Elvin Delgado
Director, Institute for Integrated Energy Studies
Assistant Professor of Geography
Central Washington University
Fracking Vaca Muerta: Socio-Economic Implications of
Shale Gas Extraction in Northern Patagonia
This presentation explores hydraulic fracturing activities in the Vaca Muerta Shale deposit in
northern Patagonia from a critical perspective. Building on initial research conducted in the
summer of 2015, this presentation examines the socio-environmental consequences associated
with fracking activities in the province of Neuquén, Argentina and the political economic
frameworks that shape the use of underground resources in the region. By analyzing the
relationships between national strategies to meet the country’s energy demand, provincial
government responses to adapt to these changes, and everyday lives of citizens in the rural
community of Añelo, where the large majority of the infrastructure to support fracking activities
is being developed, this study illuminates the myriad complexities inherent to issues of access to
and control over shale deposits in a changing energy landscape.
Brief Bio
Dr. Elvin Delgado is the Director of the Institute for Integrated Energy Studies, Assistant
Professor in the Department of Geography, and Associate Member of the Graduate Faculty in the
Cultural and Environmental Resource Management Program at Central Washington University.
Dr. Delgado is a Fulbright scholar and his regional specialization is Latin America with over 13
years of research experience in Venezuela. He is the former Chair of the Energy and
Environment Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers. His teaching and
research interests lie in the areas of energy (both traditional and alternative), political ecology,
political economy and nature, and critical resources geography. Dr. Delgado’s research critically
explores changing patterns of human-environment interactions in the context of fossil fuel
production in Latin America. Empirically, his research analyzes processes of socio-political
struggles over resource development, the multi-scalar interconnections of the material flows of
natural resources, and the socio-ecological transformations associated with resource extraction
industries. He has published in the areas of energy, health, and GIS in different outlets such as
the International Journal of Geography in Higher Education, the Encyclopedia of Energy as well
as book chapters in the Ashgate Companion to Energy Geographies in the UK and Geonatura in
Puerto Rico. With the support of the Patricia Galloway and Kris Nielsen Foundation Grant, Dr.
Delgado is developing his new research which looks at the political economy and political
ecology of hydraulic fracturing in northern Patagonia, Argentina. Recently, Dr. Delgado has
been appointed by Governor Inslee to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Joint Center
for Deployment and Research in Earth Abundant Materials. He holds a Masters of Science in
Geography and Planning from the University of Akron, Ohio and a Doctoral degree from the
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University, New York.