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Fall/Winter 2024
Letter from the Chair
With 2024 drawing to a close, we are overdue for a Dispatch from EAP. What a year it has been!
In the spirit of the recent Thanksgiving, I want to thank all supporters of the EAP program. Your time, energy, and financial gifts keep our program zooming ahead. Over the past few years, EAP has been transformed by the generosity of our alumni and friends, the time and dedication of our faculty, and the passion and brainpower of our students. We welcome your engagement this holiday season and in the year to come. If you’d like to give a gift to support EAP, you can do so here, or feel free to contact me anytime.
This month also marks a goodbye for EAP, bidding farewell to our Outreach Specialist, Michael Kamp, and Digital Media Intern, Mac Gale. Michael organized trips and events, grew our external engagement portfolio, and streamlined communications. Thank you, Michael, for your commitment to EAP, and good luck on your move to Chicago! Mac Gale was part of team EAP since May 2022 as the Digital Media Intern while completing her BS in Interior Architecture and certificate in Graphic Design. During her role, Mac used her creativity and attention to detail to design knock-out graphics – thank you, Mac!
While we say goodbye to Michael and Mac, it’s a good time to also give a shout-out to Scott Williams and Paul Meier, who will continue to work with our faculty to grow and improve EAP. Scott led our 10-year program review this year (Wow!! A lot has happened in 10 years!!), and this fall Scott has been teaching our Intro class in Energy Analysis and Policy (fondly referred to as "809") while Greg Nemet has been on sabbatical. He’s also led a snazzy update of our Professional Skill Seminar, which I think will serve as the new template for this important part of the EAP curriculum.
Paul meanwhile has been growing our new Client Services program, with clients including the Great Plains Institute, the American Lung Association, the City of Milwaukee, EarthJustice, and more! We’d love to work with your organization as well. If you have any projects where EAP know-how could bring value, we are ready to roll.
Thank you for being part of the EAP community! Enjoy the upcoming holiday season, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you want to discuss anything EAP.
All the Best,
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Tracey Holloway
Energy Analysis and Policy Program Chair
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Tracey Holloway and Michael Kamp in Iowa City, IA before kicking off the conference at the University of Iowa on satellite data and solar energy, August 2024.
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Program Highlights
Energy... from Space?
This fall, we wrapped up a two-year grant from NASA to explore the topic of satellite data to support energy decision-making through a series of workshops. The first was held here at UW-Madison back in Fall 2022 and set the stage for a series of interactive conversations, bringing together academic, industry, government, and non-profit leaders.
Then in September 2023, we examined how satellite data can improve our ability to manage wildfires and energy infrastructure, hosted in Boulder, Colorado at the beautiful National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Mesa Lab. Learn more about the conference and watch the recordings here.
In October 2023, team EAP traveled to North Carolina and partnered with Duke University to investigate data analytics and artificial intelligence’s (AI) role in energy (watch here). Of note, two EAP students took home first and second place for the lightning talk competition during the conference. Learn more about the conference here.
And, in August 2024, the last of the workshops was held at the University of Iowa on how satellite data can support solar energy. EAP partnered with the University of Iowa and NASA to discuss the full life cycle of solar energy, from how it integrates with the energy system, to community engagement, to siting.
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Panelists, including EAP student Noah Rhodes (middle), discuss power infrastructure vulnerabilities to wildfire and how satellite data can improve planning, September 2023.
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EAP Delegations in Action
In May, EAP took a group of students and faculty to Chicago for a two-day networking trip – a way for students to learn about careers surrounding energy, network with energy professionals, have fun, and get to know each other. We visited United Airlines and EPA Region 5, met with a career panel with representatives from Invenergy, ComEd, Evergreen Climate Innovations, and Elevate, and hosted a dynamic reception at Rosebud Randolph overlooking Millenium Park.
We even squeezed in a bit of sight-seeing, visiting the Willis Tower Skydeck. Needless to say, we snapped some great photos. Thank you again to our hosts and to the generous donors who made this trip possible!
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The group poses for a photo in the interactive museum of Chicago's history and culture before riding up to the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower, May 2024.
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EAP Capstones - Impact Beyond the Classroom
Each spring, the EAP capstone course provides teams of students the opportunity to apply their knowledge to a real-world energy issue for an outside client, with the support of an EAP faculty mentor. This Spring 2024 brought five more exciting projects, ranging from calculating the value of solar to addressing electricity demand at the Alliant Energy Center. Students presented their work to their clients as well as during an Association of Energy Professionals (AESP) networking event – a budding annual tradition. Click the images below to learn more about each capstone!
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From EAP to the PSC
EAP is now well-represented among the top energy decision-makers in Wisconsin! EAP alum Mikhaila Calice was recruited to join the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) by another EAP alum, Commissioner Marcus Hawkins, serving as his Executive Assistant. The PSC regulates over 1,100 public utilities in the state of Wisconsin, including electric, natural gas, and water utilities. Calice gives EAP a lot of credit to where she is today, not least because she met Commissioner Hawkins through EAP – an example of networking in action!
Click here to read the whole story.
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Mikhaila Calice and Commissioner Marcus Hawkins attending the Mid-American Regulatory Conference (MARC) in Minneapolis, MN, June 2024.
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EAP Awards 2024 Student Scholarships
We are pleased to continue offering $2,000 scholarships for students enrolling in EAP for the 2024 academic year thanks to generous support from Wes and Ankie Foell and David and Helen Nagel! Ten outstanding students were selected as awardees of the 2024 EAP Student Scholarship:
- Jacklyn Alsbro - Foell Scholarship - Public Affairs, MPA
- Sharan Ganjam Seshachallam - Foell Scholarship - Agricultural & Applied Econ, PhD
- Yiwen Gu - Foell Scholarship - Electrical Engineering, PhD
- Yoonjin Im - Foell Scholarship - Environment & Resources, PhD
- Jennifer Jones - Foell Scholarship - Environment & Resources, PhD
- Emily Mather - Foell Scholarship - Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, MS
- Archish Narayan - Foell Scholarship - Biological Systems Engineering, MS
- Michael O’Donnell - Nagel Scholarship - Materials Science & Engineering, PhD
- Faustina Sekyere - Foell Scholarship - Environment & Resources, PhD
- Maha Ziadeh - Foell Scholarship - Urban & Regional Planning, MS
Congratulations again to these students!! 🎉
An additional six scholarship winners will be awarded in spring 2025 to new applicants to the EAP program, including new graduate applicants to UW-Madison or current graduate students interested in adding EAP to their graduate experience. More details to come!
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Sharan Ganjam Seshachallam
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EAP Thought Leaders
Periodically, we meet with high-level experts in the energy field – EAP Thought Leaders – to inform the trajectory of the program and chart a course for the future. In September, we hosted a group of 10 Thought Leaders on campus, starting with a lunch at Steenbock’s and then continued the discussions at the Wisconsin Energy Institute. We ended the day at the Nelson Institute Rendezvous on the Terrace where EAP Thought Leader Jeff Rudd was honored with an alumni award. Thank you to all the EAP Thought Leaders as well as EAP and Nelson Institute faculty and staff for joining!
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EAP Capstone to Research Publication
A research project on renewable natural gas (RNG) potential that started as an EAP capstone project in 2022 evolved into a journal publication – a first for the EAP capstone course! EAP Outreach Specialist Michael Kamp sat down with members of the capstone team to discuss how the project went from a capstone to an accepted publication in the journal Biomass and Bioenergy.
Read the full article in the August issue of The Commons from the Nelson Institute!
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All the Best,
The EAP Team
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Scott Williams
Program Coordinator
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Paul Meier
Business Engagement
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