University of Alaska Fairbanks, PNNL to collaborate on hydropower, marine energy research
The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) recently signed a five-year collaborative agreement to advance research on hydropower generation, marine renewable energy, and underwater technology development.
Under the partnership, PNNL and UAF’s Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) will create research teams, pursue joint funding requests and establish joint graduate student research and faculty appointment programs.
“This agreement grew out of collaboration between individual researchers in both organizations and provides a substantive basis for much greater transregional engagement of our respective capabilities, toolsets and customer bases,” George Roe, ACEP deputy director, said. “It is truly forward-looking in terms of the technologies, insights, and workforce that will be needed in the global blue economy.”
The two institutions plan to initially collaborate on research into energy system reliability, underwater technologies, aquatic environmental monitoring, and maritime security. Future research may focus on unmanned aerial systems for monitoring oil spills and ecosystem restoration, improving maritime infrastructure energy efficiency, reducing impacts to fish and mammals near marine energy turbines and using geoinformatics to detect illegal fishing.
“PNNL is proud to partner with the University of Alaska Fairbanks to address energy resiliency and national security challenges unique to our region, and to build upon existing collaborations in marine, environmental and energy research,” PNNL Director Steven Ashby said. “We will leverage unique capabilities across the two institutions, including PNNL’s Marine Sciences Laboratory in Sequim, and help build our future workforce by providing rich research opportunities for graduate students.”
