On March 7 Jürgen drove (in a UW hybrid car, of course) to Bellingham to give a public lecture at the Institute for Energy Studies (IES) at the Western Washington University (WWU). It was the second time he visited the Bellingham campus. This time he was invited by the IES to talk at their Speaker Series about climate action and clean energy in the European Union. There was a lot of interest in European initiatives to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency among the audience which was a mix of undergraduate students, faculty and other interested people.
Jürgen was hosted by the Director of IES, Joel Swisher (who knew each other from Jürgen’s previous career as energy researcher), and Assistant Professor Imran Sheikh. They had kindly organized a number of meetings with faculty and researchers where he learned more about the Institute’s teaching and research activities. One thing that makes the IES stand out is its recently launched interdisciplinary energy program for undergraduate students. It was conceived to prepare young professionals for the changing American energy market where renewable energy and sources and energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important.
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We are coming up on the end of Jürgen’s time here at the Center for European Studies! He’ll be traveling to Olympia to speak to a State Senate Committee, and to the University of British Columbia before he prepares to head back to Brussels to continue his work as a policy officer at the EU Commission.