Achievement

An interdisciplinary seminar series throughout the academic year featured UMass Amherst Offshore Wind IGERT trainees and faculty, as well as outside speakers from a range of disciplines. Although part of the IGERT program, seminars were open to other UMass students, faculty and staff. Topics, among others, included Introduction to GIS for Wind Siting Decision Making; Pre-construction Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Offshore Wind Facilities on Birds; By Stealth or by Spotlight: Overcoming Barriers to Municipal Climate Action; Adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storage for Grid Integration of Offshore Wind; The Trouble with Wind: Concerns, Real & Imagined, and Public Manipulation; The International Design Standard for Offshore Wind Turbines; Habitat Use of Sea Ducks in Southern New England and Siting of Offshore Wind Energy Facilities; Soil-structure Reliability and Hazard Assessment for Offshore Wind Turbines.