Intern to Create Community Energy Profile for Galena

Ryan Bickford, an ACEP utility student intern, is an undergraduate student studying industrial and systems management engineering at Montana State University.

His internship project is with the Community Appropriate Sustainable Energy Security Partnership. This is an international research initiative involving northern and Indigenous communities and public and private sectors, with project partners in Alaska, Canada, Sweden and Norway.

The goal of the CASES Partnership is to reimagine energy security through knowledge, understanding and capacity to design, implement and manage renewable energy systems. This partnership will create a platform for the sharing of knowledge so that not all communities have to experience the same challenges or recreate solutions.

Bickford’s project under the CASES Partnership is to help create a community energy profile for Galena, Alaska. Phase 1 includes collecting qualitative data through interviews and focus groups to assess the current energy requirements, as well as the desired and potential sustainable future improvements.

Bickford will also work with Tim Kalke from Sustainable Energy for Galena Alaska. His work there will involve project management for low-income housing, as well as validation for a remote monitoring equipment installation.

Bickford was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, and plans to return once he has graduated. Through his internship, Bickford said, he hopes to “gain knowledge and experience working on the implementation of sustainable energy systems, and build lasting relationships in the process.”

The ACEP Utility Student Internship program is funded by a grant from the Office of Naval Research. For more information on this project, please contact Diane Hirshberg at dbhirshberg@alaska.edu. 

 

Ryan Bickford is an ACEP utility student intern. Photo courtesy of Ryan Bickford.