Appalachian Land Institute 2026

Gretchen Addington, MS, CE

Project Manager, Civil and Environmental Consultants, Inc.

Ms. Addington is an ecologist and plant biologist with over 15 years of experience spanning primary research and regulatory compliance, specializing in threatened and endangered plant surveys, invasive species management, and comprehensive compliance strategies. She has supported permitting and regulatory coordination for projects across oil and gas, utility‑scale and community solar, electric infrastructure, and real estate development throughout much of the United States, with focus areas including PA, OH, WV, NY, IL, IN, VA, NC, SC, LA, TX, and OK. Her regulatory background includes work with FERC, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, multiple U.S. Army Corps of Engineers districts, and numerous state and local agencies, developing successful strategies that address Water Quality Certifications, Public Service Commission requirements, species protection regulations, water use and discharge standards, and local ordinances while collaborating closely with community stakeholders.

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Paul J Attencio

Managing Member, Atencio Hall, PLLC

Paul Atencio is a trusted advisor with deep experience across the energy, oil and gas, and renewable sectors. He counsels companies on matters involving title, unitization, leasing, due diligence and asset acquisitions, and represents clients in disputes related to royalties, ownership, and surface use.
 
A strategic and solutions oriented attorney, Paul also advises businesses—from emerging companies to publicly traded organizations—on transactional and corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, real estate, and corporate governance.

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Bridget Furbee

Member, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Bridget Furbee is a member in the Bridgeport office of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC
and former Practice Group Leader in the firm’s Energy Department. She is a
member of EMLF and formerly served on the Board of Trustees. Bridget has
extensive experience in major transactions as well as litigation and regulatory
proceedings in the oil and gas industry and has represented production and
midstream clients in transactional, operations, and litigation matters, including
class action claims. With over 30 years in the industry, Bridget brings a practical
perspective to find legal solutions to various types of contract disputes, including
joint operating agreements, farmouts, leases, and gas contracts. She is also
recognized as The Best Lawyers in America® for Energy Law, Commercial
Litigation, and Oil and Gas Law.

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Sarah Goodman

Museum Educator, Drake Well Museum and Park

Sarah is a Museum Educator at the Drake Well Museum and Park, where she designs and delivers educational programming on the history and development of the petroleum industry. Her work focuses on interpreting the historical significance of the Drake Well and its role in shaping modern oil industry.  In her role, Ms. Goodman develops curriculum-based instruction for students, conducts public lectures, and leads educational programs on  early oil production, the evolution of industry and so much more. She has experience presenting to diverse audiences, including academic groups and professionals, and contributes to public understanding of the oil industry through not only the industrial history of oil but the social history as well.  Her professional experience in museum education and historical interpretation creates an informative and fun environment to discover everything and anything about the oil industry.

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Andrew Graham

Member, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Andy Graham has practiced energy and mineral law with Steptoe & Johnson PLLC over the last 22 years in Texas and West Virginia, focusing on title examinations, assisting clients buying or selling mineral, midstream and renewable energy assets, and handling surface use issues arising from energy development. He also teaches energy land management at West Virginia University, writes about energy law developments for the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law’s Mineral and Energy Law Newsletter, and serves as a trustee of the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation.  He has been included in Woodward/White’s The Best Lawyers in America® for Real Estate Law every year since 2012.  He graduated from Shepherd College and the West Virginia University College of Law, and he is admitted to practice law in West Virginia, Texas, and Ohio.

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Casey Kennedy

Attorney, Cordelio Power

Casey E. Kennedy is an energy and real estate attorney who serves as Director of Legal – Real Property at Cordelio Power, a Toronto-based Independent Power Producer (IPP). She leads real estate strategy for a national portfolio of utility‑scale wind, solar, and energy storage projects, overseeing and supporting all early‑stage development—everything from site identification and land rights negotiation to title review, risk mitigation, ensuring compliance with local SALDO’s and ultimately permit approvals — all the real property work needed to make a project viable and financeable

Before joining Cordelio, Casey practiced at Husch Blackwell LLP, where she served as seconded in‑house counsel to Cordelio Power and Senior Associate. Her work included negotiating sophisticated land use and mineral‑related agreements, resolving title and local zoning and land use risks, and leading diligence for construction financing and project acquisitions across multiple jurisdictions.

