This fall, the Energy & Resources Group students, faculty, and staff return to campus in-person for the first time in more than a year and a half. To celebrate, we asked ERGies to share their thoughts and feelings on the transition. We hope these reflections will also give prospective students a unique window into how we work to support each other (and have fun doing it)!
Pictured above: the return of ERG’s camping trip, an annual tradition.
Sam Miles (2nd year, PhD)
How are you feeling this fall semester? Great!
What opportunities have you been finding (or creating) to build community? Just being places – actually being there. Running into people repeatedly at some of the same spaces, like ERG Tea, PhD Seminar, or courses. Strolling by the faculty offices and popping my head in to say hi. Going to faculty office hours and happy hours…IRL happy hours. And then seeing folks, bit by bit, more off-campus. This has been pretty cool in (re)building a sense of community.
Lynn Shiyayo Yıkanga (1st year, MA)
It is great to be in person and connect with my cohort this fall. I have been finding alot of opportunities to build community through attending various lab group sessions; more specifically Prof. Anthoff’s Society, Environment and Economics Lab as well as Prof. Kammen’s Renewable & Appropriate Energy Lab (RAEL). I highly enjoy that they are smaller spaces where older ERGIES can share their research/project ideas and work and I can learn more about the varying thematic pathways that exist and connect with the work being done by my peers within the ERG Group.
Eli Lazarus (6th year, MS/PhD)
How are you feeling? Fine, the usual: climate crisis, species loss, poverty and homelessness, loss of culture, inequality, environmental and social injustice etc, but grad school is a good life. I don’t tend to go into campus at this point, but I’m GSIing (teaching) and it’s been fun to go in for that and interact with the grad students in the class. PhD seminar on zoom, and the Slack channels, and emails are still good too.
Aaryaman “Sunny” Singhal (1st year, MA/MPP)
How are you feeling? Good! Have a good amount of down time and making progress on everything I’d consider important. I go to ERG Tea, our weekly program social hour, and most events that people in the program put together. It’s a small, tight-knit community. I feel like I already know everyone and they’re very supportive and helpful!
Dr. Lara Kueppers (Faculty)
How are you feeling? Energized. ERG Colloquium is always a great time for ERGies to come together – this fall in hybrid mode. ERG alums continue to join us remotely and a mix of current students and alums are also gathering in person for engaging talks on access to clean water and sanitation, the energy-water nexus, fugitive methane and many other topics.
Will Gorman (5th year, MS/PhD)
How are you feeling this fall semester? Energized by seeing the community in-person again; working on balancing in-person and flexibility of being remote.
How are you finding (or creating) community? Lots of coffee / beer chats one-on-one. It’s been nice to have this opportunity to reconnect with ERGies I don’t always socialize with. Spontaneous lunch purchases on Euclid Ave.!
Arthur Mallet Dias (2nd year, MS)
I am feeling very blessed to back on campus after a season of social distance. My favorite parts of this semester have been the conversations and camaraderie that comes with being in community again, and the thought provoking classes and discussions we engage. My cohort has a weekly lunch and happy hour that is a great way of building community. In addition, I am helping organize ERG’s Intra Mural soccer team.
Catherine Van Dyke (1st year, MS)
It is amazing getting to be on campus and in person for classes! I am so grateful for the community that ERG has provided to me as a new graduate student. Between our study group for Energy and Society problem sets, the fall ERG camping trip, and catching up on the lawn at weekly ERG Tea, I feel supported and inspired by the other students in this program. Having most of my cohort study in Giannini is also a sweet way to see the work that people are doing and share snacks during long study days.
Victor Reyes (1st year, MS)
ERG is an amazing place to be, it has surpassed my expectations. Everyone is very welcoming and my courses are great. Social life is active. We have happy hours, and ERG Tea, a student camping trip, and much more!
Pictured above: Celebrating Lynn Shiyayo Yıkanga’s birthday!