center demand, informed by EQT’s leadership in next-generation power solutions in the Appalachian region.
Speakers
Scot Anderson
Womble Bond Dickinson
Scot Anderson is the Co-Office Managing Partner in the Denver office of Womble Bond Dickinson. Decades of work in oil, gas, and mining gives Scot a deep understanding of the extractives industries and their role in the energy transition. Scot advises clients on commercial transactions, including the acquisition, divestiture, and financing of natural resource projects.
Scot regularly advises on projects throughout the Americas, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia. He is also working on the development of natural resources in outer space and in the deep sea. Prior to joining Womble, Scot was a partner at a global Am Law 50 firm and served as global head of their Energy and Natural Resources industry sector group. He also has ten years of in-house experience at a major international oil and gas company.
Don Bluedorn
Babst Calland
Don Bluedorn is Managing Shareholder of Babst Calland and serves on the Management Committee and as a member of the Board of Directors. His practice focuses primarily on water and wastewater management, site remediation/brownfields, and hazardous and non-hazardous waste issues. He has been with Babst Calland since late 1987 and has been active in firm management for much of that time.
Mr. Bluedorn received his B.S. from Grove City College in 1983, where he graduated with high honors in Electrical Engineering, and a J.D. in 1986 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he graduated Order of the Coif and was a member of the Editorial Board of the University of Pittsburgh Law Review.
Tison Campbell
K&L Gates
Tison Campbell is a partner in the K&L Gates’ Energy, Infrastructure, and Resources practice. His practice focuses on nuclear energy and the use of nuclear materials.Tison joined the firm after more than 19 years at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where he served in various senior leadership roles. Most recently, he was the assistant general counsel for legislation, ethics, and administrative law.
Tison attended the International School of Nuclear Law (ISNL), established by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) in co-operation with the University of Montpellier, where he received his university diploma in International Nuclear Law. Tison also holds a B.S. in Physics, with distinction, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia.
Hugh Caperton II
Vault 44.01
Hugh Caperton III is the Senior Vice President of Development with Vault 44.01, a carbon capture and sequestration project development company. With over 15 years experience in oil & gas operations, business development and leadership, Hugh has significant experience in land management, permitting and government relations. Hugh also managed capital budgets in excess of $250mm and participated in raising >$650mm in equity and debt capital in prior companies.
Baylee Carvillano
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC
Baylee Carvillano is an associate in the Bridgeport, West Virginia, office of Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC. Baylee focuses her practice on assisting energy clients to navigate complex litigation issues. She is a graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law, a member of the Women’s Energy Network and the 2025 class of Leadership Marion.
Evan Conard
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC
Evan Conard is a Member in the Charleston, West Virginia, office of Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC, who focuses his practice on energy litigation. Prior to joining Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC, Evan was an in-house attorney for a coal operator and a natural gas exploration and production company. He is a graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law and Wofford College.
Keith Coyle
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Keith Coyle is the Chief Counsel for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) at the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Before joining PHMSA as Chief Counsel, Coyle was a Shareholder in the Washington, D.C. office of Babst Calland, where he focused on matters involving energy and natural resources, including the regulation of pipelines and transportation of hazardous materials. Coyle previously served as Legislative Counsel for former U.S. Representative Kevin Brady (R-TX), who was then the Vice Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee and a Subcommittee Chairman on the Ways and Means Committee, as an Attorney Advisor at PHMSA, and as a law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Coyle is a graduate of American University’s Washington College of Law, with an LL.M. in Law & Government, Temple University’s James E. Beasley School of Law, with a J.D. in Integrated Trial Advocacy, and Lehigh University, with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations. He grew up outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and currently lives with his wife and three children on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Mirela Gravilas
Elementl Power
Mirela Gavrilas serves as SVP of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs at Elementl Power. Dr. Gavrilas brings a rare combination of regulatory authority and hands-on licensing execution to Elementl. As a senior NRC executive, including her tenure as Executive Director for Operations, she spearheaded the review of the NEIMA performance metrics now governing all new reactor licensing, made fundamental contributions to the regulatory frameworks shaping the next generation of nuclear technology, advanced risk-informed approaches to security and emergency preparedness, and oversaw construction permits, safety evaluations, and environmental reviews across multiple reactor technologies — from conventional light-water reactors to molten salt, fluoride salt-cooled, sodium fast, high-temperature gas, and accelerator-driven designs. She holds a PhD in Nuclear Engineering from MIT.
