Author: Schatz Center

Please join us on Monday, October 5 from 2:00-4:30 pm (Pacific) for the fourth webinar in Exploring the Feasibility of Offshore Wind Energy for the California North Coast.

Register now

We welcome participation in these events from a broad audience. Each session is free and open to the public. Closed-caption recordings will also be released following each webinar.

• Download related reports

Please visit our wind studies page for recordings and materials from the first three webinars.

Today’s speakers

We will open with remarks from:

• Mike Wilson, 3rd District Supervisor, Humboldt County Board of Supervisors and North Coast Representative for the California Coastal Commission
• Arne Jacobson, principal investigator on our offshore wind feasibility studies, and Director of the Schatz Center

Laurie Richmond, Associate Professor of Environmental Science & Management at HSU, will then share key findings from a north coast community perspectives analysis regarding the potential impacts and opportunities of offshore wind energy. This research was carried out from 2018-2020, and included interviews with community members as well as input from public meetings and workshops held during this period. The Schatz Center team also conducted a literature review of lessons learned from other communities around the world that have engaged with offshore wind.

Following the presentation, we will hear reflections from five panelists:

• Mike Anderson, Commercial fisherman
• Jana Ganion, Sustainability and Government Affairs Director for the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe
• Jeff Hunerlach, District Representative, District 40, Operating Engineers Local #3
• Harrison Ibach, President of the Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association
• Jennifer Savage, California Policy Manager for the Surfrider Foundation

Panelist comments will be followed by a discussion period in which participants are invited to share their questions and insights regarding the possibility of wind farm development in the Humboldt Bay region.

Funding

Production of this five-part offshore wind webinar series is supported by the Ocean Protection Council of the California Natural Resources Agency. The research studies were funded by the California Ocean Protection Council, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. 

More information

• Register for upcoming events in this series
• Download our offshore wind publications
• Sign up for updates on our offshore wind research, or contact us with questions at windstudies@schatzcenter.org

Please join us on Monday, September 28 from 2:00-4:30 pm (Pacific) for the third webinar in Exploring the Feasibility of Offshore Wind Energy for the California North Coast.

Register now

We welcome participation in these events from a broad audience. Each session is free and open to the public. Closed-caption recordings will also be released following each webinar.

• Download related reports

Please visit our wind studies page for recordings and materials from the first two webinars.

Today’s speakers

We will open with remarks from:

• Jennifer Lucchesi, Executive Officer, California State Lands Commission, and
• Arne Jacobson, principal investigator on our offshore wind feasibility studies, and Director of the Schatz Center

Aaron Porter and Shane Phillips of Mott MacDonald will then present analyses of the port and coastal infrastructure that would be required to support offshore wind from the Humboldt Bay harbor, and discuss potential use and environmental impacts for the Bay.

Following the presentation, we will hear reflections from five panelists:

• Adam Canter, Tribal Botanist/GIS Specialist for the Wiyot Tribe Natural Resources Department, Table Bluff Reservation
• Tyrone Conner, Deputy Chief of Waterways Management and Chief of Aids To Navigation for the Eleventh Coast Guard District
• Sharon Kramer, Principal and Senior Marine Biologist at H. T. Harvey & Associates
• Larry Oetker, Executive Director of the Humboldt Bay Harbor and Recreation District
• Antoine Peiffer, Vice President of Engineering at Principle Power

Panelist comments will be followed by a Q&A discussion.

Funding

Production of this five-part offshore wind webinar series is supported by the Ocean Protection Council of the California Natural Resources Agency. The research studies were funded by the California Ocean Protection Council, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. 

More information

• Register for upcoming events in this series
• Download our offshore wind publications
• Sign up for updates on our offshore wind research, or contact us with questions at windstudies@schatzcenter.org

REGISTER now

Please join us for a five-part webinar series on Exploring the Feasibility of Offshore Wind Energy for the California North Coast. This online series will open on September 14 and run for five consecutive Mondays through October 12. Webinars will begin at 2 pm (Pacific), and will be live streamed and captioned. All events are free and open to the public.

Each week’s webinar will present key findings from offshore wind energy feasibility studies conducted by the Schatz Center’s offshore wind studies team and research partners over the last 18 months. Presentations will be followed by commentary from north coast community leaders and subject area experts — and then by a community discussion in which all attendees are encouraged to share questions and reflections. Leaders from state and federal government will also offer insight during each event.

Schedule of events:

• Monday, September 14: Energy Production and Delivery, and Economic Development
• Monday, September 21: Ecological and Geological Environment
• Monday, September 28: Port and Coastal Infrastructure
• Monday, October 5: Community Perspectives on Regional Impacts and Opportunities
• Monday, October 12: Reflections and Next Steps

Registration

Registration for all events is now open at schatzcenter.org/wind.

For more information or to sign up for research updates from our ongoing wind studies, contact windstudies@schatzcenter.org.

