EER & CIEEP

In 2005, the University of Texas at Austin chartered the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy (CIEEP), to join the scientific and engineering capabilities of the University's Jackson School of Geosciences and the College of Engineering with the LBJ School of Public Affairs. The University's first center dedicated to energy and environmental policy, CIEEP will seek to inform the policy-making process with the best scientific and engineering expertise.

Under Director Charles G. Groat, former director of the U.S. Geological Survey, CIEEP is now in the process of hiring six new faculty members and initiating its first research projects.

The University of Texas at Austin Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy (CIEEP) provides interdisciplinary assessments of current and emerging global energy and environmental issues and develops policy options for dealing with them at global, national, and local scales. CIEEP is a cooperative effort among the Jackson School of Geosciences, LBJ School of Public Affairs, and the College of Engineering. Faculty members and research staff from these entities and from other university organizations with an interest in energy and environmental policy and an interest in working on interdisciplinary approaches to complex issues are the foundation for the program.

There is a great need for improving the use of scientific and engineering understandings in energy and environmental decision making and for improving the ability of this community to effectively communicate its knowledge to policymakers.

For education program involvement, CIEEP will work with students and faculty through the Energy and Earth Resources Graduate Program and through existing graduate degree programs in Geological Sciences, Public Affairs, and Engineering. The educational effort may evolve into a graduate program tied more directly to CIEEP.