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News Release

Last modified: Thursday, September 16, 2010

Energy seminar series receives successful kick-off, seven speakers to follow during Themester

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 16, 2010

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An impressive speaker series on climate change and energy, titled by organizers "The Grand Energy Challenge," received a successful launch Wednesday (Sept. 15) as part of Indiana University's fall 2010 Themester: "sustain•ability: Thriving on a Small Planet."

John Haselden, principal engineer in corporate affairs for Indianapolis Power and Light, spoke on the topic of "Moving to Sustainable Energy Supply," to an attentive and inquisitive group of students and community members, according to co-organizer Rebecca Barthelmie, an IU professor of atmospheric science. His talk was the first in a series of presentations that will include visits by a Patten lecturer, a leading state energy official, and researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Colorado School of Mines and Purdue University.

"John was an inspiring speaker who stayed behind to answer a lot of questions from students," Barthelmie said. "We've had to move the talks to larger venues to accommodate the much larger than expected audience. That is excellent, of course, and shows there is a lot of interest."

The series is being supported by the IU College of Arts and Sciences, a grant from Duke Energy Foundation, and the Multidisciplinary Ventures and Seminars Fund of the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs at IU Bloomington.

Co-organizers of the event with Barthelmie are Sara Pryor, also an atmospheric scientist in the IU Department of Geography, and John Rupp and Maria Mastalerz from the Indiana Geological Survey.

The series will include seven more presentations, listed here:

• "Coal's role in Indiana's future," by Purdue University's Tom Sparrow, Wednesday, Sept. 29, from 4-5 p.m. at the Department of Chemistry Building, room 001.
• "The role of international treaties in tackling climate change," by Griffith University's Jean Palutikof, from 7:30-8:30 p.m., Monday, Oct. 11, as part of the Patten Lecture Series. Fine Arts Building, room 015.
• "Low Impact Fossil Energy: Keystone to Sustainability" by Julio Friedmann, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, on Tuesday, Oct. 12, from 1-2 p.m., at the State Room East, Indiana Memorial Union.
• "Climate change adaptation strategies: a poor man's solution?" by Jean Palutikof, Griffith University, from 7:30-8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 12, as part of the Patten Lecture Series. Fine Arts Building, room 015.
• "Renewable energy development in Indiana," by Travis Murphy of the Indiana Office of Energy Development, from 4-5 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 27, at Woodburn Hall, room 100.
• "Wind energy," by Matt Hendrickson, Horizon Wind Energy, from 4-5 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 10, at the Dogwood Room, Indiana Memorial Union.
• "The Global Energy Challenge," by Roel Snieder, Colorado School of Mines, from 4-5 p.m., Monday, Nov. 15, at the Geological Sciences Building, room 143.

For more information or to speak with Barthelmie or other organizers, please contact Steve Chaplin, University Communications, at 812-856-1896 or stjchap@indiana.edu.

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