Earth Day is marked globally on April 22, and the theme this year is “Our Power, Our Planet,” challenging the world to consider how the planet can triple renewable energy by 2030.
The following University of Victoria experts are available to media for comment about renewable energy and the energy transitions:
Curran Crawford (Mechanical Engineering, Accelerating Community Energy Transformation) is the founding executive director of ACET, a 40+ partner initiative accelerating the global search for resilient and equitable clean energy solutions through local, community-based collaborations. In addition to his expertise in sustainable energy systems design and operation, Crawford can give early insights into the work underway that will transform the Canadian clean energy landscape this decade. (Contact: [email protected])
Zachary Gould (ACET) is an expert in community energy systems, architectural engineering and bio-inspired design and planning. He can discuss topics related to district energy networks, energy systems modelling, the housing climate nexus and the impacts artificial intelligence may have on the future of our built environment. (Contact: [email protected])
Christina Hoicka (Geography, Civil Engineering) is director of Re-Imagining Social Energy Transitions CoLaboratory (ReSET CoLab) which brings expertise in renewable energy transitions for Indigenous Nations, urban and rural communities, prioritizing place-based approaches, transformative energy justice, community governance, and socio-economic impacts and benefits of renewable energy infrastructure projects. (Contact: [email protected])
Tamara Krawchenko (Public Administration, ACET) is an expert in comparative public policy, regional development and sustainability transitions. She can comment on how communities and regions are managing energy and sustainability transitions, including her work on Northern Regional Energy Dialogues. (Contact: [email protected])
Harry Kwok (Electrical Engineering) is an emeritus professor whose research in the last 10 years has been in organic electronics. In particular, he has worked on thermoelectric materials, materials that can generate electricity from heat gradient and on negative capacitance in organic items that may be useful for energy storage. (Contact: [email protected])
Kara Shaw (Environmental Studies, ACET) is an expert in the political ecology of energy transitions and ways in which frontline communities are both resisting the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure and advancing climate solutions. She is the director of the Certificate in Transformative Climate Action, which focuses on the social and political dynamics of climate action, and of the UVic Sustainability Scholars Program, which pairs graduate students with community partners to research solutions to current sustainability challenges. She can discuss Northern Regional Energy Dialogues. (Contact: [email protected])
Emily Wordley (PRIMED, ACET, IESVic) is a social scientist and storyteller focused on community engagement in renewable energy decision-making. Her current research, in collaboration with ACET and remote communities in BC, explores how to centre community voices in the energy transition through methods such as participatory film. She can discuss potential barriers to meaningful engagement, the marginalization of local voices, and the importance of effectively integrating local values and knowledge into energy decisions. (Contact: [email protected])
