Brenda McDonald

Brenda McDonald is a dedicated and accomplished public servant who has been an
integral part of Uintah County Recorder’s office since 1991. Her journey in this role
began as a commitment to contributing her skills and passion to a field she truly enjoys. Throughout her career, Brenda has demonstrated a relentless pursuit of excellence, consistently striving to provide the best possible service to her community.
After many years of dedicated service, Brenda’s ambition led her to take on the role of
Recorder for Uintah County. Brenda has been recognized by her peers and been
chosen as the Utah Recorder of the Year for two consecutive years. A true testament to Brenda’s dedication is her accomplishment of achieving the “Master Instructor” Level 6 Designation from the Utah Association of County Recorders. This achievement required her to complete over 340 hours of Real Estate Law, Records and Technology, Office Management, and provide 4 hours of training to other county recorders. Brenda’s passion for growth and leadership extends beyond the Recorders office. Brenda is serving on many committees such as PRIA (Property Records Industry Association) where she sits on the Indexing, Membership, and Re-recording work groups. She serves on the Utah Association of County Recorders, Standards Committee, Historian, Cadastral Mapping, Legislative, and the Chair of the Continue Education committees. Throughout her career, Brenda’s goal has been to serve her community to the best of her ability. Her dedication to maintaining accurate and reliable records reflect in her commitment to helping the community thrive.

Rikki Hrenko-Browning

Rikki Hrenko-Browning is the President of the Utah Petroleum Association (UPA). UPA is a Utah based, statewide petroleum trade association representing companies involved in all aspects of Utah’s oil and gas industry focused on the responsible development of Utah’s natural resources and manufacture of fuels that drive Utah’s economy. Prior to leading UPA, Rikki lived in Estonia and came to Utah as the CEO of Enefit American Oil, the Estonian company’s oil shale project in Eastern Utah. Rikki has a Masters in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon and an undergraduate degree in botany and environmental science. She has been appointed by the Governor to the Utah Watersheds Council, the SITLA Nominating Committee, serves on DNR’s Endangered Species Mitigation Fund, the US Global Leadership Coalition, and other boards and advisory panels. Rikki was honored as a Utah Business 2020 Woman of the Year and in their 30 women to watch series in 2014.

Dan Brooks

Mr. Brooks is a seasoned Land & Business Professional with experience across the entirety of the Land/Business function.  He has extensive experience with Tribal, Federal, State, and Fee ownership.  Mr. Brooks began his career on contract with BP America, later joining El Paso/EP Energy where he navigated change and took on roles of increasing responsibility.  Mr. Brooks joined Crescent Energy, through Javelin Energy Partners, a Crescent Company’s, transaction with EP Energy.  Mr. Brooks is currently Land Manager and Community Liaison focusing on the Uinta Basin and North Texas/Barnett Shale.  He enjoys spending time with his wife, Ashley, boys, Everette and Dean, fishing, golfing and enjoying family time. He and his family attend RPC Church in Missouri City, Texas.

Matthew Cooper

Matthew has been with Finley Resources since 2006. Prior to serving in his current
capacity, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of Finley Resources. He has
overseen the acquisition and divestment of more than $1B of oil and gas properties and worked most of the major producing basins in the United States. In addition, Matthew is a partner and officer of Uinta Wax, LLC, Wildcat Midstream LP, Natural Pozzolan Resources, LLC, Barstow Land and Cattle, LLC, HLR Oil & Gas, LLC, HLR Investments, LLC and several other Finley real estate holding companies. Matthew holds a JD from Texas A&M School of Law and a BBA-Finance from the University of Mississippi. He is licensed to practice law in the State of Texas, a member of the American Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, and was named one of Oil & Gas Investor’s “20 under 40” Rising Stars in A&D.

John Frey

 Frey is responsible for origination, analysis, execution and integration of all acquisitions and divestitures, as well as overseeing all land functions. Prior to his current role, Frey had served as the Manager of Business Development since FourPoint’s inception in 2013 and was a Landman for two of the company’s three previous ventures, CEP II and CEP III. Frey has a BS degree in Anthropology from the University of Colorado and an MBA from the University of Denver.

James Lebeck

Mr. Lebeck has more than 14 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, with leadership roles spanning legal, strategic, and commercial domains. Prior to rejoining SM Energy in 2023, Mr. Lebeck served as Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Encino Energy. He began his oil and gas career at SM Energy in 2011, where he rose to Deputy General Counsel, and previously practiced law at Davis Graham & Stubbs in Denver and Vinson & Elkins in Houston. He also clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Mr. Lebeck serves on the Coordinating Committee of the American Exploration and Production Council and the Executive Committee of the Utah Petroleum Association.

