Research Fellow
Dr. A. Luke Smith is a post-doctoral researcher with the Cleaner Production Promotion Unit at The Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Ireland. His primary interest is in investigating ways to increase citizen participation in the transition to a sustainable energy future, specifically with a focus on methods for empowering communities to explore ownership options for marine renewable energy (MRE) development. To this end, he is designing an education and public engagement program for a coastal area in the southwest of Ireland as part of an international team of academics and industry leaders who are participants in an EU project examining the nontechnical barriers to MRE focusing on wave energy (SafeWAVE). He did his undergraduate work in Analytic Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; received an MPA from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, with a concentration in environmental policy analysis; and was awarded a doctoral degree from the University of Delaware’s College of Engineering program in energy and environmental policy in 2020.