Professor Elvin Delgado and the Institute for Integrated Energy Studies (I2ES) at Central Washington University received a $10,000 grant from the Patricia Galloway and Kris Nielsen Foundation. Delgado, director of the I2ES, will use the money to research socio-ecological impacts associated with hydraulic fracturing in the Neuquén basin in Argentina.
Delgado is the co-creator and founding director of the institute, which is housed in the College of the Sciences at CWU. He is a Fulbright Scholar with more than 10 years of research experience in Latin America.
The I2ES gives CWU professors a space to engage in creative and collaborative research in order to find solutions to complex energy issues. It also hopes to offer a first-of-its-kind degree in integrated energy management with specializations in energy policy, energy business and power systems. Delgado will submit a curriculum proposal to the CWU Faculty Senate in January. If approved, the degree would be available in fall 2015 and prepare students for the public and private energy sectors.
The Cle Elum-based Patricia Galloway and Kris Nielsen Foundation, founded in 2009, helps scientists and engineers develop ideas that combine science and engineering with social management in order to improve quality of life for all. Its grants support original research and education that have high expected returns to society and lead to the overall sustainability of our planet.
Delgado’s research, which will help create policies for ways to extract and produce energy from unconventional sources, is a good example of this integration of science and social management.
The Patricia Galloway and Kris Nielsen Foundation has a special relationship with CWU: The university is both a grantee and a research partner. Since 2009 the foundation has awarded seven grants, including $10,000 in 2011 to CWU’s Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the College of Business.
December 15, 2014