{"id":8378,"date":"2020-12-10T21:53:15","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T02:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/?p=8378"},"modified":"2020-12-10T21:54:18","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T02:54:18","slug":"meet-the-experts-simona-trandafir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/features\/meet-the-experts-simona-trandafir\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Experts \u2014 Simona Trandafir"},"content":{"rendered":"

As an academic with a focus on the economics of energy \u2013 how we can better understand, measure, and make informed choices about how we power our lives \u2013 Simona Trandafir<\/a> considers Rhode Island\u2019s experience with the country\u2019s first wind farm as both significant and exciting. \u201cThrough my work with my students, I emphasize the unique opportunity we have here, through the Block Island Wind Farm, to contribute to learning and how we think about energy issues in terms of the economics.\u201d  <\/span><\/p>\n

Trandafir, an Assistant Professor within the Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (ENRE) program at the University of Rhode Island and the Director of the Undergraduate Certificate in Energy Economics, studies the economics of energy use with a mind both towards furthering the science to support a rapidly growing global need for the information, as well as to assist students \u2013 the next generation of resources experts \u2013 with planning their futures. \u201cWe are working within a very important time for these issues, so when I\u2019m working with my students, I want to impress upon them the many ways in which they can engage in this field, and have an impact.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

As an ENRE professor, Trandafir undertakes research that focuses on sustainable energy management both on the supply and demand side. For example, she is exploring the impact that the local wind farm is having on the recreational choices of Block Island visitors. Also, she completed a project for the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, conducting an analysis of the municipal energy trends in Rhode Island and providing technical assistance to municipalities borrowing funds for energy efficiency improvements.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the heart of the work, Trandafir says, is the striving for balance and the need to do so via science and stakeholder participation. \u201cWhen we talk about energy resources, be they offshore renewable energy resources, or other kinds, the conversations we, as a society must have, are ultimately about tradeoffs.\u201d She explains further that energy consumption of any kind causes impacts, both economic and environmental, so all choices must be first understood, then weighed collectively, so communities can arrive at the best outcomes overall. <\/span><\/p>\n

That type of weighing and thinking about the tradeoffs of investing in a panoply of energy resources \u2013 from offshore renewables, to solar, to traditional fossil fuels \u2013 is what Trandafir works to inspire in her students, several of whom participate in energy resources-centered learning opportunities, like the URI Energy Fellows Program and the Undergraduate Certificate in Energy Policy. \u201cThis is why it\u2019s so valuable to have the wind farm right here, because it\u2019s a real-life example that the students can think about and work with regularly. It\u2019s right here, and that\u2019s something that many students elsewhere don\u2019t have immediately available to them.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s fitting, then, that her advice to students falls along this main theme of tradeoffs, and of understanding the importance of ensuring that community input and stakeholder experience is considered in society\u2019s choices for energy resources. \u201cThat\u2019s in great part what I am thinking about, when I\u2019m working with the students and developing the classes \u2013 I want their studies of economic and energy resources to encourage them to consider how tradeoffs are at the center of the discussion, when we talk about how communities make their choices for energy resources.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As an academic with a focus on the economics of energy \u2013 how we can better understand, measure, and make informed choices about how we power our lives \u2013 Simona Trandafir considers Rhode Island\u2019s experience with the country\u2019s first wind farm as both significant and exciting. \u201cThrough my work with my students, I emphasize the unique opportunity we have here, through the Block Island Wind Farm, to contribute to learning and how we think about energy issues in terms of the economics.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[126,154],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-8378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-meet-the-experts","tag-simona-trandafir"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8378"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8405,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8378\/revisions\/8405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}