Speakers
Julie Woodard
Kyle Reynolds
Michel Curry
Blaine Gamble
Education Session
The Emerging Energy Crisis, Securing the Future
If you called your doctor, plumber or mechanic and nobody answered, what would you do? Shortages of critical services have a profound impact on personal and business success. The current workforce providing field land services is at or near retirement age, and recruitment of new talent has been largely unsuccessful.
In this special session, a panel of industry experts assembled by AAPL's 2025-26 Strategic Planning Committee will discuss the challenges of maintaining an adequate, competent field landman workforce, including insufficient incentives, lack of training and professional recognition, and propose potential solutions to the looming issue.
Read "The Emerging Energy Crisis" on landman.org, a sneak peek at a featured article in the upcoming May/June Landman magazine that delves into this important subject.
Julie Woodard, CPL, serves as president of the American Association of Professional Landmen, where she is currently focused on driving strategic growth and industry advocacy. She formerly served as the senior land manager for Expand Energy in the Northeast Appalachia Business Unit and has previously led land business development and exploration activities in the Mid-Continent region.
Woodard earned a Bachelor of Science in economics, pre-law, from Oklahoma State University and subsequently attended the University of Oklahoma’s Energy Management Program following her acceptance into law school. She currently serves on the OU Energy Management board of directors.
Woodard has been a member of the Oklahoma City Association of Professional Landmen and AAPL since 2004. She joined OCAPL’s Executive Committee in 2008 and is a past president of the association. Since 2007, she has chaired and served on numerous AAPL committees as well as the board of directors. She also has served as chair of the NAPE Operators Committee, a member of the Executive Committee as first vice president for 2025-26, third vice president for 2015-16, and president and chair of the AAPL Educational Foundation. Currently she is AAPL’s president.
Among her many honors, Woodard was a finalist in the Young Professional in Energy category of the International Oil and Gas Awards, Mid-Continent Division in 2013, included in Oil and Gas Investor’s distinguished list of “20 under 40” in the industry, and named OCAPL’s Landman of the Year in 2014 and AAPL’s Landman of the Year for 2014-15. Most recently, she was an honoree in Hart’s Oil and Gas Investor 2025 Influential Women in Energy.
In addition to her professional association involvement, Woodard is a past president of the Edmond Public Schools Foundation.
Most importantly, she is a dedicated and loving mother of three children: Grayson, Hallie and Henley. She and her husband, Brian, live in Edmond, Oklahoma. She enjoys spending time with family, being outdoors, vacationing and staying involved with her church community.
Kyle B. Reynolds, JD, CPL, & Immediate Past President of the American Association of Professional Landmen. He’s a seasoned pro in the energy sector with a knack for making things happen. Kyle’s journey has taken him from leading teams at Chesapeake Energy and Energen Resource Corp. to his current role as a managing member at RBG Permian. When he's not busy with all things land-related, Kyle enjoys cooking, exploring new places, diving into a good book, and passionately supporting the Arkansas Razorbacks. He's also a proud father of 3 and the entrepreneurial spirit behind Benjamin Lee Bison (a direct-to-consumer meat business), Bryant Moore law firm, and Greenway Capital Partners (a real estate investment firm).
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.
Michel E. Curry is engaged in the private practice of law and currently serves as an expert witness and serves a select clientele in oil and gas related matters and serves as Treasurer of the Henry Foundation, a private philanthropy. Mr. Curry is admitted to practice in Texas and New Mexico, is Board Certified in Oil, Gas & Mineral Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is also a Certified Professional Landman (“CPL”). He received a B.S. from the University of Texas and a law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law, cum laude.
In May 2025, Mr. Curry retired as Vice President of Land and General Counsel for Henry Resources LLC where he supervised all oil and gas legal work and land functions for the company. He is a former shareholder of Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe & Dawson, PC, Midland, Texas, where he was engaged in the private practice of oil and gas law for 25 years.
Prior to law school, Michel worked as an independent petroleum landman and in-house as a contract landman for Texaco Inc. Mr. Curry’s experience and legal practice covers most facets of the petroleum industry, with particular emphasis on producing property transactions, oil and gas contracts, exploration agreements, and title matters. His geographic experience ranges from Alaska's north slope to the Gulf of Mexico, and most producing areas in between, and includes work in coal and lignite mining, wind energy, and natural gas marketing,
Michel served as president of the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL) for the 2018-2019 term. He has also served as assistant chair of the NAPE Operator’s Committee, as chair of several AAPL working committees and participated on the task force that drafted the 2015 Model Form Operating Agreement. Michel is a past president of the Permian Basin Landmen’s Association. Michel has also served on the State Bar of Texas Council for the Oil, Gas & Energy Resources Law Section, as a Trustee at Large for the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation and is a frequent lecturer and author on oil and gas subjects, with particular emphasis on operating agreements and title matters.
Michel makes his home in Midland, Texas, with his wife, Audrey L. Curry. Michel and Audrey have two adult children and four grandchildren.
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.