September 21, 2009 - California State University, Bakersfield geology professors Robert Horton and Robert Negrini might be showing up soon on a small screen near you. Both professors had a part in an upcoming episode of the National Geographic Channel program called "Man Made" the cable channel's in-depth look at the extraordinary stories behind how everything gets made. The episode, entitled "Gallon of Gas," explores the journey of oil from creation millions of years ago to the gas tanks of today's vehicles.

While Negrini answered the filmmaker's questions about carbon dioxide and climate change, Horton took the crew on a two-day tour looking at geologic features that play an integral role in the drilling process.

"They spent several days in town and I took them to the CSUB Well Sample Repository, McKittrick tar seeps, outcrops on Highway 58, and the Panorama Bluffs to look at the Kern River oil fields," Horton said. "I then brought them back to campus and we used the scanning electron microscope lab to get even a closer look at these rocks that play such an important part in the whole process of creating fuel."

The episode is slated to air Thursday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. For more information on the program, log on to http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/man-made/3621/Overview.