Hydraulic Fracturing: Potential Impacts on Drinking Water

Stephen Osborn is a hydrogeologist with an expertise in natural gas geochemistry and water quality issues specific to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. He was the lead author on a recent study at Duke University that shows methane contamination of drinking water associated with shale-gas extraction in northeastern Pennsylvania andupstate New York. Osborn is currently an assistant professor in the Geology Department at California State Polytechnic University Pomona. He has also worked as a consultant, conducting hydrogeologic and environmental investigations in the northeastern and southwestern United States. Osborn holds a Master's degree in soil science from the University of California at Riverside and in geology from Georgia State University. He earned his PhD from the University of Arizona. Part of the National Affairs Series and the Live Green! Sustainability Series.