Casey’s earlier experience spans roles with landmen at Texhoma Land Consultants and Southeast Land Services prior to and during law school and then Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, Hogan Land & Title, and Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, where she developed deep expertise in multi‑state due diligence, title curative work, and real estate and mineral transactions for energy and infrastructure clients. She holds a J.D., cum laude, from Duquesne University and a B.S. from West Virginia University, and is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and West Virginia.

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Alex McElroy, JD/MBA

Managing Shareholder, McElroy Law Firm

Alexander T. McElroy is the Managing Shareholder at McElroy Law Firm. His practice includes oil and gas law with a focus on Ohio, PA and West Virginia. Attorney McElroy grew up in Northeast Ohio and obtained his JD/MBA from Case Western Reserve University. He has written numerous articles about oil and gas topics, and has written extensively about, and presented, on the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act and Ohio Marketable Title Act for the AAPL. He also published a recent commentary that dealt with class action challenges to post-production deductions.
Attorney McElroy has years of experience issuing oil and gas title opinions in PA, OH and WV, and analyzing tricky title issues for clients. He has also successfully litigated title issues for oil and gas clients, in both state and federal courts. He has argued at the appellate level, and recently won an Ohio appeal on an Ohio Dormant Mineral Act case.

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Ashley Neptune

Project Manager, Civil and Environmental Consultants, Inc.

Ms. Neptune is a civil and environmental engineer with over 10 years of experience in the natural gas industry, commercial and residential development and in the municipal sector throughout much of PA, OH, and WV. She has worked across all stages of a project’s life cycle, from due diligence and planning, to permitting and design, then to construction. Over the years she has worked on numerous permit applications for earth disturbance, stormwater management, streams and wetlands, and erosion and sediment control. Her knowledge and experience in permitting has allowed her to establish positive professional relationships with the agency reviewers in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, WV DEP, and numerous local agencies and municipalities.

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Kevin Pierson

Broker and Owner, Blue Duck Resources

Kevin Pierson is an accomplished Energy Professional, Entrepreneur, and second-generation Landman based in Morgantown, West Virginia. As the founder of Blue Duck Resources, his extensive expertise covers a full range of professional land services, project management, and corporate staffing across multiple industries, including Oil & Gas, Coal, Renewables, and other specialized acquisition-based projects. A graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington, Kevin is deeply committed to industry leadership, education, and mentorship. He currently serves as President of the Michael Late Benedum Chapter of the AAPL (MLBC) and maintains active affiliations with the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL), the International Right of Way Association (IRWA), the Ohio Oil & Gas Association (OOGA), and the West Virginia Oil & Gas Association (GO-WV). Additionally, Kevin owns and operates Concezio Capital Corporation LLC (CCC, LLC), specializing in real estate investment properties.

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Kyle Reynolds

President, AAPL

Kyle Reynolds, CPL, is a managing member for RBG Permian LLC. He previously worked for Chesapeake Energy in Oklahoma City in the Permian, Eagle Ford and New Ventures groups as well as led a number of cross-functional steering committees. He then moved to Birmingham, Alabama, to lead Energen Resource Corp.’s business development team and served as manager over Permian and mineral assets.

He also co-owns several companies: Benjamin Lee Bison, a direct-to-consumer meat business; Fair-Weather Friend, an Oklahoma City brewpub; and Greenway Capital Partners, a real estate investment firm.

Reynolds holds a Bachelor of Arts in writing from the University of Central Arkansas and a J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law. He is an active member of the American Bar Association, Arkansas Bar Association, Oklahoma Bar Association, Permian Basin Landmen’s Association, Fort Smith Association of Professional Landmen and Urban Land Institute. Over the years he has served in many AAPL leadership roles, including first vice president in 2024-25, treasurer in 2020-21, Black Warrior Association of Professional Landmen director and chairman of the Marketing Committee, the Sustainability Taskforce, and  the Bylaws, Policy and Procedures Rewrite Taskforce. He also has served as a member of the Blankenship Student Awareness Initiative, Finance Committee, Investment Advisory Committee and NAPE Operators Committee.

Reynolds and his wife, Amy, have three beautiful children: Lila, Anne Douglas and Hardin. He enjoys cooking, traveling, reading, and all things Razorbacks sports, including writing weekly articles for The Pig Sty.

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Robert Stonestreet

Robert Stonestreet focuses his practice on energy and environmental law as well as commercial litigation. He has a wide array of regulatory and courtroom experience, including representation of clients in matters involving lease and land disputes, environmental permitting, enforcement actions, serious personal injury/wrongful death, land contamination, toxic torts, and complex commercial disputes.