Max Gottlieb
Hissam Forman Donovan Ritchie
Max Gottlieb is an attorney with Hissam Forman Donovan and Ritchie in Charleston, West Virginia. He attended Georgetown University, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in Government, and the Washington and Lee School of Law, where he graduated summa cum laude and was a member of the Order of Coif. He has been recognized as a Rising Star by Superlawyers®. As of 2023, Max became the author of the Trial Handbook for West Virginia Lawyers, published by Thomson Reuters.
Prior to joining HFDR, Max served as a law clerk for the Hon. Robert B. King of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and for the Hon. Robert Chambers of the U.S. District Court for Southern District of West Virginia. Before attending law school, Max worked for various elected officials on the state and federal levels, including West Virginia’s senior United States Senator.
Andy Graham
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC
Andy Graham has practiced energy and mineral law with Steptoe & Johnson PLLC over the last 22 years in Texas and West Virginia, focusing on title examinations, assisting clients buying or selling mineral, midstream and renewable energy assets, and handling surface use issues arising from energy development. He also teaches energy land management at West Virginia University, writes about energy law developments for the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law’s Mineral and Energy Law Newsletter, and serves as a trustee of the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation. He has been included in Woodward/White’s The Best Lawyers in America® for Real Estate Law every year since 2012. He graduated from Shepherd College and the West Virginia University College of Law, and he is admitted to practice law in West Virginia, Texas, and Ohio.
Ryan Haddad
Blank Rome
Ryan Haddad’s multidisciplinary energy transactional practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and energy development and operations, primarily in the oil and gas, industrial and related sectors, including a leading practice representing project developers in the emerging carbon capture and sequestration (“CCS”) industry.
Ryan counsels industry clients on matters involving acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, CCS project development, production prepayment facilities and other structured finance, oil and gas and pore space leasing, corporate governance, project development, coordination of estates matters, distressed asset sales, commercial agreements, and other documents associated with natural gas operations, CCS, waste-to-energy projects, and other energy development.
Ryan has advised industry clients in equity, debt, and structured financing transactions, including asset-backed securitization (ABS) transactions, volumetric production payments, net profits interests and mineral royalty funds. Ryan also has experience representing debtors-in-possession in transactional and corporate matters in the Chapter 11 context, and has advised established companies and new and emerging business in connection with raising and investing capital and forming alternative asset structures such as special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”).
Anna Skipper Jewart
Babst Calland
Anna Skipper Jewart is an associate in the Public Sector and Energy and Natural Resources groups of Babst Calland. Ms. Jewart’s practice focuses primarily on municipal and land use law, with a concentration in general municipal, zoning, subdivision and land development. She represents both private clients in land use and development matters, as well as public clients as a municipal solicitor or special counsel. She has significant experience in land use issues in the energy industry, including in solar energy development, energy storage and data center development. Ms. Jewart earned her B.A. in International Relations from Boston University in 2014. She earned her J.D., cum laude, from Boston College Law School in 2019. Ms. Jewart is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and before the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association (ACBA) and Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) and is the secretary for the ACBA’s School and Municipal Law Section and has served as Secretary of the PBA’s Municipal Law Section. She was selected to the 2024-2025 Pennsylvania Rising Stars lists (Thomson Reuters).
Will Jordan
EQT Corporation
William Jordan was appointed Chief Legal and Policy Officer in October 2024. Will served as an advisor to the Rice Investment Group from May 2018 until July 2019. Prior to that, he served as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Rice Energy and Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Rice Midstream Partners LP. From September 2005 through December 2013, Will practiced corporate law at Vinson & Elkins LLP representing public and private companies in capital markets offerings and mergers and acquisitions, primarily in the oil and natural gas industry. He is a graduate of Davidson College with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and earned a Juris Doctorate from the Duke University School of Law.
Courtney Loper
EQT Corporation
Courtney Loper serves as the Head of Government Relations and Public Affairs at EQT Corporation, the nation’s largest natural gas producer. In this role, she leads a team encompassing Government Relations, Community Relations and Communications.
Previously, Courtney served as Director of Sustainability and Public Affairs at PDC Energy, a Colorado oil and natural gas company, managing the Stakeholder Relations team and the Company’s ESG strategy. Prior to joining PDC Energy, Courtney served as Senior Director in the Energy & Natural Resources division of the Strategic Communications segment of the global consulting firm FTI Consulting, where she managed public affairs campaigns that included employee engagement and advocacy programs. In 2016, Courtney was named one of the Denver Business Journal’s “Top Women in Energy.”
