CCPI has a growing number of undergraduate and graduate students who undertake Center research while pursing degrees. Six graduate students matriculated in the fall 2010 and two additional graduate students will matriculate in fall 2011. Current and former CCPI students are supported on research grants from federal and state governments and private foundations; UD Marine Policy Program funds; Okie Fellowships administered by UD’s School of Marine Science and Policy, and the Magers Family Fund that has awarded fellowships to students undertaking research on offshore wind power. In addition, three undergraduate students conduct research with the Center, one of whom is a student in UD’s undergraduate program in Energy and Environmental Policy and who during summer 2011 was a Graduate Finance Intern with Pepco Holdings, Inc., a second who is in UD’s Science and Engineering Scholars program, and a third who is an undergraduate at Penn State University.
Current Graduate Students
Alison Bates
Dawn Kurtz Crompton
Andrew Levitt
Regina McCormack
Lance Noel
Nathanial Perre
Katva Samoteskul
Deanna Sewell
Blaise Sheridan
Heather Thompson
Bruce M. Williams
Recent CCPI Students and Graduate Research Assistants
Amardeep Dhanju, PhD
Jonathan Lilley, PhD
Meredith Blades Lilley, PhD
Jacquline Piero, Masters
Scott Baker, Masters
Current Graduate Students
Alison Bates - (matriculated into M.M.P. in 2010) has a B.S. in Biology from William Smith College. Alison previously served as the Deputy Director for the San Bernardino National Forest Association, managing conservation programs to engage communities in the stewardship of public lands. Alison’s primary research interests include balancing of multiple uses at sea, marine mammal conservation, and social and environmental considerations of offshore wind power.
Dawn Kurtz Crompton - (matriculated into the Masters of Marine Policy Program (M.M.P) in 2010) has a B.S. in Communications from Boston University and J.D. in Environmental Law from the Widener University School of Law. Dawn’s areas of interest include offshore wind power management and development, utility scale renewable energy policy, and state and federal energy regulation.
Andrew Levitt - (matriculated into M.M.P. in 2009) has a B.S. in Physics from the University of Toronto. During this time, he studied soft condensed-matter physics using optical microscopy, publishing results as coauthor in Science and Applied Optics, among others. After working as a project manager in the power industry, Andrew joined the M.M.P. program to research the economics and finance of offshore wind power.
Regina McCormack - (matriculated into M.M.P. in 2011) has a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Notre Dame. Regina’s areas of interest include offshore wind energy development and policy, environmental effects of offshore wind energy regarding noise pollution and marine mammal health, wind energy development in the Great Lakes, and the impacts to avian communities.
Lance Noel - Ph.D. student, (matriculated in 2011) has a B.A. in Legal Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Lances areas of interest include environmental impacts of offshore wind, offshore floating turbines, offshore wind development in California, policy incentives, and plastic pollution.
Nathanial Pearre – Ph.D. student, (matriculated in 2008) has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Swarthmore College. Nat worked for several years as a composite fabricator and engineer, and later received an M.S. in Coastal Engineering from UD. His current research is an investigation of vehicle driving patterns in America, and what they mean for the time-dependent grid load, or the time-dependent grid storage resource that private vehicles could represent.
Katya Samoteskul - (matriculated into M.M.P in 2010) has a B.A. in Government and Environmental Studies from St. Lawrence University. Her research focuses on estimating the societal costs and benefits of moving commercial shipping lanes in the Mid-Atlantic into the deeper waters to accommodate development of offshore wind projects in shallower waters. Her additional research interests include port infrastructure development, marine spatial planning, renewable energy policy in the US and the EU, and climate change policy, and international water rights.
Deanna Sewell - (matriculated into Physical and Ocean Science Engineering (P.O.S.E.) in 2010) has a B.S. in Ocean Engineering from Florida Atlantic University. Deanna’s current research is in turbine tower dynamics from both experimental and modeling aspects, as well as quantifying the ocean current and wave forces exerted on offshore sub structures via computational fluid dynamics.
Blaise Sheridan – (matriculated into M.M.P. in 2009) has a B.S. from Swarthmore College in Engineering and minor in Environmental Studies. Blaise’s research interests include renewable energy policy, offshore wind resource assessment, energy subsidies and externalities, and offshore wind grid integration and balancing.
Heather Thompson – a Ph.D. student, (matriculated into M.M.P. in 2010) has an M.S. in Oceanography and an MPSA in Public Service and Administration from the University of Texas A&M. Heather is currently studying the economic and environmental impacts and amenity/disamenity values of wind turbines.
Bruce M. Williams - (matriculated into M.M.P. in 2010) has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, minors in Civil and Ocean Engineering from California State University at Long Beach. Bruce has 18 years professional experience as an Ocean Engineer and Coastal Planner/Engineer in California and Florida, including 15 years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District. Bruce is currently researching public policy and regulatory strategies affecting the development of offshore wind power in the Mid-Atlantic Bight.
