Education Session
Andrew Cooper, CPL, is a Co-Managing Shareholder at RAS, Inc. Andrew received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2006 and started working for RAS, Inc. upon graduation. The initial years of his career were spent honing his trade as a field landman where he was given the opportunity to travel extensively across Texas and learn the lay of the land in various courthouses across the state. In 2011, Cooper was invited in-house where he served as a Senior Project Manager and Vice President, before becoming a Co-Managing Shareholder in 2021.
A member of the American Association of Professional Landmen, the North Houston Association of Professional Landmen and the Houston Association of Professional Landmen, Andrew obtained his Registered Professional Landman certification in 2011 and his Certified Professional Landman designation in 2013. He currently serves as the AAPL Region IV Director on behalf of the HAPL and is a member of the NAPE Operator’s Committee. In 2020-21, Andrew had the honor of serving on the AAPL Executive Committee. He has also previously served as NHAPL's AAPL Regional Director, President, Vice President, Secretary and Director, Chairman of the AAPL Field Landman Committee, HAPL Director, as well as a member of numerous AAPL education related committees. In 2022, he received the AAPL Presidential Award for Meritorious Service and in 2024, the AAPL Landman of the Year.
Away from the office, Cooper cherishes his time spent with his four children: Andy, Olivia, Harrison and Theodore. A native Houstonian, he enjoys hunting, golfing, and coaching his children's sports teams.
Ella McDonald grew up on a dairy farm outside Mill Creek, Oklahoma, where she learned early on that hard work doesn’t have a gender. Drawn to the oil and gas industry and beginning March 1, 1978, she pushed past skepticism and built a career defined by grit, people smarts, and integrity. After being told by a man that “she could be a landman when pigs could fly”, she pushed forward with grit and discipline, demonstrating what persistence and hard work could achieve.
By 1980, Ella and a colleague formed an Oklahoma brokerage firm. In 1982 she founded McDonald Land Services, which has since grown into a full-service land company operating across the major basins of the continental U.S. Through her collaboration with the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board and Francis Tuttle Technology Center, Ella helped bring a foundational land title research course to the Petro Tech program, expanding pathways into land careers.
In recognition of her leadership and lasting impact, Ella became the first female to receive the Oklahoma City Association of Professional Landmen Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring her 48 years of service in the oil and gas industry. Ella stays actively involved in her community and supports a number of charitable efforts, including the Oklahoma Backpack program for school children. She and her family attend Goldsby Baptist Church, Goldsby, Oklahoma.
