From the President
Jennifer Miskimins, 2026 SPE President
Jennifer L. Miskimins is a professor and the department head of the petroleum engineering department at the Colorado School of Mines (Mines), where she holds the F.H. Mick Merelli/Coterra Energy Distinguished Department Head Chair.
SPE President in the News
Journal of Petroleum Technology
Energizing Tomorrow: Engineering Education, Upskilling, and SPE’s Role
01 March 2026
Petroleum engineering education is at a crossroads, with university enrollments shrinking and a talent gap looming. Take a look at what the data really show about degree trends, why Gen Z is turning away from engineering, and how SPE—from K–12 outreach to lifelong upskilling—is uniquely positioned to impact the industry’s future workforce.
US Energy Secretary Urges Industry To Double Oil and Gas Output
05 February 2026
Major increases in hydrocarbon production require both incremental and revolutionary technologies, industry leaders said during the SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference.
Energizing Tomorrow: SPE’s Scholarly Publishing
01 February 2026
From JPT to SPE Journal, OnePetro to technical guidance documents, SPE’s publishing portfolio is broader and more dynamic than many members may realize. In this column, I unpack the Society’s current publication options, explore how AI and open access are reshaping scholarly publishing, and share what SPE is doing to strengthen paper quality, transparency, and impact in an evolving digital landscape.
SPE President Breaks Down Venezuela’s Oil Challenges on Science Friday
13 January 2026
SPE President Jennifer Miskimins lent her expertise to Science Friday’s conversation about Venezuelan oil, explaining the reality of what it would take to extract and refine it.
Energizing Tomorrow: Rethinking Membership
01 January 2026
What do today’s membership trends mean for SPE? While declining numbers and an aging demographic can be unsettling, the reality is that these challenges are not unique to SPE. As professional associations everywhere face generational shifts, SPE members have an opportunity to hear about the success stories ongoing now and reflect on what will sustain our community in the years ahead.
SPE Recognizes Volunteers on International Volunteer Day
05 December 2025
SPE CEO Simon Seaton and 2026 SPE President Jennifer Miskimins share a special message to SPE's volunteers on International Volunteer Day.
Energizing Tomorrow: Engineering Education, Upskilling, and SPE’s Role
March 2026
Do you know that feeling when you are so used to something in your daily routine that you’re surprised when somebody else asks you about it? Along the lines of “that’s standard, why would somebody care?”, I’ve come to realize that I’m that way with petroleum engineering education—or just academics in general.
As the Department Head of Petroleum Engineering at Colorado School of Mines, I live and breathe higher education on a daily basis. It’s just part of my DNA at this point. However, it’s finally sunk in that not everybody is as immersed as I am. This realization occurred due to the sizable number of questions I receive from SPE members about higher education, industry/academia relationships, research funding, continuing education, upskilling, etc...
Listen to the podcast in the embedded player above, or read the full transcript on JPT.
About Jennifer Miskimins
Jennifer L. Miskimins is a professor and the department head of the petroleum engineering department at the Colorado School of Mines (Mines), where she holds the F.H. Mick Merelli/Coterra Energy Distinguished Department Head Chair.
She has over 30 years of experience in the petroleum industry, starting with Marathon Oil Company as a production engineer. Miskimins began teaching at Mines in 2002 and has held various appointments since then. From 2013–2015, she held a part-time appointment at Mines while working at Barree & Associates. In 2016, she returned full-time to the university.
Miskimins served as the first Completions Technical Director on the SPE International Board of Directors. She was an SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2010–2011 and 2013–2014. She was awarded the 2014 SPE Completions Optimization and Technology Award, and in 2022, she received the SPE Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty.
Miskimins has served on a variety of conference organizing committees, including chairing the 2023 and 2024 SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Conference and Exhibition, and as a technical editor for SPE journals, including serving as the executive editor of Production & Operations for 3 years. She was the editor in chief for the 2019 SPE Monograph update “Hydraulic Fracturing: Fundamentals and Advancements.” Miskimins has served on the AIME Board of Trustees since 2018 as an SPE trustee and was the 2022 AIME president.
Miskimins holds a BS from the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology and MS and PhD degrees from the Colorado School of Mines, all in petroleum engineering.