Mark Zoback insists that fracking must be regulated, just like any other industrial process, otherwise the harm will outweigh the good. As a distinguished Professor of Geophysics at Stanford University, he conducts research on fault mechanics, and reservoir geomechanics with an emphasis on shale gas and the feasibility of long-term geologic storage of CO2 and the occurrence of induced and triggered earthquakes. With this experience, he served on the National Academy of Energy committee investigating the Deepwater Horizon accident.

Zoback recently served on the Secretary of Energy’s committee on shale gas development and environmental protection. He earned the 2015 Robert J. Berg Award for Outstanding Research from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.