Associate Professor Adam Fremeth will get a firsthand look at how the U.S. power industry is coping with a changing regulatory environment when he visits Indiana next spring. It’s all part of the prestigious Fulbright Canada Scholar program.
Fremeth received a 2018-19 Fulbright Scholar Award and is Ivey’s first recipient since the program began in Canada in 1990. The program provides Canadian scholars with the opportunity to reside in the U.S. for a term to research and/or teach. Fremeth will visit Indiana University from January to May 2019 where he’ll research how electric utility firms are interacting with state regulatory bodies as well as the impact of energy policies, particularly in the area of renewable energy.
“A lot of my work deals with energy policy issues in the U.S. and being in Indiana and the Midwest more broadly allows me to get exposed to a lot more of those issues and to interact with, not just the academic community, but also the business and public policy communities they serve,” he said. “I hope to bolster my research agenda, get some firsthand interactions in the areas I’m studying, as well as perhaps broaden my work with exposure to what people outside of Ivey and Canada are doing.”
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Although the Fulbright Scholar program is well known in academic circles, Fremeth learned more about it when the Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre hosted Stephen Bird, Associate Professor of Political Science at Clarkson University and Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Governance and Public Administration at the University of Ottawa.
Hearing about Bird’s experience prompted him to apply, particularly because he was planning a sabbatical to focus on his research. Fremeth began a sabbatical on July 1, 2018 and will spend the latter part of it in Indiana. He said he hopes the opportunity will help to strengthen the academic relationships Ivey has with top schools in the U.S.
Raising awareness of energy policy issues
The award is also testament to the importance of Ivey’s energy policy research. One of the goals of the Fulbright program is to increase international understanding and response to critical global issues.
“It’s a great honour to have your work recognized and to be associated with a long list of scholars across disciplines that have been awarded a Fulbright Scholar Award,” he said. “With a research grant or scholarly award, there’s recognition outside of your institution that your work is valuable and has an impact.”
Fremeth is now part of a distinguished group of Fulbright Canada alumni from a variety of schools and disciplines. The Fullbright Scholar Program began in the U.S. in 1946 and is named for former U.S. senator James William Fulbright, who was transformed after receiving a master’s degree from the University of Oxford. The program now offers awards in more than 125 countries.
