Hi there! My name is Brandi, and I’ve authored this course and will be teaching it this semester. I’m looking forward to working with you as we try to understand some of the large scale issues (and hopefully solutions) to some of our most pressing energy challenges. This semester (FA 2013) is the first time the course is being offered and therefore it is still in development. I hope that you’ll find the content and structure to be challenging but user friendly and be patient with me as we work out any kinks we might encounter along the way. It’s a bit of a dress rehearsal of sorts!
But let’s talk a little bit about who I am outside of the classroom, because I have all my professional-related experience in the meet the instructor section of the course website. I think it’s important in our journey together this semester that we recognize and appreciate that we’re all people outside of our roles of students and faculty. We have lives, and they take up time and brain space too. And, our experiences outside of our professional and academic lives help shape our opinions and interests in these fields.
I’m an environmentalist, through and through. I’m always trying to make sure that my impact on the planet is as light as it can be given my good fortune of being the citizen of a developed country. So, I’m not perfect but I try to be mindful. I drive a hybrid, but I’ve flown to Hawaii multiple times. Tradeoffs. It’s all about tradeoffs. 🙂
When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time with my little girl, Claire. She’s 19 months old as we begin the semester, and a ton of fun. My husband and I also have a terrier mix named Vinca – but Vinca has taken a bit of a back seat since Claire’s arrival. Lucky for us, she’s a good sport about that.
I love to paint – and I don’t mean art. I love to paint rooms. I know, that seems pretty strange, but I really enjoy it. I painted our entire house within a few months of us moving in, and I’m always volunteering to help friends with painting projects. I know it’s weird. Some people would rather fill out tax forms than paint, but I find it relaxing and love the huge transformation with minimal effort.
Welcome to the class! We’re going to have a great semester.
If you go to Maui, I would recommend a couple things. Go to the top of Haleakala before sunrise and enjoy the sunrise. It’s beautiful. You can enjoy the park and look at the silver sword. That is a very unique and beautiful plant that adapted to the high rocky environment. Don’t get too close however since the silver sword has a shallow root system that is easily damaged. If you have time, a hike or back packing trip down into the crater is amazing. Lots of unique birds that are hard to find else where.
There is a neat snorkeling trip you can take on the South side to a semi-circular volcanic island in the bay (I think it’s called Molikini). A wonderful spot to snorkel and look at the fish, sharks (small ones usually), honu (turtles), etc. A nice lunch on the boat tops it off.
Oahu is much more populated but has some hidden gems. My preferences tend to be off the beaten path. There are many wonderful ridge hikes (if you don’t like large drops, don’t do it). Makapuu has a nice hike (less than 3 miles round trip) on the South East corner of Oahu that goes up to a point overlooking the channel between Oahu and Maui. This point has old defensive structures and a light house. When the whales are in town, they can be easily seen from the ridge breaching, blowing, and occasionally almost directly at the base of the cliffs below. On the North shore, I like to snorkel at Pupukea. It has a rock barrier that create a small lagoon full of life. There is also a cut that you can swim out and get to deeper water. This only for the summer and not winter (winter waves get pretty big on the North shore). Above Pupukea, there is an old Heau that has very few visitors and a great view of North shore. In Haleiwa, dinner at Jamison’s around sunset is a must. For lunch go to the shrimp truck. If you need more, let me know.
Aloha,
Rob
There’s nothing I love more in Hawaii than a good plate lunch off a lunch truck. Except for maybe hot malasadas. mmmmm.
Hi Robert – Glad to see you’ve found your way to the blog! So nice to learn a bit more about you and your family. It sounds like you and Lisa have raised a great group of kids! Nine years in Hawaii? That’s pretty neat. My husband, Anthony and I have been trying to go to Hawaii once a calendar year for the past 7 or 8 years. He travels a lot for work (he’s the lead faculty for the online certificate and Master’s program in GIS here at Penn State), and so we squirrel away those frequent flier miles and put them to good use! I’ve never spent any time on Maui or Oahu. We’ve done the Big Island and are madly in love with Kauai. I’m thinking 2013 might be the calendar year we don’t get back there. We took Claire (as a 10 month old) in 2012, but she’s a 19 month old now, and after flying with her to South Carolina a few months ago, I think our flying days are over until she’s a bit older and either able to be bribed with technology or something. She was not a happy camper on the plane. Never imagined I’d be THAT PERSON with the screaming lunatic kid on the plane, but was I ever.
I’m looking forward to us working together this semester – I think the learning is going to go both ways!
Hi Brandi! I found my way to the course blog.
It’s great to hear about your passions outside of school.
My wife, Lisa, and I met in high school and started dating and got married in college. 27+ years later she is still chasing me around the world. She works for the Marine Corps to help families with the “Exceptional Family Member Program.” That ensures they are properly taken care of if one of the family members has special medical needs. If they do, she works to make sure they get the right care.
We have 3 grown children. Michelle (my oldest) works at a bank and brought us our first grand child, Kiani. Being a grandpa one of life’s best blessings. Kiani is a beautiful young girl of 2.5 going on 20.
Michael is a general manager at Captain Chuckamucks Restaurant. He really enjoys taking care of the customers and running the business. If you get down to Virginia, stop by it’s great sea food.
Matthew is a senior at Central Connecticut State University and is studying theater and fine arts. How I produced an artist, I’ll never know since engineers tend to be a much different personality.
Outside of work and school, I enjoy my family, wood working, hiking, skiing, surfing, beer and a good scotch. However, being in Bahrain limits all of my normal passions. My family is in Virginia along with my wood shop, it’s too hot to hike, there is no snow, surfing pales in comparison to Hawaii (was stationed there for about 9 years), and public intoxication is frowned upon. Alas, I have some time to dedicate to school.
I look forward to learning from you this semester.
Cheers,
Robert