Powering Discovery
Transitioning society to clean, renewable energy is arguably the most important challenge of the 21st century — a challenge that we, as a global community, simply must get right.
Scientific and technological solutions will drive the coming energy revolution, and the majority of these innovations are underpinned by discoveries traceable to university research. USC has played and will continue to play an important role in both the foundational research and the resulting technological solutions that are changing the game today. And our researchers are hard at work doing more. But we as a society cannot afford to wait for scientists and engineers to do all the work.
Technology exists already to make enormous progress toward the transition to renewable energy. The challenge of implementing these solutions at scale is not a question of science, but of economics, politics and human motivation. So, at USC Dornsife we are not only supporting our natural scientists, we are also investing in research that will help us to close the gap between technological innovation and widespread adoption of sustainable energy. Environmental economists, behavioral and political scientists and others will be key players in this transition, and we at USC Dornsife are very actively working toward helping them have more impact.
This 2023 issue of USC Dornsife Magazine will introduce you to a wide range of creative scholarship related to energy — not only as a source of power, but in all the various ways that our scholars think about this theme. You will read how our experts explore the sun’s role as a source of renewable energy. You’ll read about a microorganism’s unique “electrical dance,” which might one day be leveraged as biofuel. And our scholars in the humanities guide us through some of the ways that different cultures perceive energy in contributing to well-being. The tremendous creativity and innovation illustrated in these pages give me hope for our future. I hope that they will inspire you and brighten your day as well.
Amber D. Miller
Dean, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Anna H. Bing Dean’s Chair