Jason Pearce

Jason received a BS in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1998. He began his career with Conoco Inc. in Lafayette, LA where he held both Reservoir and Production engineering positions. Mr. Pearce joined XTO Energy in Fort Worth, TX in 2003 where he held positions in Reservoir Engineering before being named Reservoir Development Manager for the Freestone Trend asset in 2010. He then joined CH4 Energy, an NGP Portfolio company, in November 2011 where he held positions in Completion Operations, Corporate Reserves and Business Development. He was a part of the executive management team that took WildHorse Resource Development public in 2016 and eventually sold to Chesapeake in 2019. Since CH4 Energy Six acquired the Uinta Basin assets from Crescent Point Energy in October 2019 he has served as President of Uinta Wax Operating.

Nick Tunnell

Mr. Tunnell joined Scout in 2012 and is responsible for asset operations in Utah, Colorado and North Dakota.  He earned his Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Marietta College in 2006 and has over 19 years of experience in the industry, working in both operations and business development. He began his career at Merit Energy before transferring to Legend Natural Gas. Nick’s experience includes responsibility for oil and gas properties across multiple states from Texas to North Dakota encompassing operations from the well to the plant. He has overseen a diverse portfolio of shallow and deep production from both conventional and unconventional reservoirs.

Rep. Scott Chew

Bio coming soon

Gordon Larsen

Bio coming soon.

Sam Crofts

Sam Crofts is the Policy Director for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee under Chairman Mike Lee. In this role, he leads the Department of the Interior policy team, which focuses on federal land management, energy and mineral development, water policy, and other natural resource issues. Prior to joining the committee staff, he managed Senator Lee’s ENR committee work in the Senator’s personal office.

Sam is a graduate of Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in political science. He is a native of Pleasant Grove, Utah, and now resides in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife, Sydnie.

Emy Lesofski

Emy Lesofski is the director of the Utah Office of Energy Development (OED)—the state’s  primary office for energy and critical mineral development—and energy advisor to Gov. Cox. She was appointed in October 2024, bringing a wealth of experience in federal appropriations and natural resources policy. As director of OED, Lesofski also oversees the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab (USREL), as well as serving on several boards and committees. She is focused on developing innovative solutions to ensure Utahns have access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy through sound policy, research, education and community outreach. Prior to her role at OED, Lesofski worked in Washington, D.C. for 24 years as a senior staffer in both houses of Congress and was the Republican staff director of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.

Lesofski studied political science at BYU and is happy to be back in Utah with her extended family.

Luke Johnson

Luke served as Deputy Director of Policy and Programs at the Bureau of Land Management, where he was responsible for overseeing the agency’s energy, lands, planning and permitting activities. His development of agency-wide frameworks has had lasting impacts on federal permitting today. In this role, Luke also oversaw the agency’s congressional and public affairs functions and testified before the House and Senate authorizing committees to defend administration policies and navigate congressional oversight. 

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Previously, Luke worked for the House Natural Resources Committee and for members who served on Senate Energy and Natural Resources, Senate Environment and Public Works and Senate Appropriations Committees. At The Bernhardt Group, Luke helps clients with the permitting of complex projects, managing and mitigating regulatory risk and offering creative policy solutions to policymakers in both the executive branch agencies and Congress.

Mark Michel

Bio coming soon.

Keith Heaton

Keith Heaton is the director of the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition(SCIC). He graduated from the University of Utah in 1989.  He spent 6 years in property management and 26 years working in Community Development for the State of Utah. He has been with SCIC for 3 years. Keith has served as President of both the state and national Certified Public Managers Associations (CPM) and President of the Washington DC based Council of State Community Development Agencies (COSCDA). He and his wife Debbie have been married for 37 years, have 4 children, 3 grandchildren and live in Bountiful, Utah. When not in meetings he can be found biking or hiking in our beautiful state.

Jay Johnson

Mr. Johnson serves clients in a wide range of infrastructure and natural resource contexts, both by guiding them past regulatory and environmental review obstacles to win agency approvals and by litigating the complex issues that often arise in such contexts. Jay focuses on projects that attract scrutiny from both regulators and third-party groups, including mining, rail and surface transportation, and port projects. He was also counsel for the petitioner in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision addressing the contours of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 

Jay has experience with a broad spectrum of federal and state environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and their state analogues. He has also helped his clients win approvals under a range of substantive federal statutes employed by federal agencies like the Surface Transportation Board (STB), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). More broadly, Jay’s litigation experience includes cases brought under the federal Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and similar state statutes, as well as many other laws governing federal and state agency action.