Background

Starting about 20 miles from shore, the north coast of California has the strongest wind resource in the continental United States. Offshore wind development in this region could contribute significantly to California’s climate and clean energy goals while also supporting economic and job development on the north coast. At the same time, issues including environmental impacts, geologic hazards, economic viability, infrastructure needs, and cultural and community resources and existing activities must be carefully examined and collaboratively addressed if this renewable energy opportunity is to be realized.

Funding

Production of this five-part webinar series is supported by the Ocean Protection Council of the California Natural Resources Agency. The research studies were funded by the Ocean Protection Council, the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

The SARS-2 virus is contained in fluid particles that are emitted from the respiratory tracts of people with COVID-19 when exhaling, talking, coughing, and singing. In this webinar, Mark Nicas will introduce the basics of particle behavior in air, the evidence for inhalation transmission, and control measures to reduce the risk of infection. He will also explore the efficacy of different mask types for reducing virus inhalation and emission.

Mark Nicas is an Emeritus Adjunct Professor at the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley. His academic research has been in three areas: exposure and risk assessment for pathogens including M. tuberculosis, C. immitis and the influenza virus; the mathematical modeling of exposure intensity to airborne chemical toxicants; and variability in the efficacy of respiratory protection. He has a PhD and an MPH in Environmental Health Sciences from Berkeley, a MS in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin, and a BS in Biology/Chemistry from the City College of New York. He has been a professional industrial hygienist for over forty years and is a Certified Industrial Hygienist.

How to attend

We’re holding this year’s Sustainable Futures Speaker Series online via webinar. Talks will be given from 5:30-7:00 pm on Thursday evenings (Pacific). Each lecture will be streamed via Zoom, and will be followed by a Q&A discussion period. All events are free and open to the public.

• REGISTER for this talk

About the series

The Sustainable Futures Speaker Series stimulates interdisciplinary collaboration around issues related to energy, the environment, and society. All lectures are free and open to the public, and are sponsored by the Schatz Energy Research Center, the Environment & Community graduate program, and the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences at Humboldt State University.

Questions? Email info@schatzcenter.org.

Update (9/1/20): watch the event video

This spring, the Nathaniel B Palmer (NBP) Antarctic research vessel headed for a new destination: Humboldt Bay, California. The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns had complicated delivery chains from Chile to the US, so the NBP brought its Antarctic field research samples directly back to the States. The ship will be moored off Eureka through the summer, before returning south to Antarctica in September.

In this special Sustainable Futures event, we’ll be joined by three US Antarctic Program participants: Julia Wellner, Principal Investigator with the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration project; Al Hickey, Marine Project Coordinator on the Nathaniel B Palmer who will speak to us from onboard the ship; and Tim McGovern, Ocean Projects Manager within the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs.

Join us for this exciting opportunity to learn about Thwaites Glacier research, life aboard the Nathaniel B Palmer, and polar climate research supported by the US Antarctic Program.

More about our speakers

Dr. Julia Wellner is an Associate Professor at the University of Houston. Her research interests include Antarctic Ice Sheet history since the Eocene, including geomorphic signatures of ice sheet retreat across the continental shelf, sedimentation patterns in fjords, and their relation to oceanographic controls. She also studies Plio-Pleistocene sequence stratigraphy from three-dimensional seismic data, and the Holocene climate of the Antarctic. Wellner and her team recently returned from Antarctica where they were investigating sediments deposited in the seas near the Thwaites Glacier as part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. She worked closely with British Antarctic Survey scientists on board the NBP.

Tim McGovern is the Ocean Projects Manager for the Antarctic Infrastructure and Logistics (AIL) Section, within the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs. In this role, he oversees and coordinates the operations and budgets of the U.S. Antarctic Program’s icebreaking research vessels Nathaniel B Palmer and Laurence M Gould, and all scientific activities in the Antarctic Peninsula, including Palmer Station. He is also currently on the management team of NSF’s single largest award — the contract with Leidos ASC for the operation, maintenance and science support of the U.S. Antarctic Program.

Al Hickey is a Marine Project Coordinator (MPC) for the US Antarctic Program. As MPC he serves as a liaison between the scientists aboard and the ship’s crew. He is a US Coast Guard licensed professional mariner with an educational background in the marine sciences. He has worked closely with many different research and educational vessel platforms since the 1980s. When not working with the USAP, he often goes on assignment overseas as a logistics coordinator for Doctors Without Borders.

Upcoming this fall

Thanks to everyone who participated in our first Sustainable Futures webinar lecture series this spring! We will announce the upcoming semester schedule in August.

This fall, we will also host a series of webinars to share and discuss findings from our offshore wind feasibility studies for the California north coast. Email windstudies@schatzcenter.org if you’d like to receive updates on these webinars and our offshore wind research.

We have a new events page for our Sustainable Futures and Schatz Research webinar series, as well as links to external public events where our staff are presenting.