About

Cynthia Burress is an Instructional Associate Professor of Law and Reference Librarian at Texas A&M Law, where she has been serving since 2019. She previously worked at Texas A&M University School of Law from 2014 to 2019 as a Law Librarian and Assistant Professor of Law, and at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law from 2003 to 2009 as a Law Librarian and Associate Professor of Law. Her educational background includes a J.D. from Seattle University Law School, an M.L.I.S. from the University of Washington, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Washington. Her expertise encompasses legal research, legislative history, the Texas legislative process, and legal history, with a particular interest in the impact of legislative procedures on case law and the preservation of rare legal documents. Burress's work is driven by a fascination with how words and their interpretations shape the legal landscape, and she finds teaching and assisting students with legal research to be especially rewarding. Outside of her academic pursuits, she is passionate about reading, animal rescue, wildlife conservation, and enjoys activities such as crosswords, puzzles, cooking, and engaging in her faith.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Photochemistry
• Materials science
• Computer science

Selected publications

• Emergent Properties of Antiagglomerant Films Control Methane Transport:\n Implications for Hydrate Management

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2018-04-04

  preprintOpen access

  The relation between collective properties and performance of\nantiagglomerants (AAs) used in hydrate management is handled using molecular\ndynamics simulations and enhanced sampling techniques. A thin film of AAs\nadsorbed at the interface between one flat sII methane hydrate substrate and a\nfluid hydrocarbon mixture containing methane and n-dodecane is studied. The AA\nconsidered is a surface-active compound with a complex hydrophilic head that\ncontains both amide and tertiary ammonium cation groups and hydrophobic tails.\nAt sufficiently high AA density, the interplay between the surfactant layer and\nthe liquid hydrocarbon excludes methane from the interfacial region. In this\nscenario, we combine metadynamics and umbrella sampling frameworks to study\naccurately the free-energy landscape and the equilibrium rates associated with\nthe transport of one methane molecule across the AA film. We observe that local\nconfigurational changes of the liquid hydrocarbon packed within the AA film are\nassociated with high free-energy barriers for methane transport. The time\nscales estimated for the transport of methane across the AA film can be, in\nsome cases, comparable to those reported in the literature for the growth of\nthe hydrates, suggesting that one possible mechanism by which AAs delay the\nformation of hydrate plugs could be providing a barrier to methane transport.\nConsidering the interplay between structural design and collective properties\nof AAs might be of relevance to improve their performance in flow assurance.\n

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Bridging the Gap Between Deploying Collaborative Applications and Generating Value

  Proceedings of SPE Intelligent Energy Conference and Exhibition · 2010-03-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Bridging the Gap between Deploying Collaborative Applications and Generating Value Charlotte Burress; Charlotte Burress Halliburton Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Kevin Paylow Kevin Paylow Halliburton Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE Intelligent Energy Conference and Exhibition, Utrecht, The Netherlands, March 2010. Paper Number: SPE-127690-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/127690-MS Published: March 23 2010 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Burress, Charlotte , and Kevin Paylow. "Bridging the Gap between Deploying Collaborative Applications and Generating Value." Paper presented at the SPE Intelligent Energy Conference and Exhibition, Utrecht, The Netherlands, March 2010. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/127690-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE Intelligent Energy International Conference and Exhibition Search Advanced Search Abstract Increasing numbers of collaborative tools and environments are becoming commercially available, and many of these applications are used or have been tried within the oil industry. But simply having the tools doesn't mean they provide value or are embraced by employees. The perceived need for change management or lack of resources dedicated to change management seems to be pervasive across the industry. So this leads to the question: "How can we bridge the gap between deploying IT applications and generating value to users and the organization?"This case study looks at different low-cost approaches employed to prototype uses and builds user familiarity with several collaborative applications within our organization. These applications include webinars, wikis, collaborative discussions, amateur video and Microsoft SharePoint® software functions.Some simple approaches to deploying these tools have driven greater uptake and collaboration in the organization. Others became viral messaging. Other methods just didn't "stick" with users. While not all approaches have been successful, we view this as part of our innovation and learning process.Collaboration is important to organizations and participants as it enables efficiency, effectiveness, knowledge transfer and innovation. The ability to bring people and information together from around the globe is increasingly critical as we watch resources diminish due to the economic climate, the demographics of the industry's workforce change significantly and the technical and commercial challenges to find, drill, and produce hydrocarbons grow more complex. Collaboration between users doesn't happen simply because tools are available. Organizations must find a way to make collaborative tools valuable, wanted and used. Keywords: discussion tool, application, society of petroleum engineers, change management, generating value, video, collaborative discussion, collaborative application, low-cost approach, sharepoint Subjects: Professionalism, Training, and Education, Information Management and Systems, Communities of practice, Knowledge management Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.