During his more than 20 years in practice, Mr. Stonestreet has tried multiple cases to verdict before state and federal courts and administrative agencies. In October 2022, he served as one of the lead trial counsel in a sub-surface trespass case in which a jury awarded over $70,000,000 in favor of his client for damage to mineral reserves, which verdict was upheld on appeal. Triad Hunter, LLC v. Eagle Natrium, LLC, 257 N.E.3d 982 (Ohio 7th Dist. Ct. App. 2024).  Mr. Stonestreet has played prominent roles in multiple successful appellate proceedings, which include: Haughtland Resources, LLC v. SWN Production Company, LLC, 2025 WL 3162008, at *1 (W.Va. Int. Ct. App., Nov. 12, 2025); West Virginia Land Resources, Inc. v. American Bituminous Power Partners, LP, 2023 WL 3991964 (June 14, 2023); SWN Production Company, LLC v. Conley, 243 W. Va. 696, 850 S.E.2d 695 (2020); Triad Hunter, LLC v. Eagle Natrium, LLC, 132 N.E.3d 1272 (Ohio 7th Dist. Ct. App. 2019); Central West Virginia Energy Co. v. Mountain State Carbon, LLC, 636 F.3d 101 (4th Cir. 2011); and Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation v. West Virginia Department of Transportation, 227 W. Va. 653, 713 S.E.2d 809 (2011).
Mr. Stonestreet graduated from Marshall University, summa cum laude, in 2000 with a degree in History. He received his law degree in 2003 from West Virginia University College of Law. While attending law school, Mr. Stonestreet served as Executive Manuscript Editor of the West Virginia Law Review and graduated in the top five percent of his class.

Outside of the law, Mr. Stonestreet is an avid distance runner and outdoor recreation enthusiast. He has completed multiple road marathons and various types of long-distance trail races. Oi

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Nikolas Tysiak

Nik Tysiak is a shareholder in the Energy and Natural Resources Group of Babst Calland. Mr. Tysiak practices in the areas of energy and real estate law, with a primary focus on transactions and ownership involving oil and gas, where he has extensive experience identifying and curing novel real estate title issues in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. He takes a lead position in generating and implementing creative solutions to novel, real estate-related issues on a daily basis.

Mr. Tysiak also maintains a general real estate practice, with experience conducting foreclosure proceedings, drafting complex retail and commercial leasing agreements, drafting deeds and other documents necessary to effectuate property transactions, conducting real estate closings, researching and writing title insurance policies and overseeing curative measures to finalize property transactions.

A native of Albany, New York, Mr. Tysiak grew up as a first generation American, and has strong ties to his family's Ukrainian roots. He received his B.A. in Government and History from the College of William and Mary in 2002 and his J.D. from the Washington College of Law at American University in 2005. During his time at the Washington College of Law, Mr. Tysiak worked briefly for the Department of Labor and the Department of Justice. In addition, he collaborated with members and patrons of The Washington Group (a DC-based group of Ukrainian professionals) in efforts to increase judicial impartiality through discourse and exchange between U.S. and Ukrainian judges and judiciary institutions. He was also a member of the Washington College of Law Civil Practice Clinic, where he represented indigent clients in a variety of civil matters.

Mr. Tysiak was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 2011, the West Virginia Bar in 2006, the Ohio Bar in 2013, and the Texas Bar in 2019. He is also admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

Mr. Tysiak is currently chair of the Legislative and Regulatory Committee for the Michael Late Benedum Chapter (MLBC) of the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL). He was previously on the board of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Young Professionals in Energy, a national organization focused on promoting the growth and development of younger people in the Energy Sector. Mr. Tysiak takes particular pleasure in helping people in the oil and gas industry understand the nuances of oil and gas ownership issues in a down-to-earth, practical way.

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Jeremy White

Director of Title, Tenmile Land

Jeremy White is a Registered Professional Landman with the AAPL, former President of the Michael Late Benedum Chapter of the AAPL, and currently serves on the MLBC Foundation Board of Directors, a charitable foundation supporting several organizations in Northern WV and Southwest PA. From 2023 to 2025, he served as MLBC's Regional Director on the national AAPL Board of Directors. During his 20+ year career in land, he has worked as a field landman, an in-house landman, and an in-house land manager. In 2023, he left his position as Acquisitions Land Manager at EQT to assume his current role as Director of Title at Tenmile Land, a land and mineral acquisition company based in Bridgeport, WV.

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