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New publication analyzes energy value, chemistry of natural gas deposits in central, western Kansas
LAWRENCE — A new publication from the Kansas Geological Survey offers the most in-depth research to date into the origin and migration of natural gas sources in central and western Kansas. The research details the chemistry of these gases and provides guidance for future energy research and development efforts.
KU professor Donna Ginther receives Carolyn Shaw Bell Award from the American Economic Association
LAWRENCE — The American Economic Association awarded the 2025 Carolyn Shaw Bell Award to Donna Ginther, Roy A. Roberts & Regents Distinguished Professor of Economics and director of the Institute for Policy & Social Research at the University of Kansas. The award honors individuals who have furthered the status of women in economics. Ginther has a long record of research and service exploring the barriers that hamper achievement of women in economics and in STEM fields.
Victor Gonzalez Betancourt named curator in bee biodiversity and evolution
LAWRENCE — The Biodiversity Institute & Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas has named Victor Gonzalez Betancourt the inaugural Charles D. Michener Assistant Professor and Assistant Curator in Bee Biodiversity and Evolution. A specialist in bee systematics and evolution, Gonzalez Betancourt brings extensive knowledge and experience with the KU entomology collection to his new role. As a graduate student, he studied with Michener, a renowned KU entomologist.
Full stories below.
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Contact: David Newell, Kansas Geological Survey, [email protected]
New publication analyzes energy value, chemistry of natural gas deposits in central, western Kansas
LAWRENCE — A new publication from the Kansas Geological Survey offers the most in-depth research to date into the origin and migration of natural gas sources in central and western Kansas. The research details the chemistry of these gases, offers insight into how the composition of gases alter as they age and mix with water and other gases in the subsurface, and provides guidance for future energy research and development efforts.
“Natural gas produced in Kansas has been an important source of energy for decades,” said K. David Newell, author of the report and associate scientist emeritus at the KGS. “Natural gas offers a lighter carbon footprint than other fossil fuels and is increasingly used as a replacement for coal to generate power. Future exploration for natural gas resources increases the possibility that the state will remain a major source in the USA in the future.”
KGS Bulletin 266, “Stratigraphic and Regional Trends in Chemistry and Quality of Natural Gas in Central and Western Kansas, Midcontinent, USA,” identifies areas and geologic strata that may have potential for additional exploration of natural gas, helium and the new search for natural hydrogen.
Until now, no single publication has discussed the chemistry and chemical variability of natural gas in central Kansas, particularly with emphasis on the age of the rocks that harbor this gas and with respect to its geographic and geologic distribution.
“This publication provides an introduction and regional overview of energy and non-energy component gases in Kansas,” Newell said. “It also contributes to academic research into the occurrence, emplacement and geologic conditions of significant gas in southern and western Kansas and the U.S. midcontinent.”
The bulletin maps and compares component gases of natural gas, including those such as methane and ethane that contribute to heating value. It also analyzes noncombustible gases such as helium and nitrogen.
Historically, the main source of helium produced in the United States has been gas fields in Kansas, and in turn, the United States has been the main source of helium produced in the world. The fields that account for most of the helium production in Kansas were discovered decades ago and are steadily depleting.
“I think the maps in this report could help in pointing the way to additional gas deposits,” Newell said.
In analyzing the chemical compositions of natural gases in Kansas, the report maps occurrences of low-BTU gases that currently hold little importance to energy companies because of their low heating value. If the energy landscape changes in the future, making these gases economically valuable, the industry may see renewed interest in these areas.
The report also identifies areas in which sour gas, a potentially deadly drilling hazard, is found. An appendix lists fields where sour gas has been reported.
“Stratigraphic and Regional Trends in Chemistry and Quality of Natural Gas in Central and Western Kansas, Midcontinent, USA” is available online.
The data upon which the bulletin is based were compiled over several decades. As of 2025, nearly 6,000 analyses were included in the database, the most extensive publicly available compilation of natural gas analyses for the state. These analyses are available as a KGS open-file report.
About the Kansas Geological Survey
The Kansas Geological Survey is a nonregulatory research and service division of KU. KGS scientists study and provide information about the state’s geologic resources and hazards, including groundwater, oil and natural gas, rocks and minerals, and earthquakes.
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KU adds $7.8 billion to the state economy each year and supports over 87,000 Kansas jobs.
https://economicdevelopment.ku.edu/impact
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Contact: Carrie Caine, Institute for Policy & Social Research, 785-864-9102, [email protected]
KU professor Donna Ginther receives Carolyn Shaw Bell Award from the American Economic Association
LAWRENCE — The American Economic Association awarded the 2025 Carolyn Shaw Bell Award to Donna Ginther, Roy A. Roberts & Regents Distinguished Professor of Economics and director of the Institute for Policy & Social Research at the University of Kansas.
Commemorating the founding of the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession, the Bell Award honors individuals who have furthered the status of women in economics. Ginther has a long record of research and service exploring the barriers that hamper achievement of women in economics and in STEM fields, developing interventions to test and improve mentoring for women in economics, and mentoring women at every career stage.
“I am humbled and honored to receive the Carolyn Shaw Bell Award. I have spent my career working to make the economics profession more welcoming to all economists and especially women,” Ginther said.
A labor economist, Ginther has researched labor markets, gender differences in employment outcomes, wage inequality, science policy and investments in children.
