[Part 1] Ken Wisian - Associate Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology with the University of Texas at Austin

In Part One of this conversation, Dr. Ken Wisian shares his journey from a multi-decade military career to leading geothermal research at the Bureau of Economic Geology. We explore how his background in physics, geology, and disaster response informs his work today, dive into Texas’s geothermal potential, and unpack the origins of Project Innerspace and its role in accelerating geothermal innovation. Ken also explains why geothermal has kept his interest for decades, what makes it uniquely interdisciplinary, and how new drilling technologies are expanding where and how we can harness heat—on Earth and even in space.