Prior to her tenure at FTI, Courtney worked in Washington, DC as the Deputy Press Secretary for former Speaker of the House, John A. Boehner, with additional responsibilities for media booking, event coordination and advance work. Before her employment with the Speaker’s office, Courtney was the radio and television booker for the House Republican Conference, which is the organizing body for all House Republicans. As such, she was responsible for securing interviews, press event execution, and preparing Members of Congress for national media appearances. She was later promoted to Deputy Press Secretary and served as an on-the-record spokeswoman for the House Republican Conference and its Chairman.
Timothy Puko
Eurasia Group
Timothy Puko covers metals and mining from Washington for Eurasia Group’s Energy, Climate & Resources team, where he follows the worldwide race to secure battery minerals and the geopolitical friction over mineral supply chains, and contributes to the organization’s analysis of political risks affecting oil and gas markets, clean-energy development, sustainability, and energy security.
Tim arrived at Eurasia Group after more than 15 years as a journalist, most of it covering energy markets and the intersection of business and government. He was most recently at the Washington Post after spending eight years at the Wall Street Journal. For these newspapers, Tim wrote about groundbreaking policy shifts during two presidential administrations. That coverage included scoops on greenhouse gas regulations and corporate sustainability, international negotiations over climate change and energy supplies, and the struggles to revive the US mining industry. Before that, he wrote about energy investors and commodity traders in New York.
Tim started covering energy and resources in the early years of the fracking boom in his hometown of Pittsburgh where he worked for the Tribune-Review. He has spent days in the deep underground mines of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wyoming. He has written about fights over uranium in the Four Corners states, copper in Alaska, and rare earths in California. Tim received a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and his bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University.
Brian Regli
Allegheny DC PropCo, a Davidson Kempner investment
Brian has more than 30 years of entrepreneurial experience in the real estate, software, technology, utility and natural resources industries. He currently serves as a Consultant to Allegheny DC PropCo, a wholly owned subsidiary of Davison Kempner. Davison Kempner is a private investment fund with over $39 billion in assets and has been an active participant in the global market for data center development. Most recently, Brian served as Executive Director of Critical Investments for Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. In that role, he was responsible for the deployment of more than $21 billion of federal formula funds for infrastructure and clean energy projects and built a cross functional and departmental team that secured an additional $1.2 billion from competitive programs.
Kurt Sanger
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC
Kurt Sanger is a Shareholder at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC where he supports clients in matters involving cybersecurity incidents, artificial intelligence, regulatory compliance, data privacy, and national security. His experience in law and technology touches on diverse fields such as insurance, foreign investment, government procurement, cooperative relationships with federal departments and agencies, and technology issues arising from mergers and acquisitions. A 23-year U.S. Marine Corps Judge Advocate, Kurt served for eight years with U.S. Cyber Command. He is a Non-Resident Fellow with the Army Cyber Institute at West Point and a Senior Non-Resident Advisor with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington, DC-based think tank. He is a Senior Advisor to CSIS’ Commission on U.S. Cyber Force Generation.
Nicole Shanklin
FBT Gibbons
Nicole Shanklin is a senior corporate and transactional attorney with FBT Gibbons with experience advising private equity–backed and industrial companies on complex legal, regulatory, and governance matters. She has served in private practice and as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of a global chemical distribution and manufacturing company with operations in the United States, Europe, India, and China, where she held enterprise‑wide responsibility for legal, regulatory, and human resources functions. Nicole’s experience includes mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, commercial transactions, corporate governance, securities compliance, commercial finance, and health, safety, and environmental matters. Nicole earned her BA from Mount Holyoke College and her JD from South Texas College of Law.
Joe Schremmer
University of Oklahoma
Joseph Schremmer is the Eugene Kuntz Chair of Law in Oil, Gas, & Natural Resources at the University of Oklahoma College of Law and Director of OU’s Oil, Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Center. He teaches courses in oil and gas and natural resources law, as well as first-year property and contracts. He is the author of multiple books on oil and gas law, including Advanced Introduction to U.S. Oil & Gas Law (Edward Elgar 2026), Oil and Gas Law: Cases and Materials (11th ed. Foundation Press) (co-author), and the multivolume treatise, Kuntz on Oil and Gas Law (sole update and revision author). His scholarly articles focus on property law issues in the development of minerals and natural resources. Schremmer is a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Law.
Jennifer Simon
Kazmarek, Mowrey, Cloud, Laseter
Jennifer engages in a wide variety of environmental, energy, toxic tort and product liability matters, primarily in litigation, regulatory and compliance arenas. Her litigation experience mostly involves disputes over wastewater, stormwater, contaminated groundwater, or storage gas migrating or flowing across property boundaries.
