BP Chief Scientist to Speak at UCSD on Energy Plans Beyond Petroleum
Steve Koonin, chief scientist of BP, will deliver a free public lecture on “Energy: Facts, Challenges and Responses” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 15, at the Birch Aquarium at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The event is open to the public with no tickets or reservations required. Parking at Birch Aquarium is free.
Koonin will discuss various dimensions of energy policy and technology, including large scale carbon sequestration at fossil fuel plants, a new generation of nuclear power plants, and advanced biofuels to power transportation. He oversees BP’s $500 million a year new energy research efforts.
 
 “The world’s energy demands and future solutions derived through biofuels research, including studies being conducted at Scripps and in the Division of Biology, are some of the most critical issues facing society today,” said Tony Haymet, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and vice chancellor for marine sciences. “Everyone in San Diego has a unique opportunity to hear the latest in the field from a leader in this arena.”
 
 Koonin has served as chief scientist of BP, the world’s second largest independent oil company, since 2004. BP refines and markets petroleum products in more than 100 countries and serves more than 13 million customers each day.
 
 As chief scientist, Koonin is responsible for BP’s long-range technology plans and activities, particularly those “beyond petroleum.” He also has purview over BP’s major university research programs around the world and provides technical advice to the company’s senior executives. In 1975, he joined the faculty of Caltech, became a full professor in 1981, and served as Provost from 1995 to 2004.
 
 Koonin is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. He has served on numerous advisory bodies for the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Department of Energy and its various national laboratories.
 
 His research interests have included theoretical nuclear, many-body, and computational physics, nuclear astrophysics, and global environmental science. Koonin received his B.S. in physics at Caltech and his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from M.I.T.
 
 In accordance with a major gift from a late philanthropist, the Helen Edison Lecture Series presents ongoing free public lectures on issues that advance humanitarian purposes and objectives. Attended annually by thousands, speakers include former Vice President Al Gore,  Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, former secretary of defense Robert McNamara, Nobel Prize in Literature winner Toni Morrison and Hispanic dramatist Luis Valdez, just to name a few.
For additional information contact UC San Diego Extension’s Helen Edison Lecture Series at (858) 822-0510, email emunk@ucsd.edu or visit http://helenedison.ucsd.edu