My name is Prosper Nekekpemi. I am a graduate student pursuing my master's degree in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. I was born in Lagos but studied for a bachelor's degree in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Uyo in Akwa-Ibom state, Nigeria. I volunteered as a departmental tutor and taught several courses at night classes to ensure academic growth among my colleagues and juniors. Despite my vigorous extra-curricular involvement, my academic performance and enthusiasm in petroleum engineering didn't falter and this assiduity paid off when, along with a team of 4 other students, I was selected to represent the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) University of Uyo student chapter at the Africa regional qualifiers of the 2017 SPE PetroQuiz Championship where we emerged as the winners of the competition, qualifying my school as one of the 5 schools to represent Africa at the Petrobowl final. The following year 2018, I also represented my school alongside 4 other team members at the regional qualifiers of the 2018 SPE PetroQuiz Championship where we emerged as winners for the second time in a row.

Karen Ochie is a graduate student pursuing a Dual Degree in Petroleum Engineering at the Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering, and Data Science and Analytics at the Gallogly College of Engineering, both in the University of Oklahoma. Her current research focuses on the Optimization of CO2 for Carbon Storage and Utilization in Oklahoma. She currently has three publications with the Society of Petroleum Engineers and has been a volunteer of the organization since 2014. Prior to this, she was a planning engineer with ExxonMobil Nigeria where she was the first female intern in her department. She has professional experience in petroleum engineering, project management and planning engineering, and has a passion for volunteering and giving back to the community around her; both in her engineering space and otherwise.

My name is Sibil Samuel. I was born in April 20, 1989 in a village by name Yameriga in the Talensi district, Tongo. I grew up there with my parents, both farmers, in the Upper East region of Ghana. I am the only privileged born of a family of about 15 Siblings (One man, three wives) who made it to the tertiary level. I started taking charge of animals at age 8 and farming at age 10.

My name is Mychal Kearns, and I am a sophomore at The Pennsylvania State University. I am majoring in petroleum and natural gas engineering and minoring in energy and business finance. Some of my involvements on campus include the Membership Chairperson for the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the Marshal of Theta Chi Fraternity, and I am also heavily involved in a THON committee as well as the Penn State Latin Mass Society. I am beyond honored and grateful to have been selected as a recipient of the 2021 Donald G. Russell Scholarship as this will aid me in furthering my academic journey.

Stella is a seasoned, experienced and certified Petroleum Reservoir Engineer. She has spent the past ten years working with individuals and companies with specialties in Reservoir Engineering, Reserves/resources estimation and reporting, Production technology and Project Economics Evaluations. She spent most of her career with FIRST E&P - which is one of the most-respected independent oil and gas operators in Nigeria – where they acquired 4 new oil blocks. She made high-impact contributions to the business, culminating in FIRST E&P's successfully reaching its First-oil milestone and currently at about 40kbopd production. With a sound academic background in both chemical engineering and petroleum engineering, Stella had consistently finished with distinction/first class honor during her National diploma, Bachelor's and Master's days at the Lagos state polytechnic, University of Lagos and IPS, University of Port-Harcourt/IFP school affiliates respectively.

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