Dr. Ronald D. Ripple is currently an independent economist, and President of R. D. Ripple & Associates. He was the Mervin Bovaird Professor of Energy Business and Finance in the School of Energy Economics, Policy, and Commerce in the Collins College of Business at The University of Tulsa between 2013-2019. Ron took up this position lecturing in the TU Master of Energy Business Program after spending nearly fourteen years in Australia, with another year in Hong Kong. Dr. Ripple has studied oil and natural gas markets since 1981, getting his start in the Office of the Governor of Alaska. He wrote his PhD dissertation on Alaska North Slope natural gas, and recently authored a chapter on the Geopolitics of Australia Natural Gas Development for the joint Harvard-Rice Geopolitics of Natural Gas Study. In between these two studies, Ron has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, trade press articles, and reports, typically focusing on oil and natural gas markets and the financial derivatives markets that support them.