Additionally, Jennifer assists companies in their investigation and remediation of large Superfund sites, and she counsels clients in navigating the myriad environmental laws, regulations, and litigation risks encountered in routine operations, in particular PFAS-in-products laws and other PFAS reporting obligations.
Finally, Jennifer particularly enjoys representing clients participating in government rulemaking processes and rule challenges, including most recently greenhouse gas regulations under the Clean Air Act, PFAS legislation and regulations, the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act, National Priority List (NPL) listings, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules.
Wayne Stoltenberg
Formerly Vine Energy, Inc.
Wayne Stoltenberg spent 15 years in investment banking with Credit Suisse, Bear Stearns and JP Morgan, focused on the domestic energy sector, specifically oil & gas exploration and production and coal mining. His transaction experience encompasses a wide variety of equity and debt capital raising transactions, and mergers and acquisitions advisory situations. After his investment banking career, he moved to the corporate side and was the Chief Financial officer of several private equity backed oil & gas companies that operated in the Eagleford Shale of South Texas, Haynesville Shale of Northern Louisiana and the Power River Basin of Wyoming. These entities were backed by financial sponsors such as KKR, Blackstone, EnCap, Yorktown and Old Ironsides Energy. Most recently, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Vine Energy, Inc., (NYSE:VEI) that was a Blackstone portfolio company active in the Haynesville Shale of Northern Louisiana. Vine Energy raised $350MM in an initial public offering in March of 2021 and subsequently completed a $950MM in a bond offering and a $750MM credit facility to refinance all of its debt at substantially more favorable terms. In November of 2021, Vine Energy merged with Chesapeake Energy, now Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE), in a stock for stock transaction valued at $2.3B to form one of the largest US focused natural gas producers. Wayne received his BA from Columbia University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
Chad Sullivan
Jackson Kelly
Chad J. Sullivan is a Member in Jackson Kelly’s Coal, Healthcare, Energy, and Oil & Gas industry groups, focusing primarily on labor & employment and litigation. He practices out of the Firm’s office in Evansville, Indiana. He advises employers on a variety of labor and employment issues, and is a frequent speaker on labor and employment law topics. He is a graduate of the Washington University School of Law and the University of Missouri.
John Unice
bit-x-bit
John Unice directs the business, strategic and overall operations of bit-x-bit. John draws on 25 years of experience as a trial lawyer and lead inhouse counsel in large corporate and law firm settings. John’s wide-ranging portfolio includes litigating sophisticated cases, utilizing complex electronic evidence and leading digital risk-mitigation initiatives, both in the U.S. and internationally. As an associate with the Trial Practice Group at Jones Day (Pittsburgh), John’s savvy use of eDiscovery and digital forensics helped him secure favorable outcomes in numerous multi-million-dollar cases for both the defense and the prosecution. Before joining bit-x-bit, John was Assistant Secretary and Global Litigation Director for Covestro LLC, an international chemical manufacturer. John joined Covestro as a spinoff from Bayer Corporation, where he oversaw litigation and records retention initiatives for Bayer’s 3 operating companies, each of which operated in highly regulated industries.
Jason Wandling
Spilman Thomas & Battle
Jason Wandling is a Member with Spilman Thomas & Battle in Charleston, West Virginia, whose practice encompasses energy and environmental law, state and local government law, and business expansion and development. He appears before state agencies and courts regarding appeals of environmental permits and administrative enforcement actions, and advises clients on responses to notices of violations and other enforcement activity as well as compliance with state and federal statutes and regulations. He has also represented the West Virginia Manufacturers Association (WVMA) and the Gas & Oil Association of West Virginia (GOWV) on environmental and energy issues. Prior to joining Spilman Thomas & Battle, he was General Counsel to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. He is a graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law.
David Yaussy
Spilman Thomas & Battle
David Yaussy is a Member with Spilman Thomas & Battle, and chair of the firm’s Environmental Practice Group. His primary areas of practice are energy and environmental law, including environmental litigation, environmental permitting, and administrative appeals for the natural gas, chemical, manufacturing, silviculture and agriculture industries. He appears before state agencies and courts regarding appeals of environmental permits and administrative enforcement actions, and advises clients on brownfield remediation, notices of violations and other enforcement activity, siting, permitting actions, and compliance with state and federal statutes and regulations. He is a graduate of Otterbein University and the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.