Seminar Title: Can we do it now? Transforming the university model to address the climate crisis.

Abstract
Academic medical centers and land grant universities were 19th century creations that transformed public health and agricultural productivity through holistic integrations of fundamental and clinical/applied research, professional training, and direct delivery of services to the public. By inventing new faculty categories (clinical, extension), expanding the roles staff and trainees played in the community, and creating facilities to support new scholarly modes, universities became central actors in the transition to an industrialized nation. As a state, Washington has been the nation’s top renewable energy producer for nearly a century, through hydropower, but is also a global cautionary tale for inequitable clean energy through the flooding of indigenous lands and damage to traditional food and cultural systems, with few benefits to the impacted tribes. This talk describes some of the ways the University of Washington Clean Energy Institute (CEI) has developed the Washington Clean Energy Testbed program to deliver services to the public, while enabling students, faculty, and staff to actively participate in the adoption of a scalable and equitable clean energy future. Within this context, the speaker describes work with northwest tribes on community-engaged clean energy research as well as the evolving questions his electrochemical research team now tackles to address the information gaps that impact the use and reuse of batteries in the electrifying economy. Through a description of CEI programs and specific scholarly examples, this talk seeks to start a conversation on shaping “Academic Climate Centers” as central actors in the energy transition, serving all people in mitigating and adapting to climate change.

Bio
Daniel T. Schwartz (dts@uw.edu) is Boeing-Sutter Professor of Chemical Engineering and Director of the Clean Energy Institute at the University of Washington. He joined the UW in 1991, following a postdoctoral fellowship at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and Ph.D. at U.C. Davis. He has served the university as Associate Dean for Research in Engineering, Chair of Chemical Engineering, and Office of Research liaison to Pacific Northwest National Lab. An electrochemical engineer by training, his professional home is the Electrochemical Society, where he is a Fellow and recipient of research and teaching awards. Dan is especially proud to have been recognized by regional climate tech business leaders with the 2021 Directors Award for impact on the Northwest innovation ecosystem, and the White House with a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math, and Engineering Mentoring for collaborative research and education with northwest tribes. A civic minded Washingtonian, he brings engineering expertise to governing and advisory boards at Chief Leschi Schools, the CleanTech Alliance, investment group E8, and the State of Washington. Dan is Chair of the Washington State Academy of Sciences’ Jobs, Infrastructure, and Economic Environment working group.