About Daniel Zavala-Ara

Dr. Daniel Zavala-Araiza

Senior Scientist II

Contact

Remote Office

Work

Areas of expertise:

Methane emissions, environmental impacts of energy systems, environmental justice

Daniel (he/him) is a senior scientist part of Environmental Defense Fund's Office of Chief Scientist. His current research focuses on providing actionable data that can accelerate the mitigation of methane emissions. He leads research projects around the world, improving the understanding of methane pollution, including with Environmental Defense Fund's MethaneSAT teams and in close partnership with UNEP's International Methane Emissions Observatory.

Background

Daniel is based in Utrecht, The Netherlands where he is also a visiting researcher at Utrecht University. Daniel obtained a B.Sc. in chemical engineering from the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, where he carried out research on the environmental implications of shale gas production. Daniel speaks Spanish and English.

Publications

Yuzhong Zhang et al. ,Quantifying methane emissions from the largest oil-producing basin in the United States from space.Sci. Adv.6,eaaz5120(2020).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5120

Alvarez RA, Zavala-Araiza D, Lyon DR, Allen DT, Barkley ZR, Brandt AR, Davis KJ, Herndon SC, Jacob DJ, Karion A, Kort EA, Lamb BK, Lauvaux T, Maasakkers JD, Marchese AJ, Omara M, Pacala SW, Peischl J, Robinson AL, Shepson PB, Sweeney C, Townsend-Small A, Wofsy SC, Hamburg SP. Assessment of methane emissions from the U.S. oil and gas supply chain. Science. 2018 Jul 13;361(6398):186-188. doi: 10.1126/science.aar7204. Epub 2018 Jun 21. PMID: 29930092; PMCID: PMC6223263.

Zavala-Araiza, D., Alvarez, R., Lyon, D. et al. Super-emitters in natural gas infrastructure are caused by abnormal process conditions. Nat Commun 8, 14012 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14012

Zavala-Araiza, D., Lyon, D.R., Alvarez, R.A., Davis, K.J., Harriss, R., Herndon, S.C., Karion, A., Kort, E.A., Lamb, B.K., Lan, X. and Marchese, A.J., 2015. Reconciling divergent estimates of oil and gas methane emissions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(51), pp.15597-15602.

Zavala-Araiza, D.; Lyon, D.; Alvarez, R. A.; Palacios, V.; Harriss, R.; Lan, X.; Talbot, R.; Hamburg, S. P. (2015) Toward a functional definition of methane super-emitters: Application to natural gas production sites. Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b00133

Lyon, D. R.; Zavala-Araiza, D.; Alvarez, R. A.; Harriss, R.; Palacios, V.; Lan, X.; Talbot, R.; Lavoie, T.; Shepson, P.; Yacovitch, T.I.; et al. (2015). Constructing a spatially resolved methane emission inventory for the Barnett Shale Region. Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI: 10.1021/es506359c.

Zavala-Araiza, D., Allen, D. T., Harrison, M., Fiji, G., Jersey, G., (2015) Allocating Emissions to Natural Gas and Oil Production from Shale Formations. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. Accepted.

Allen, D. T.; Pacsi, A. P.; Sullivan, D. W.; Zavala-Araiza, D.; Harrison, M.; Keen, K.; 395 Fraser, M. P.; Hill, A. D.; Sawyer, R. F.; Seinfeld, J. H. (2014) Methane Emissions from Process Equipment at Natural Gas Production Sites in the United States: Pneumatic Controllers. Environmental science & technology, DOI: 10.1021/es5040156

Allen, D. T.; Sullivan, D. W.; Zavala-Araiza, D.; Pacsi, A. P.; Harrison, M.; Keen, K.; 399 Fraser, M. P.; Hill, A. D.; Lamb, B. K.; Sawyer, R. F.; Seinfeld, J. H. (2014) Methane Emissions 400 from Process Equipment at Natural Gas Production Sites in the United States: Liquids Unloadings Environmental science & technology, DOI: 10.1021/es504016r

Zavala-Araiza, D., Sullivan, D. W., Allen, D.T., (2014) Atmospheric hydrocarbon emissions and concentrations in the Barnett Shale natural gas production region. Environmental science & technology, 48, 5314−5321.

Pacsi, A. P., Alhajeri, N. S., Zavala-Araiza, D., Webster, M. D., & Allen, D. T. (2013). Regional Air Quality Impacts of Increased Natural Gas Production and Use in Texas. Environmental science & technology, 47(7), 3521-3527.</p