2024 Energy Conference - 1st Day Only

Kyle Polozola, Partner, Kean Miller

Kyle Polozola is a partner in the Lafayette office of Kean Miller. He practices in the oil and gas, business and corporate, and real estate groups. Kyle has more than 25 years of experience handling complex oil and gas and commercial litigation disputes, environmental litigation, oil and gas transactional matters, including mineral title examination, due diligence, acquisition and sale of oil and gas properties, and energy regulatory matters. He assists clients with a variety of corporate and business transactional matters, and represents local, state, national, and international clients in Louisiana ad valorem (property) tax matters.

Following law school, Kyle clerked for the Hon. Catherine D. Kimball, Associate (later Chief) Justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana. He is a member of the Louisiana Mineral Law Institute Advisory Council.

Kyle has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America in Energy Law, Oil and Gas Law, and Administrative/Regulatory Law, 2016 - 2023, and is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

John Schmidt, Tax Managing Director, Pelican CPAs & Advisors, LLC

John C. Schmidt, CPA is a Tax Managing Director at Pelican CPAs and Advisors, LLC.  John has over 30 years of accounting experience handling complex tax compliance and consulting for high net worth individuals and their related business and charitable interests.  John also holds the AICPA Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) Credential, a designation exclusive to CPAs signifying the powerful combination of extensive tax experience and comprehensive knowledge of financial planning.  John’s clients span a variety of industries including oil & gas, timber, dealerships, construction, services, real estate, political
campaigns, and other tax-exempt organizations. John received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Louisiana Tech University and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of New Orleans. His professional/Community Associations and Memberships include:

• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
•  Louisiana Society of Certified Public Accountants (LCPA)
• Member of Estate & Financial Planning Committee
• Member of Oil & Gas Committee
• Tax & Estate Planning Council of Shreveport, Treasurer
• Council of Petroleum Accountants Societies (COPAS)
• United Way of Northwest Louisiana, Past Board Chair

Mark Zappi, University of Louisiana Lafayette Department of Chemical Engineering

An internationally known expert on energy systems and environmental engineering, Mark E. Zappi currently holds the BORSF Endowed Chair in Bioprocessing at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL). He holds professor appointments in both chemical engineering and civil engineering at UL. Dr. Zappi received his BS in Civil Engineering from UL and his MS and PhD in Chemical Engineering from Mississippi State University (MSU). He has held research leadership positions at the US Army Corps of Engineers Engineering Research and Development Center; Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering at MSU; and UL. He serves and has served on numerous state, national, and international energy and ecological related committees and panels. He has testified twice to the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and once to the Louisiana Public Service Commission. He has generated over $50M in research funds and has published over 200 technical publications. He is a sought-after consultant for energy initiatives with particular expertise with energy industry assessments and alternative energy system start-ups. He also has extensive consulting experience with environmental cleanup system design and assisting with research enterprise design. His technical expertise involves the use of biological agents and chemical oxidizers for processing of a wide variety of feedstock and input streams. He holds five patents and has three more pending.