Bison to the Bakken

The Bison to the Bakken summer program is a 12-day, three-credit course offering NDSU students an opportunity to explore western North Dakota’s energy sector, connect with top employers and discover internship and job opportunities.

Students began their journey on May 18, with a packed schedule that includes industry tours, meet and greets and cultural events in the Bakken region. Highlights of the itinerary, which runs May 18-30, include:

May 19: Meeting at Creedence Energy Services in Minot
May 20: A "Follow the Barrel" tour covering the production lifecycle of a barrel of oil with Hess Corporation in Tioga
May 21: Industry visit with Kathy Neset from Neset Consulting Service in Tioga
May 22: Tour of Bakken Area Skills Center in Watford City
May 23: Tour of ONEOK Natural Gas Plant
May 27: Tour of ALLETE Clean Energy in Glen Ullin
May 28: Tour of Falkirk Mining Company & Rainbow Energy Center
May 29: Tour of Steffes in Dickinson
May 30: Marathon Petroleum Refinery tour in Mandan

A group of 37 students majoring in agriculture, business, engineering and other fields are participating in the program. In addition to the learning opportunities highlighted above, students will be interacting with leadership and partnering with companies such as Chord Energy, BNI Coal, Sandpro, New Kota, Mountrial-Williams Electric Cooperative, Red Trail Energy and Xcel Energy.

Each student selected to participate in the program received a scholarship to help offset the cost of summer tuition for the course. Travel and lodging expenses are fully covered by the Economic Diversification Research Funds appropriated by the North Dakota Legislature during the 2023 session.

For more information on Bison to the Bakken, email Tom DeSutter, Professor of Soil Science at thomas.desutter@ndsu.edu.

This program is funded by the Economic Diversification Research Funds (EDRF). These funds were initiated by the North Dakota Legislature in the 2023 ND Legislative session to ensure that the state economy generates additional revenue streams, particularly through the investment into the research universities that would stimulate economic growth in the state, in part by innovating new technology, ideas and products.