ENGAGING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN ENERGY POLICY THROUGH SERVICE-LEARNING

As the connections among energy, the environment and the economy become increasingly clear, it becomes even more important to provide students with the opportunity to witness how objective, nonpartisan information can be used to impact energy and resource policy. Such opportunities can be framed as exercises in civic consciousness through service-learning, and can extend to non-science majors. In the fall of 2010, a group of undergraduate business students at Bentley University in Waltham, MA conducted original research in a seminar course on federal natural resource policy. The students received an additional course credit and performed over 20 hours of service on a project for the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI).

As students at a university that integrates the arts and sciences with a business curriculum, they examined the attitudes of Northeastern small businesses regarding energy use and efficiency. Small businesses generate over half the nonfarm GDP in the U.S., but also spend over $130 billion on energy-related costs. The project’s goal was to identify gaps in awareness among these businesses about federal programs promoting energy efficiency. The students found that small business owners overwhelmingly want to reduce their energy costs, but frequently lack information on how to do it. The businesses identified reducing costs as the primary motivator for increasing energy efficiency. At the end of the semester, the students travelled to Washington, D.C. with the instructor (Szymanski) to present their findings to federal policymakers. In January of 2011, four U.S. Senators sent letters to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Small Business Administration (SBA) to highlight the students’ findings and ask for a memorandum of understanding between the agencies to maximize the impact of existing federal energy efficiency programs on small businesses.

The sample set is small, but anecdotally the project had a positive effect on student learning. Specifically, pre- and post-course surveys and essays indicate that the students gained a new perspective on how individuals can impact policy using objective data. Although this project focused on energy efficiency, similar projects are possible on any number of geoscience-related issues.