The following Oregon State University faculty and staff have expertise related to marine renewable energy. Their specific expertise, and contact information, is listed below. For help with other OSU faculty experts, contact Sean Nealon, 541-737-0787, [email protected]
Policy
Burke Hales, 541-737-8121, [email protected]
Hales is the chief scientist of Oregon State University’s PacWave, the first pre-permitted, utility-scale, grid-connected wave energy test site in the United States that is located off the Oregon Coast. He is a professor in Oregon State’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. He is an expert on coastal ocean carbon cycles and ocean acidification. He can discuss:
- Details about PacWave.
- Wave energy project permitting.
- Wave energy projects in the United States.
Dan Hellin, 541-737-5452, [email protected]
Hellin is deputy director of Oregon State University’s PacWave, the first pre-permitted, utility-scale, grid-connected wave energy test site in the United States that is located off the Oregon Coast. He can talk about:
- Details about PacWave.
- Wave energy permitting and testing.
- National and international wave energy projects.
Bryson Robertson, 541-737-8286, [email protected]
Robertson is director of the Pacific Marine Energy Center and a professor in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University. He is also a core member of the Pacific Offshore Wind Consortium, a partnership between Oregon State, Cal Poly Humboldt and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He can discuss:
- Offshore renewable energy (waves, wind, tidal and solar) resources, technologies and user value.
Karina Nielsen, 541-737-2714, [email protected]
Nielsen is director of Oregon Sea Grant, a cooperative program between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oregon State University that supports an integrated program of research, extension and education focused on coastal ecosystems and communities. She is also an advisory committee member of the Pacific Offshore Wind Consortium, a partnership between Oregon State, Cal Poly Humboldt and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and a member of Oregon's Ocean Policy Advisory Council. She has more than 25 years of experience working as a scientist, educator, and leader in coastal zone stewardship, policy and public engagement. She can discuss:
- Benefits and burdens of marine renewable energy development.
- Coastal ecology and marine renewable energy infrastructure.
- Science and policy related to marine renewable energy.
Greg Stelmach, [email protected]
Stelmach is a postdoctoral scholar working with the Pacific Marine Energy Center at Oregon State University. He focuses on the policy side of offshore renewable energy and can discuss:
- The federal leasing process with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
- State-level regulation.
- Community engagement.
- Community benefits agreements related to marine renewable projects.
- Public perceptions of marine/offshore renewable energy.
Swett is an Oregon Sea Grant extension specialist in marine renewable energy and communities. She has experience developing and implementing programs to bring science-based information about offshore wind energy to communities in Oregon. Before coming to Oregon State, Swett spent time in communities impacted by offshore wind development in Southern New England to study social perceptions of energy justice. Her areas of expertise include:
- Federal and state offshore wind policy and decision-making processes.
- Interactions between marine renewable energy projects and coastal communities.
- Offshore wind energy justice.
Ocean Science
Lisa T. Ballance, 541-867-0445, [email protected]
Ballance is director of Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute and professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences. She studies the ecology of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) and seabirds. She is principal investigator of a four-year project funded by the Department of Energy and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management designed to assist with decisions pertaining to siting of offshore wind energy platforms. She can discuss:
- Basic ecology of marine mammals and seabirds.
- Research pertaining to marine mammal interactions with human activities.
- The challenges and opportunities of offshore wind in the context of marine mammals and seabirds.
Jack Barth, 541-737-1607, [email protected]
Jack Barth is a professor in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University and former executive director of the university’s Marine Studies Initiative, now known as Marine and Coastal Opportunities. He is an expert on coastal ocean dynamics, coastal marine ecosystems, hypoxia and inner continental shelf dynamics. He can speak to:
- How wind affects ocean currents and mixing, drives upwelling of nutrients that fuel the coastal marine food web, seasonal wind and ocean patterns.
- How wind farms may or may not influence these dynamics.
Loren Davis, 541-737-3849, [email protected]
Davis is an anthropologist at Oregon State University. His areas of research include ancient coastal landscapes and early archaeological sites. He has worked along the Oregon Coast and found evidence of submerged landscapes and sites that might remain on Oregon’s continental shelf. He can discuss:
- The potential impact of renewable energy development on submerged archaeological sites and cultural resources on the Oregon continental shelf.
Sarah Henkel, 541-867-0316, [email protected]
Henkel is associate director of the Pacific Marine Energy Center and an associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at Oregon State University. Her research is focused on how organisms at the bottom of the ocean respond to human-caused stressors and environmental change. She can comment on:
- Potential ecological effects of offshore renewable energy installations on marine habitats and organisms.
Engineering
Ted Brekken, 541-737-2995,[email protected]
Brekken is a professor in energy systems in Oregon State University's College of Engineering. He also leads the Wallace Energy Systems & Renewables Facility, which includes high-power equipment for hydropower, marine renewables and microgrid research. His research interests include advanced control techniques applied to renewable energy systems. He can discuss:
- Resilience of electrical grids to earthquakes.
- Hydropower and energy storage operation.
- Marine renewable energy systems, including wave power and offshore wind.
Pedro Lomonaco, 541-737-2875, [email protected]
Lomonaco is the director of the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory at Oregon State University. The lab includes a wave basin and wave flume that are used for testing offshore renewable energy devices. He can discuss:
- Experiments in the wave research laboratory.
- Wave generation and propagation.
- Wave-structure interaction.
- Stability of coastal and submarine structures and behavior of floating structures.
Social Science
Hilary Boudet, 541-737-5375, [email protected]
Boudet is a professor in the School of Public Policy at Oregon State University. Her research interests include environmental and energy policy, natural resource sociology, social movements and public participation in energy and environmental decision-making. She recently received a $2.5 million Department of Energy grant to study the impact of wind energy development on coastal communities. She can discuss:
- Public perceptions and community responses to large-scale energy development
- Community benefits agreements related to marine renewable projects.
Shawn Hazboun, [email protected]
Hazboun is an environmental and natural resource sociologist whose research examines community impacts and public perceptions of energy systems, fuels extraction and transition to a carbon-free future. An assistant professor of sociology in Oregon State University’s College of Liberal Arts, she is the co-lead researcher on a $2.5 million Department of Energy grant to study the impact of wind energy development on coastal communities. She can comment on:
- Environmental, natural resource and community sociology
- Global energy transition and community change
- Public response to renewable energy, fossil fuels extraction and fossil fuel export
- Rural community wellbeing, extractive histories and just transition