Cheryl Meier

Cheryl Meier is the Executive Director of Uintah Special Service District 1, overseeing all recreation and higher education initiatives for the district. She previously served as the Executive Director of Transportation and brings extensive experience in public lands management. With a deep knowledge of mineral lease revenues and their impact on local communities, Cheryl has played a key role in advancing projects that strengthen infrastructure, recreation, and economic opportunities across the Uinta Basin.

Jeremey Raymond

Jeremy Raymond is the Executive Director of the Uintah Fire Suppression Special Service District in Uintah County. He has been the Director for 19 years and prior to joining the District he was the Fire Marshal and Emergency Manager for Uintah County. Some of his responsibilities include fire inspections, fire investigations, hazardous materials response, airport fire and rescue, and managing and directing the fire district. He is also a paramedic and runs part time for Gold Cross Ambulance in Vernal. Jeremy’s passion is public safety. He spends many hours assisting and training first responders throughout the county. He actively participates in the community serving on committee’s and volunteering. He also enjoys educating the public through trainings and advertising. Jeremy holds two associate degrees from Utah Valley University. He lives in Vernal with his wife and four kids. In his spare time Jeremy loves to go fishing, hiking, boating and spending time with his family.

Stephanie Carter

Stephanie Carter is a marketing leader with over 15 years of experience driving branding, communications, and recruitment strategies. As Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Uintah Basin Technical College (UBTech), she plays a pivotal role in advancing the President’s 2030 vision and strategic goals.

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A proud UBTech alum, Stephanie has led transformative initiatives including the rebranding from UBATC to UBTech, the launch of the college’s first app, and the introduction of Utah’s first technical college mascot—boosting student pride and engagement. She also spearheaded the redesign of UBTech.edu and built a strong social media presence backed by data-driven analytics. Stephanie is a key contributor to a statewide committee representing 16 higher education institutions, where she collaborates on campaigns that elevate the value of technical education across Utah.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and recently earned her Master of Science in Management Leadership. Beyond UBTech, Stephanie has served on the Zion's Bank Regional Advisory Board, the Roosevelt Business Alliance, and the Business Development Committee at the Vernal Chamber.

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Stephanie and her husband, Chris Carter—who works in the oil and gas industry at Berry Corporation—are proud parents of two daughters. They enjoy life in the Uintah Basin and are passionate about community involvement, often found cheering at archery tournaments or dance competitions.

Orlan Wallace

Orlan Wallace oversees all oil and gas applications for the State of Utah and has been with the Division of Oil, Gas & Mining since 2018. With over 25 years of industry experience—including fishing, wireline, workover, and drilling in Hawaii—he brings deep knowledge to his role. A Uintah Basin native, Orlan has played a key role in organizing the permitting team and reducing approval times for applications to drill.
Passionate about supporting Utah’s energy producers, he is proud to see record oil production, rising natural gas output, and nearly $5 billion in state revenue, much of it generated in his home region.

Ryan Gall

​Ryan Gall is a licensed professional geologist with the Energy and Minerals Program at the Utah Geological Survey, which he joined in 2018. His research focuses on the geological characterization of economically important resources in the Uinta Basin, with a particular emphasis on the petroleum-rich Green River Formation and sedimentary-hosted mineral deposits. Ryan began studying Uinta Basin geology in 2014 while obtaining a master’s degree from the University of Utah. Before joining the Utah Geological Survey, Ryan worked in petroleum and mineral exploration industries focused on the Uinta and other Western U.S. basins. 

Gabriella St. Pierre, PhD, PG

​Dr. Gabriela St Pierre is a licensed professional geologist with the Energy and Minerals Program at the Utah Geological Survey, and has been with the survey since 2023. Her research includes large-scale subsurface exploration including oil and gas and carbon storage. Dr. St Pierre began studying Utah geology in 2014 while studying for a Ph.D. at the University of Utah, focusing on the interplay between tectonics and stratigraphy in southern Utah. Before joining the Utah Geological Survey, Dr. St. Pierre worked in the petroleum industry, with a focus on global exploration across Africa and South America.

Marty Partridge

Marty Partridge is the Executive Director of the Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce, where she is passionate about creating opportunities that strengthen local businesses and build community impact. She enjoys connecting people, fostering growth, and supporting initiatives that make a lasting difference for the region. Marty loves the community she calls home and values the wide range of activities, events, and opportunities for involvement offered in every season. Under her leadership, the Chamber has expanded its focus on advocacy, community partnerships, and programs that give businesses a stronger voice, all while highlighting the good that makes this community thrive.