Charles F. Brandenburg Memorial Scholarship
Annual Achievement Award

CSUG established a Scholarship and Awards Committee in 2003 to support the long-term growth and interests of the unconventional gas industry in Canada. The Committee awards one or more scholarships annually in the name of Dr. Charles F. Brandenburg, who was an early pioneer and champion for NGC and unconventional gas developments. The student scholarship winners are selected from among qualified applicants enrolled full-time at an accredited Canadian university in a degree program related to the petroleum industry, including engineering, geology, geophysics, environmental science and business students.

Charles F. Brandenburg Memorial Scholarship – 2010 Criteria

The Canadian Society for Unconventional Gas is offering three scholarships valued at $2500 each, for graduate students undertaking research in topics related to unconventional gas.  Applications for these Charles F. Brandenburg Memorial awards will be accepted from eligible students up to August 31, 2010 and winners are expected to be announced by September 30, 2010.  This year the student scholarship winners are selected from applicants enrolled full-time at an accredited Canadian university in a post-graduate degree program related to the petroleum industry, including engineering, geology, geophysics, environmental science and business.

All applications should include:
- A personal resume
- Certified transcripts of academic record
- A summary of the current research topic
- An outline of the relevance of the research to the field of unconventional gas: exploration or production, regulations, environmental impact and mitigation, marketing
- Letters of recommendation from faculty members

Applications can be emailed to the Scholarship Committee Chair, David Marchioni ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or mailed to:

Canadian Society for Unconventional Gas
Suite 420, 237 8th Avenue SE
Calgary AB T2G 5C3
Attention: Scholarship Committee

Charles F. Brandenburg Biography

Dr. Charles F. Brandenburg is regarded by many as one of the “founding fathers” of the coalbed methane industry. He served in various leadership and management positions, from 1982 until his retirement in 2001, for the Gas Research Institute (GRI) in the natural gas from coals and other gas supply programs. He was Manager of Methane from Coal Seams during the critical period from 1982 to 1987, when the CBM industry grew from a research program in Alabama to a significant contributor to US natural gas production.
Dr. Brandenburg (or Chuck, as he was known) received his PhD from the University of Wyoming in 1969. From 1959 to 1980, he was a research scientist and project manager at the US DOE Laramie Energy Technology Center, working on tar sands, oil shale, and underground coal gasification projects. From 1980 to 1982, he supervised technology development for Arco Coal in its coal gasification project. Chuck served with GRI (now the Gas Technology Institute) from 1982 to 2001. In the latter years of his career, Chuck worked on various projects in Canada promoting the development of natural gas from coals. Chuck passed away in 2002 and the industry lost a champion for the unconventional gas cause.

For more information regarding the Charles F. Brandenburg Memorial Scholarship, please contact:

2007 Charles F. Brandenburg Memorial Scholarship Recipients

Glynn Bates, Bachelor of Applied Science, University of Regina.
Tamara Etmannski, Bachelor of Science in Applied & Environmental Geology, Bachelor of Social Science in International Relations, University of Calgary.
Ryan Lemiski, Master of Science, University of Alberta.

Charles Brandenburg Scholarship winner Tamara Etmannski (R) with Derek Krivak, 9th Annual CSUG Conference Chair.

Charles Brandenburg Scholarship winner Ryan Lemiski (R) with Derek Krivak, 9th Annual CSUG Conference Chair.

2006 Scholarship Recipients

Cindy Robinson, M.SC.Petroleum Geology, University of Calgary
Patrick Klassen, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Calgary
2006 CSUG Student Attendance Package Recipients
Meng Shangzhi, Wang Zhuping, Zhao Jun, Fang Chao, Guo Zengrui and Peng Xiaomei Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Calgary. Poster Title " Formation Damage: Factor Analysis and Control Measures for Coalbed Methane Reservoirs during Drilling Process."

2005 Scholarship Recipients

Gareth Chalmers, PhD Candidate, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia
Angelo Rizzuto, Bachelor of Commerce Program, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary
Daniel Ross, PhD Candidate, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia
2005 CSUG Student Attendance Package Recipients
Patrick Klassen and Berhard Mayer, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Calgary. Poster Title: "Geochemical and Isotopic Composition of CBM production waters of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation and Mannville Group in Alberta: Preliminary Results.

2004 Scholarship Recipients

Charles Brandenburg Scholarships were awarded to (left to right) Jason Gray, Anjani Kumar and Daniel Ross by Cam Matthews, CSUG Scholarship Committee Chair (second from right) for their project presentations

Charles Brandenburg Scholarship winner Jason Gray, 2nd year. MBA, University of Calgary, stands by his poster submission of "Public Notification and Consultation in Coalbed Methane Development in Alberta."

Charles Brandenburg Scholarship winner Anjani Kumar, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, stands by his poster submission of "Experimental and Modeling Studies of Dissociation of Gas Hydrates in Porous Media."

Charles Brandenburg Scholarship winner Daniel Ross, Earth and Ocean Science, University of BC, stands by his poster submission of "Geologic Controls on Methane Capacity and Reservoir Trends of the Early Jurassic Nordegg Member in Northeastern British Columbia."

2004 CSUG Student Attendance Package Recipients

Students awarded free registration to the 6th Annual Unconventional Gas Conference, seen here with CSUG Scholarship Committee Chair Cam Matthews (second from left) were: (left to right) Fottiny Saites, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary; Gareth Chalmers, Earth Sciences, University of BC; and Rong Guo, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary.
Other students offered the conference package, but unable to attend were:
Jeff Weiss, 4th year, Geological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan
Hugoline Morton, Natural Resources and Energy Program, University of Alberta
Carmen Manning, 4th year, Mining Engineering, Dalhousie University
Stephen Hanus, Natural Resources and Energy Program, University of Alberta

Annual Achievement Award

Nominations are made by CSUG members for individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions and accomplishments towards advancing the development of unconventional gas resources in Canada.

2007 Sproule Achievement Award Recipient
Trident Exploration Corp. Accepted by Mr. John Anderson, VP, COO

2006 Sproule Achievement Award Recipient
Michael J, Gatens, CEO, Quicksilver Resources Canada.

2005 Sproule Achievement Award Recipient
Barry Ryan, Coal and Coalbed Gas Specialist, BC Ministry of Energy and Mines.

2004 Annual Achievement Award Recipient
George Vonieff, President of MGV Energy, was the 2004 Sproule Award recipient. He received the award and a plaque at the 2004 conference.

2003 Annual Achievement Award Recipient
Dr. Mark Bustin, UBC professor and president of RMB Earth Science Consultants.