  PublisherDOI

• Bridging the Gap between Deploying Collaborative Applications and Generating Value

  SPE Intelligent Energy Conference and Exhibition · 2010-03-23 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Increasing numbers of collaborative tools and environments are becoming commercially available, and many of these applications are used or have been tried within the oil industry. But simply having the tools doesn’t mean they provide value or are embraced by employees. The perceived need for change management or lack of resources dedicated to change management seems to be pervasive across the industry. So this leads to the question: "How can we bridge the gap between deploying IT applications and generating value to users and the organization?" This case study looks at different low-cost approaches employed to prototype uses and builds user familiarity with several collaborative applications within our organization. These applications include webinars, wikis, collaborative discussions, amateur video and Microsoft SharePoint® software functions. Some simple approaches to deploying these tools have driven greater uptake and collaboration in the organization. Others became viral messaging. Other methods just didn’t "stick" with users. While not all approaches have been successful, we view this as part of our innovation and learning process. Collaboration is important to organizations and participants as it enables efficiency, effectiveness, knowledge transfer and innovation. The ability to bring people and information together from around the globe is increasingly critical as we watch resources diminish due to the economic climate, the demographics of the industry’s workforce change significantly and the technical and commercial challenges to find, drill, and produce hydrocarbons grow more complex. Collaboration between users doesn’t happen simply because tools are available. Organizations must find a way to make collaborative tools valuable, wanted and used.

  PublisherDOI

• Established Knowledge Management (KM) Communities of Practice: Moving Across the KM Product Life Cycle

  SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition · 2009-10-04 · 4 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Communities of practice (COPs) are a sub-set of knowledge management (KM) that provide a channel for people to interact and collaborate to achieve common goals. Benefits of COPs include global problem solving, leveraging best practices, time savings, and identifying future leaders. Since the global adoption of COPs and KM efforts in our industry, most companies have seen a rapid decline in community activity after initial deployment resulting in KM becoming a failed corporate initiative. In the product life cycle, these communities did not make the jump from the introduction to the growth phase. Some KM efforts and COPs do survive to the growth phase; however these established communities are not progressing along the life cycle curve due to little or no continual growth in activity levels and early adopters representing the bulk of users. The challenge for established COPs is to not just sustain activity levels but to create value for more users which will thus enhance the COPs’ significance to the global organization. This paper discusses the effects of several methods used to progress COPs along the product life cycle, moving users from casual bystanders to active participants in discussion. Specifically, adopting Web 2.0 technology provides new ways to engage users to define value-added content, leverage social networking, and embrace collaboration. In addition to implementing new web-based technologies, a full-time knowledge transfer facilitator or knowledge broker fosters the growth of the community. Lastly, over time established COPs tend to gel around certain employee populations, and the knowledge broker must break these arbitrary barriers and engage other users in the organization such as supply chain management or laboratory personnel. With the combination of these methods, the COPs have been shown to progress along the product life cycle with increased adoption and added value for the organization.

  PublisherDOI

• Combining Proven Anti-Sag Technologies for HPHT North Sea Applications: Clay-Free Oil-Based Fluid and Synthetic, Sub-Micron Weight Material

  2009-03-17 · 35 citations

  article

  Abstract North Sea wells drilled in high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) areas are known for presenting barite sag challenges. Fluid densities in the 17.5–18.0 lbm/gal range require a high percentage of barite, and 400°F temperatures can adversely impact the rheological properties needed for reliable suspension. Further, horizontal and extended reach drilling (ERD) wells can require specific hydraulic parameters for hole cleaning that may entail comparatively high pump rates which can contribute to excessive equivalent circulating densities (ECD). Drilling fluid companies initially responded to these challenges by utilizing modified barite and alternative weighting agents. Micronized barite has been used to help lower ECD values for years. However, a non-barite manganese tetraoxide weighting agent has proven to provide equivalent anti-sag at a lower cost. The sub-micron sized material has a specific gravity (sg) of 4.8, which is higher than barite. Per Stokes' law, small particles settle more slowly so that sag resistance improves which is important during extended static periods like during extensive coring operations. Manganese tetraoxide is also acid-soluble. These parameters provide more operational flexibility. The manganese tetraoxide weight material has now been tested successfully in a clay-free and economical paraffin/mineral oil-based fluid (OBF) for use in North Sea HPHT applications. The low-solids, clay-free system has a long history of reducing ECD and minimizing downhole losses while drilling, running casing and cementing. The 17.9 lbm/gal fluid weighted with manganese tetraoxide material exhibits effective hole cleaning properties at lower viscosities than conventional OBFs and shows no detectable sag tendency. Clay-free fluids also demonstrate excellent return permeability values in a wide range of well types. This paper details the design and testing of the clay-free ERD system, including extreme HPHT static aging and sag testing and modifications to the emulsifier package. The economics of implementing the commercial system are also discussed.

