As part of the regular Focus on Geothermal Webinar series – a partnership of Enerchange and ThinkGeoEnergy, we are proud to host Emily Smejkal of Cascade Institute for a webinar on “De-Risking Geothermal: How Test Centres Unlock Technology, Investment, and Scale.” Further details are as follows:
Date: 27 March 2026
Time: 16:00 CET / 09:00 MDT
Registration: Click here to register
Speaker: Emily Smejkal, Research Fellow and Policy Lead, Cascade Institute
Test centres have repeatedly proven to be powerful drivers of innovation in complex, capital-intensive resource sectors—from AOSTRA’s role in unlocking in-situ oil sands production, to DOE’s basin-based test sites that enabled the shale revolution, to Utah FORGE’s breakthroughs in enhanced geothermal systems.
This webinar will explore how purpose-built test centres can dramatically reduce technical and commercial uncertainty, crowd-in private investment, and accelerate learning through open, high-quality field data. This webinar will outline how Canada can design a modern, measurement-rich testing ecosystem—and why a national Geothermal Energy Observatory and Science and Technology Research Authority (GEOSTRA) could be the key to rapidly scaling geothermal development.
About the speaker
Emily Smejkal is a Fellow at the Cascade Institute, where she applies subsurface science to guide Canadian geothermal policy. She spent the first decade of her career as a professional geologist before transitioning her expertise to geothermal development. Her work now focuses on subsurface characterization, reservoir analysis, and policy design to accelerate geothermal deployment. Emily also serves as Vice President of Geothermal Canada, where she helps advance geothermal through knowledge-sharing across the sector.
