Aaron Burdick

Aaron Burdick is an M.S. student in the Atmosphere/Energy Program within the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Stanford University.  His academic interests are renewable energy technology and policy, power systems engineering, and integrating variables resources into the electricity grid.  Aaron recently completely his tenure as the Intelligent Grid Program Associate with Clean Coalition, where he led their research efforts into integrating high penetrations of solar photovoltaic power into real-world utility distribution grids using intelligent grid technologies such as energy storage, demand response, and advanced PV inverters.

Aaron is currently a Project Leader for the Stanford student organization SWEP (Solar and Wind Energy Project).  He leads a wind resource assessment project designed to assess the onshore and offshore wind potential in the Berkeley Marina area of the San Francisco Bay.  He has also consulted with the City of San Francisco on the development of their local wind power resources.

Before attending Stanford, Aaron worked for the global consulting firm ICF International for four years, where he consulted on a wide range of energy and climate change related projects.  His clients included the US Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the City of Los Angeles, investor-owned utility companies throughout the US, and multiple Fortune 100 companies.  He led a team performing residential energy efficiency analysis and became one of ICF’s in-house experts on utilizing renewable energy and energy efficiency to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets.  Aaron received his B.S in Environmental Studies (with highest honors and distinction in the major) from UC Santa Barbara, where he wrote his senior honors thesis on “The Response of the Greenland Ice Sheet to Climate Change: Past, Present, and Future”.

Having grown up with some of the country’s worst air quality in Los Angeles, CA, Aaron is dedicated to living a green lifestyle and creating a cleaner environment for future generations.  His passions include nature photography, composing songs on his guitar, attending live music performances, and building a culture of peace in his local community.