  PublisherDOI

• Heavy atom induced phosphorescence of organic materials using mono- and trifunctional organomercury derivatives

  OakTrust (Texas A&M University Libraries) · 2009-05-15

  article1st authorCorresponding

  This dissertation focuses on the phosphorescence of organic chromophores using\nperfluoro-ortho-phenylene mercury (1) and bis(pentafluorophenyl)mercury (2) as\nexternal heavy atom effect inducers. To ascertain the suitability of these luminescent\nadducts for OLED applications, several research objectives have been investigated.\nTo further shorten the triplet lifetimes of adducts involving 1, a strategy was\ndeveloped which combines both internal and external heavy atom effects. Specifically,\ncomplexes involving 1 and N-methylcarbazole, N-methylindole and the 1-\nhalonaphthalenes were investigated. The existence and stability of the complexes could\nbe confirmed in solution by fluorescence spectroscopy. In the solid state, these adducts\nform supramolecular binary stacks where the molecules of 1 alternate with the aromatic\nsubstrate. As a result of the mercury external heavy atom effect, all of these adducts\ndisplay intense room temperature phosphorescence of the free arene. With the Nheterocycles,\nthe triplet lifetimes were drastically reduced to below 100 mu-s.\nTo appreciate the origin of the unusual heavy atom effects observed in arene\nadducts with 1, 2 was studied as a monofunctional analog to 1. By utilizing fluorescence\nspectroscopy, naphthalene, biphenyl, and fluorene complexes of 1 and 2 have been\ndetected in solution. The solid state structure of the adducts with 2 reveal\nsupramolecular binary stacks. Comparison of the photophysical results supports the\noccurrence of cooperative effects between the Lewis acidic mercury centers of 1, which\nmake it a more efficient external heavy-atom effect inducer. Polymeric materials which are amenable to deposition in thin layers were\ninvestigated as substrates for 1 and 2. Both poly(vinyl-2-naphthalene) and\npoly(vinylcarbazole) interact with 1 and 2 in solution as evidenced by fluorescence\nspectroscopy. With the solid blend 1•PVK, a small doping percentage of 1 results in\nwhite emission, while larger percentages of 1 yield bright orange emission.\nThis dissertation presents the first structurally characterized ternary complex with\n1, carbazole, and coordinating solvents THF and triethylamine. IR spectroscopy and\nshort N···O and N···N distances in the solid state indicates that the acidic N-H moiety of\ncarbazole interacts with the solvent by hydrogen bonding. In the extended structure,\nmolecules of 1 and the hydrogen bonded complex alternate to form supramolecules.

  Publisher

• CCDC 622457: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

  The Cambridge Structural Database · 2008-01-01

  datasetOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures.

  PublisherDOI

• CCDC 664921: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

  The Cambridge Structural Database · 2008-01-01

  datasetOpen access

  An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures.

  PublisherDOI

• CCDC 664922: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

  The Cambridge Structural Database · 2008-01-01

  datasetOpen access

  An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures.

  PublisherDOI

• CCDC 622458: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

  The Cambridge Structural Database · 2008-01-01

  datasetOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• François P. Gabbaı̈

  Texas A&M University

  38 shared

• O. Elbjeirami

  University of North Texas

  27 shared

• Martha I. Bodine

  National Institute of Standards and Technology

  17 shared

• Mohammad A. Omary

  University of North Texas

  16 shared

• Thomas J. Taylor

  15 shared

• M.A. Omary

  11 shared

• M. Tsunoda

  Iwaki Meisei University

  9 shared

• Joseph H. Reibenspies

  8 shared

Education

• M.S., Library and Information Science

  University of Texas at Austin

  2002

• B.A., English

  University of Texas at Austin

  1998