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Cevat O. Karacan, Ph.D.

Dr. C. Özgen Karacan is a Research Petroleum Engineer with the USGS Geology, Energy & Minerals (GEM) Science Center in Reston, VA.

Dr. Karacan conducts research related to CO2-EOR, CO2 sequestration, reservoir engineering of petroleum system, and coal mine and abandoned mine methane emissions and resources. Before joining the USGS in 2017, Dr. Karacan worked for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Pittsburgh Mining Research Division for 13 years, where he managed research projects related to ventilation, and sources of gob gas and its control in coal mines.

Dr. Karacan has served as one of the Editors of International Journal of Coal Geology (2009-2021), and the Editor of Results in Geophysical Sciences (2020-2022). He is a Bureau member and vice chair of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) Group of Experts on Coal Mine Methane and Just Transition, and a U.S. delegate for Global Methane Initiative’s (GMI) Coal Mines Subcommittee. He holds associate professor of petroleum engineering accreditation in Turkey and adjunct professor positions at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan and Beijing). Dr. Karacan was awarded NIOSH Alice Hamilton Awards in 2013 and 2016.

Dr. Karacan received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in petroleum and natural gas engineering from Middle East Technical University, in Ankara, Turkey and worked for the Pennsylvania State University between 1998 and 2003 as a research associate.