Recent CCPI Students and Graduate Research Assistants
Amardeep Dhanju, PhD
Amardeep worked on offshore wind power and V2G with CCPI. In a study developed with other graduate students, he calculated the wind power potential off Delaware’s coast and its economic value in the regional PJM spot market. This analysis formed the basis of a larger project that assessed offshore wind potential along the Mid-Atlantic bight. Findings from these projects were published in Renewable Energy and Geophysical Research Letters journals. He also conducted a regulatory analysis for offshore wind power development in coastal state waters and of the benefit of using public power authorities to finance offshore wind power. Results of his research have been or will be published in the journals Renewable Energy, Geophysical Research Letters, Coastal Management and Energy Policy. In 2010, Amardeep was awarded a John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship to work at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) as a coastal marine spatial plan strategic coordinator. Dr. Dhanju has since joined the Environmental Studies Program (ESP) at BOEMRE as an ocean policy analyst to work on National Ocean Policy initiative.
Jonathan Lilley, PhD
Jonathan recently graduated from the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment at the University of Delaware with a Ph.D. in Marine Studies. His research focused on understanding public attitudes toward the ocean and ocean energy development. While a researcher at CCPI, he served for two years as the V2G Project Coordinator and assisted with the offshore wind research program. In 2006, he worked as a John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow at NOAA’s Office of Education. Jonathan also holds a Master of Science in Coastal and Marine Resource Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Geography. Currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawai‘i, he is investigating public attitudes toward the development and implementation of ocean-based, green technologies.
Meredith Blaydes Lilley, PhD
In her doctoral research, Meredith examined public perceptions of climate change and how they affect support for wind power, the effects of offshore wind development on tourism, and wildlife impacts of wind development, publishing in the journals Environmental Law and Energies. UD awarded Meredith the Dan Rich Prize which annually recognizes the dissertation that has the most potential to make a difference in the lives of Delawareans. Before commencing her doctoral studies, she served as a John A. Knauss Marine Policy fellow at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service during her Master’s studies at UD. Following graduation, Dr. Lilley instructed on the comparative environmental impacts of different energy sources and broader aspects of renewable energy policy in a UD undergraduate honors oceanography course and served as a research scientist on an economic study of Delaware Bay beaches.
Jacqueline Piero, Master’s
Jacqueline studied the motivations for and effects of citizen participation on the state of Delaware's 2008 energy policy decision that resulted in the first offshore wind power purchase agreement in the United States. While serving as a CCPI research assistant, she also worked on policy aspects of V2G. She now consults for companies in the electric vehicle industry.
Scott Baker, Master’s
Scott defended his thesis in July 2011, and his study focused on estimating the realistic offshore wind power potential in the Atlantic Ocean area adjacent to the Transmission System Operator (TSO) PJM Interconnection. While at CCPI, Scott also analyzed the rules for participation by V2G in the wholesale energy markets and advising policy makers on V2G technology. Since January 2011, Scott has been working for PJM Interconnection as a business solutions analyst in the Applied Solutions Department. The Department looks at emerging energy technologies and applications entering the market and, in some cases, collaborates with the industry to perform advanced technology demonstrations in areas of renewable energy, energy storage, demand response, and energy software/IT.
Student Experience
As a research organization, the Center is fortunate to work with motivated and well-qualified students. The graduate students have high levels of responsibility and carry out large portions of the effort, under supervision of PhD researchers. This brings creative new minds to the research and development effort. At the same time, we are training the next generation of professionals -- they study the theory, work with industry, are involved in writing law and implementing policy, teach, give demonstrations and lectures about new clean technologies, and sometimes write draft law or advance new policies. They are learning the science, engineering and policy--and working within the economy and the political process--to build a carbon-free society for the future. Below they describe some of their experiences with the Center...
"The V2g project has given me a chance to draw from university research, carry these ideas outside the academic world, and work with industry partners in an exciting field. I have gotten the opportunity to work on new technologies which have the potential to revolutionize the whole transportation paradigm and the chance to work on an interdisciplinary field that took me outside of my immediate comfort zone."
- Jon Lilley, PhD Student
"Working for the Center, I was given responsibilities quickly and felt very involved quite early on. I jumped right into working on a large grant and was able to learn through experience rather than strictly through course work. Just six weeks after starting with the Center, I was included in the group of Center researchers at a press event, sitting across the table from the President of the University, the management team of a global wind power manufacturer, and the Governor of Delaware."
- Blaise Sheridan, Masters student
"Doing research in cutting edge energy fields forces you to interact with industry experts because there is little or no previous literature on which to rely. Things are happening fast in this field, you can’t wait for reports or other experiments. As a consequence we get to do these things ourselves. We have direct interaction with lawmakers and law making. We are not responding to a bill that passes, but actually participating as an expert in the process. In just a couple of years of R&D at the Center, I have gained so much experience in the completely new field of Vehicle-to-Grid power that I have testified before a State Senate committee and answered lawmaker's questions--resulting in a new V2G law being passed. I now am answering questions from industry and the press, and I am a member of two US National committees setting standards for electric car connections."
- Scott Baker, Masters Student
"In my short time here working for the Center I already feel that I am becoming an expert in multiple disciplines. I am gaining experience not just in policy making but also in fields like engineering and energy systems. I have participated in the passing of an energy bill, demonstrations with an electric vehicle, and the submission of an academic article on the offshore wind resource for publication. I know that I will leave here with an understanding of much more than just marine policy and my specific area of research."
-Jo Huxster, Masters Student