UT Energy Symposium
A weekly guest lecture series that is both free and open to the public and available for course credit.
In an effort to provide a multidisciplinary platform for UT faculty and students to interact on the most pressing energy issues facing our world, the Energy Institute sponsors the UT Energy Symposium (UTES), which entered its 29th semester in fall 2025.
The UTES serves as a “convener” for the campus community, uniting students interested in energy issues with faculty and others working on sustainable energy security. Students who register for the symposium receive one credit hour for the 15-week seminar course, which is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. The course is taught in both the fall and spring semesters.
Ongoing themes for UTES include climate change policy, innovation and diffusion of energy technologies, low-carbon technology options and status, and behavioral aspects of energy consumption.
Each UTES talk is recorded and posted on this page and on the Energy Institute YouTube channel.
Instructor: Carey King
Unique Number (Fall 2025): 65605 (graduate students) / 65310 (undergraduates)
Day & Time: Tuesday, 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
If you need an accommodation to participate in this event, please contact Christa Hopkins, who can be reached at 512-475-8447 or christa@energy.utexas.edu, no later than five (5) business days prior to the event.
Upcoming UT Energy Symposium Talks
| Date | Speaker | Talk Title |
| 2/24/2026 | Aditya Ramji | Director, Global South Centre on Clean Transportation, University of California, Davis | Shaping Industrial Policy with Vehicle Electrification - Analysing Global EV supply chains and implications |
| 3/3/2026 | Kelly Sims Gallagher | Dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University | Shifting Priorities in U.S. Energy Innovation Policy |
| 3/10/2026 | Joe DeCarolis | Head and Professor, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University | Leveraging Energy Data and Analysis to Navigate a Rapidly Changing Energy Landscape |
| 3/24/2026 | Sara Eftekharnejad | Associate Professor, SyracuseCoE Faculty Fellow, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Syracuse University | TBD |
| 3/31/2026 | Kyle Chan | Fellow – Foreign Policy, John L. Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution | China’s Clean Tech Industrial Strategy |
| 4/7/2026 | Michael Baldea | Professor, Chemical Engineering, UT Austin | Electrification of Industry for lower-carbon emissions, the EPIX project |
| 4/14/2026 | Sindhu Nathan | U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology | TBD |
| 4/21/2026 | Erica Belmont | Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Wyoming | TBD |
UT Energy Symposium Talks
February 4, 2025
Reducing Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Operations in the Permian Basin: A Common Sense Approach
Melinda Taylor, Senior Lecturer, School of Law, University of Texas at Austin
January 28, 2025
Energy Companies and Environmentalists: The Voluntary Carbon Market
Reid Calhoon, CEO, ClimateWells
January 21, 2025
Making Climate Policy Models More Decision-Relevant
Wei Peng, Assistant Professor School of Public and International Affairs & Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University
December 4, 2024
Influencing a Culture of Safety While Designing Energy Transition Solutions
Murtaza I. Gandhi, Manager of Qualitative Risk and Sustainability, BakerRisk
November 19, 2024
Oil in the Crosshairs: Energy as an Enabler and a Target in Modern Military Strategy
Clay Seigle, Energy & Geopolitical Risk Strategist
November 12, 2024
Engineering and Social Justice: Using High-Resolution Residential Data To Identify Energy Poverty in Households
Destenie Nock, Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University; CEO, Peoples Energy Analytics
November 5, 2024
The State of Energy in Mexico
Ariel Ramos, Ramos Marcín Abogados - Founding Partner; International Board of Advisors (IBA) - The University of Texas at Austin; Mexican Academy of Energy Law - Coordinator of the Oil & Gas and Clean Hydrogen Committee / Former President
October 29, 2024
The Road to the Renewable Energy Transition Must Pass Through Crowded Lands
Joseph Kiesecker, Lead Scientist, The Nature Conservancy
October 22, 2024
Sustainability and Autonomy - The Interconnected Future of Modern Flight
Dan Dalton, Vice President, Global Partnerships, Wisk Aero; LLC Volunteer Chairman of the Texas Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Advisory Committee
October 15, 2024
Reckoning with Social Policy in Utility Regulation
Alexandra Klass, James G. Degnan Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
October 8, 2024
Hydrogen in the Energy Transition, Emergence From Research Interest to National Priority
Frank Wolak, President and CEO, Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association
October 1, 2024
Fusion on Earth: A Quintessentially Scientific Pursuit With an Important Commercial Goal
Swadesh Mitter Mahajan, Research Professor, Institute for Fusion Studies, Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin; Chief Scientific Advisor of Exofusion
September 24, 2024
Carbon Capture and Storage in the Global Climate Scene
Tim Dixon, Director and General Manager, IEAGHG
September 17, 2024
Lowering the Risk of Commercialization of CO2 Capture With Amine Solvents
Fred Closmann, Research Associate, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering
September 10, 2024
Book Talk: The Conservative Environmentalist
Founder and Executive Chairman, American Conservation Coalition; Author, The Conservative Environmentalist
September 3, 2024
April 16, 2024
The Politics of the Energy Transition
David Spence, Professor of Energy Law, The University of Texas at Austin
Joshua Busby, Professor of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin
Sheila Olmstead, Professor of Public Affairs and Dean Rusk Chair, The University of Texas at Austin
April 9, 2024
What Can Biology and Ecology Teach Us About Energy and the Economy?
James H. Brown Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico
Charles A. S. Hall Professor Emeritus, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
April 2, 2024
The Economics of Decarbonizing the Electricity Sector
Jackson Dorsey, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Texas at Austin.
March 26, 2024
Can Business Models Accelerate Sustainable Energy Transitions in the Commercial Sector Without the Need for Government & Utility Incentives or Feed in Tariffs?
Matthew Nemerson, VP Strategic Partnerships, Budderfly.
March 19, 2024
Linking Zero Net Energy Housing with Affordable Housing
Michael Garrison, Professor of Architecture, Cass Gilbert Teaching Fellow, School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin.
March 5, 2024
Planning and Operational Challenges on the Path to a Cleaner Future
Mark G. Lauby, Senior Vice President and Chief Engineer, NERC.
February 27, 2024
Nationwide Charging Needs for Accelerating Electric Vehicle Adoption
Eric Wood, Senior Researcher at NREL.