This will be a review of the highlights of the 4th year of our IGERT program and a showing of a video of the fieldtrip to the Bahamas in March by IGERT students enrolled in the WIND ENERGY: Environmental Assessment, Monitoring & Regulatory Requirements course.
Small island developing states around the world face many challenges related to energy production. In most cases, diesel fuel is imported to run generators so that electricity can be transmitted along antiquated grid systems to end users. Not only is this form of electricity production expensive especially for some poor nations, it also exacerbates climate change through carbon emissions as well as requires the transport of potentially hazardous materials through very sensitive tropical seas. Determining the role offshore wind energy production can play in helping to overcome these challenges can foster more sustainable development small island developing states on a global scale.
An interdisciplinary course taught by PI’s Danylchuk and Griffin has NSF-funded IGERT students tackle these challenges head on. Using a case study approach, students this semester became immersed in the environmental, physical, and socio-political issues facing the development of offshore wind energy production for the island of Eleuthera, The Bahamas.
As part of the process, our NSF-funded IGERT students embarked on an international field trip to conduct a site assessment for the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD), Eleuthera, and how it is nested in the broader landscape of Eleuthera, and the Bahamian Archipelago. This immersive step to learning allowed for the students to work directly with CSD staff to ensure that the models being proposed are realistic and can add value to the mission of their organization.
