ENERGY EDUCATION IN THE ENERGY TRANSITION

Too many geology programs that prepare students for a future as energy practitioners have remained mired in the paradigms of traditional teaching. Students are admitted to a graduate program with a more or less predetermined research topic and supplement this with related coursework. They leave the university with lots of depth in their focus area but insufficient breadth. Meanwhile, the world of professional opportunities in energy has changed dramatically. For example, Master’s graduates employed by the oil and gas industry in the U. S. today comprise around 25 % of all graduates compared to the 70 % of a decade past. Energy practitioners rapidly discover that most sustainable energy solutions are inherently multidisciplinary, go well beyond science and technology and require a good understanding of finance (is this solution economically viable?) and policy (will this solution work at the interface with society?). While these changes may seem daunting, the opportunity space for energy practitioners has broadened dramatically but is also full of uncertainty. The Energy and Earth Resources graduate program is a 41 year old experiment, prescient in its design, which builds robust foundational skills, competence in key disciplines through a very broad curriculum and original research which is required to be multidisciplinary to provide depth. Its graduates are generalists capable of moving between many different energy spheres but who have traded off some depth for more breadth. The program's success merits examination as an educational model to prepare graduate students for exciting but very uncertain future. In this discussion we will explore the benefits and liabilities of this approach and consider how common sense financial approaches to protecting an investor from significant market place uncertainty can be applied conceptually to education.