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 28th semester in spring 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.
UT Energy Symposium Talks
September 29, 2020
Natural Gas Leaks: Automating Visualization to Drastically Reduce Leak Detection Costs
Adam Brandt, Associate Professor, Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University
September 22, 2020
EVs: How Fast is the EVolution Coming, and What Should Texas Do About It?
Tom "Smitty" Smith, Executive Director, Texas Electric Transportation Resources Alliance
September 15, 2020
How Many Hats Needed for a Low-Carbon Energy Transition?
Ellen B. Stechel, Co-Director ASU-LightWorks® and Professor of Practice, School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University
September 8, 2020
Digitization: Revolutionize Equipment Fleet Management
Bill Hicks, Global Technology Sponsor, Energy & Profitability Solutions, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering and Keen Seng Cheah, Energy Asset Support Lead & Americas DTL, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering
April 28, 2020
Short Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States
Leah Stokes, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Environmental Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara
April 21, 2020
Distributed Energy Resources in Texas
Suzanne Bertin, Managing Director of the Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance
April 14, 2020
Energy Gain and Complexity
Joseph A. Tainter, Professor of Sustainability in the Department of Environment and Society at Utah State University
April 7, 2020
The Potential of Geothermal in Our Clean Energy Future
Timothy Latimer, Co-Founder and CEO of Fervo Energy
March 10, 2020
Will Electric And Driverless Cars Decarbonize Transportation?
Costa Samaras, Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University
March 3, 2020
Leveraging the Power of Small towards Energy Resources Recovery
Dr. Wen Song, Assistant Professor of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin
February 11, 2020
Ask UT Anything
David Spence (Professor, Baker Botts Chair in Law, Professor of Business, Govt. & Society)
Larry Lake (Professor, Shahid and Sharon Ullah Endowed Chair in Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering)
David Adelman (Professor, Harry Reasoner Regents Chair in Law)
Sheila Olmstead (Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs)
Susan Hovorka (Senior Research Scientist, Bureau of Economic Geology)
Carey King (Research Scientist & Assistant Director, Energy Institute)
February 4, 2020
Collaborative Conservation in the Energy Industry
Joni Carswell, CEO and President of Texan by Nature (TxN)
January 28, 2020
Engaging the Public on Renewable Energy and Carbon Dioxide Removal
Dr. Sol Hart, Associate Professor in Communication and Media and the Program in the Environment at the University of Michigan
November 21, 2019
Will China Save the Planet?
Barbara Finamore, Natural Resources Defense Council; Senior Attorney and Senior Strategic Director for Asia
November 14, 2019
Political Permit Allocations and the Feasibility of Federal Climate Policy
Dr. Joel Landry, Assistant Professor of Environmental and Energy Economics at Penn State University
November 7, 2019
Making Science Communication More Strategic
Dr. John Besley, Ellis N. Brandt Professor of Public Relations at Michigan State University
October 31, 2019
Energy & Emissions Implications of Self-Driving Vehicles
Kara Kockelman, the Dewitt Greer Professor of Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
October 24, 2019
Technology progress and physical constraints on tight oil production
Frank Male, postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin
October 17, 2019
Which Costs Less to Power Our Future - Fossil Fuel or Clean Energy?
Mike Sloan, Virtus Energy Research Associates
October 10, 2019
The 10th Birthday of Perovskite Solar Cells - Will They Ever Grow Up?
Tim Siegler, postdoctoral researcher in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin
October 3, 2019
Elements of Energy: Considering the Role of Critical Metals
Dr. Saleem Ali, Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Environment at the University of Delaware
September 26, 2019
Fighting Over Eden: Energy, Environment and Religion in Modern America
Asher Price, Journalist, Austin American-Statesman and 2109 Energy Institute Journalism Fellow
September 19, 2019
Toyota Sustainable Mobility
Edward Mantey, GVP and Executive Advisor of Corporate Strategy & Planning and R&D at Toyota Motor North America