Russell Gold, author of the 2015-16 Penn State Reads book, “The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World,” will speak at Penn State on Oct. 12 in the HUB’s Alumni Hall. Attendees will have the opportunity to have their copy of the book signed following the lecture.

Tickets for the event are free, and can be attained at any of the Center for Performing Arts ticket outlets. Students have first dibs on a first-come, first-serve basis, and remaining tickets will be open to faculty, staff, and community members starting on Oct. 7.

Additionally, Gold will participate in a community question and answer session on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 7:30 p.m. The event, “Meet Russell Gold, author of ‘The Boom,'” will be led by interviewer Katie O’Toole and will take place at the Days Inn on South Pugh Street. This event will also include a book signing and is free to the public. Doors open at 7 p.m.

In his book, Gold examines fracking, the process of drilling into the earth in order to extract oil and natural gas. “The Boom” studies this industry closely, and documents the rise of environmental oilfield technology and its effect on rural communities.

The book has received some backlash from the community for being selected as the Penn State Reads book. A petition with a few thousand signatures, from those not affiliated with the university, requested the book be banned from the Penn State Reads program and that all events coinciding with “The Boom” be cancelled due to the book’s content and opinion on fracking. In a September meeting, UPUA passed a bill in support of the Penn State Reads program, and no events related to the book were cancelled.

Gold is an award-winning journalist at The Wall Street Journal. He covers energy news topics for the population, and is a part of a Wall Street Journal investigative team. Gold has reported on the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, and his team’s coverage was a finalist in 2010 for the Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting. In addition, Gold’s “The Boom” was long listed for the Financial Times (FT) McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award.