Ginther has pursued her goal to make economics more welcoming to all through research on career progression in economics and as a personal mentor and guide to other women economists.
“This award is so well deserved. Wherever I go, it seems Dr. Ginther has touched the lives and careers of the women economists around me. It is exciting and heartwarming to see her recognized for both her intellectual rigor and her compassion for the next generation of women economists,” said Misty Heggeness, KU associate professor of public affairs & administration and IPSR associate research scientist.
Related research
Ginther and her collaborators have documented the effects of a randomized controlled trial testing mentoring workshops for pre-tenure female economists in academic positions. One study documented the effect of workshops in retaining women in academia and improving the rates at which they achieve tenure at top-50 ranked institutions. Ginther and co-authors found that these workshops helped women increase the number and quality of publications and successful grant applications. They also found that the mentoring workshop helped participants learn how to expand their co-author networks and boosted their career success.
These findings are especially important because of persistent barriers to achievement for women in economics. Ginther and her co-author, Shulamit Kahn, in 2004 and again in 2021, explored the rates at which women in economics achieve tenure. Their 2021 findings suggest that there is an ongoing gender gap in tenure for faculty in economics, particularly at less research-intensive institutions.
Ginther’s work over more than 20 years helps refine understanding of where barriers might inhibit career progression and what mechanisms can help economists overcome those barriers. For example, early work on gender gaps in tenure achievement led to the adoption of stop-the-clock policies, allowing pre-tenure faculty to pause the tenure clock while focused on caregiving responsibilities such as having children.
More recently, Ginther has collaborated with a team of economists to understand and address barriers to success in the profession for women. With funding from Co-Impact, this project aims to change culture issues in economics departments and other spaces in academia, like conferences and seminars. Team members have started to understand and address longstanding issues through a survey of economics department chairs and a series of focus groups with graduate students. Programming such as peer-to-peer mentoring and a conference for chairs aims to put into practice the lessons from these studies.
Ginther’s work on mentoring is also evident in her life as a faculty member and research center director at KU.
“Professor Donna K. Ginther has been an exceptional mentor and adviser throughout my doctoral training. Her guidance, encouragement and unwavering support have shaped my research, strengthened my professional identity and given me the confidence to grow as an independent scholar,” said Mumtahina Islam, fourth-year economics doctoral student.
Lilly Springer, doctoral candidate in economics at KU, described Ginther as a mentor and model.
“Dr. Donna Ginther’s mentorship has been transformative for me personally and professionally. Her unwavering support of both my research and professional development has reinforced that I belong in the economics profession,” Springer said. “I cannot imagine my graduate school experience without her kindness and generosity, and I strive to follow her example as I begin the next stage of my career.”
Ginther formally accepted the 2025 Carolyn Shaw Bell Award at the 2026 American Economic Association/Allied Social Science Associations meeting in Philadelphia.
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For every dollar a student invests in a KU education, they gain $5.70 in lifetime earnings.
https://economicdevelopment.ku.edu/impact
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Contact: Natalie Vondrak, Natural History Museum/Biodiversity Research Institute, [email protected]
Victor Gonzalez Betancourt named curator in bee biodiversity and evolution
LAWRENCE — The Biodiversity Institute & Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas has named Victor Gonzalez Betancourt the inaugural Charles D. Michener Assistant Professor and Assistant Curator in Bee Biodiversity and Evolution. He will begin his role in early January 2026 with a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology.
“Joining this community is a tremendous honor,” Gonzalez Betancourt said. “I am committed to strengthening and expanding KU’s entomological collection, a resource that has shaped the study of insects for more than a century, while training the next generation of researchers. My goal is to build an internationally recognized research program that integrates museum science and cutting-edge tools and approaches to advance our understanding of bee diversity, phylogeny and evolution, ultimately supporting healthier ecosystems, strengthening agriculture and benefiting society.”
Gonzalez Betancourt brings extensive knowledge and experience with the KU entomology collection to his new role. He previously served as a research associate with the Biodiversity Institute and as an associate teaching professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, working with the collection and KU students for the past six years.
A specialist in bee systematics and evolution, Gonzalez Betancourt studies phylogeny, patterns of diversity and the ways bees respond to environmental stressors. His work includes assessing the decline of pollinators and understudied biodiversity hot spots in the northeastern Aegean region of Greece and in the American tropics, including Colombia and Panama.
He is the principal investigator on three National Science Foundation-funded projects designed to provide equitable access to the world’s largest bee collection and facilitate the identification of native bees.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Gonzalez Betancourt as the Charles D. Michener curator,” said Nico Franz, director of the Biodiversity Institute & Natural History Museum. “Based on his outstanding record of academic leadership and mentorship, we are ideally positioned to extend KU’s globally leading role in bee biodiversity and natural history research into the future.”
Gonzalez Betancourt earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá and a doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology from KU, where he trained under the mentorship of renowned KU entomologist Charles Michener, who died in 2015.
“KU is a global leader in biodiversity research, and the partnership between the Biodiversity Institute and the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology creates a unique environment for discovery and innovation,” Gonzalez Betancourt said.
The Biodiversity Institute is an internationally recognized center for research and graduate student education in evolutionary biology, systematics and biodiversity informatics, with curated collections of more than 11 million plant, animal and fossil specimens and 2 million cultural artifacts. It is one of 11 designated research centers that fall under the KU Office of Research.
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Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]
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