University of Calgary launches new energy science program to respond to shifting industry

A new program at the University of Calgary is taking a broad approach to energy and all of the facets of the sector, a nod to the industry’s ever-changing global picture in the face of net-zero goals and geopolitical turmoil.

The bachelor of science in energy science, set to begin in September, is far from the siloed approach of a traditional geoscience or oil and gas degree. Instead, the multidisciplinary program includes courses in economics, communication, government policy and Indigenous relations.

The university cancelled enrolment in its bachelor of science in oil and gas engineering in 2021, after a massive decline in student interest. The plan at the time was to reallocate resources into courses that produce graduates able to glide more smoothly across different facets of the energy sector.

The new program is “not your grandpa’s degree,” said Kristin Baetz, dean of the university’s faculty of science, in an interview.

With the United States showing no signs of easing its trade war with Canada, this country will need all hands on deck to achieve Prime Minister Mark Carney’s goal of becoming an energy superpower, Prof. Baetz said.

“The only way that’s going to happen is if we have talent and a strong talent pipeline.”

Key to the program is a recognition that the global energy demand will continue to grow – in part because of a shift toward power-thirsty data centres and machine learning – and the sector will rapidly change as new technologies emerge.

Instead of niche training in, petrochemical engineering, for example, the program focuses on the science of energy writ large, from subsurface energy such as oil and gas to renewables and emerging forms of energy. And it includes subjects usually far outside the science education bailiwick.

“It’s more than just learning about science of energy, because how do you function in a major or even a minor energy company if you don’t understand basics about policy, economics, communications, Indigenous relations?” Prof. Baetz said.

That’s not to say fossil-fuel degrees are dead. The University of Calgary relaunched its undergraduate oil and gas engineering last year with an updated curriculum. Classes in that program will begin in September for those students who pick oil and gas as their major.

But the new program is built very differently. While the university has offered a tiny, niche energy-science concentration for the past few years, Prof. Baetz said the program was developed after dialogue with energy-industry partners in downtown Calgary, including major corporations and startups.

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One thread that weaved throughout those conversations was a wish for graduates who could understand the industry in all its forms, particularly given how tightly connected the energy sector is to policy, economics and business.

Edwin Cey, head of the university’s earth, energy and environment department, has long been involved with the niche energy-science concentration that has now morphed into the full-blown course.

Conversations with the energy industry have been interesting, he said in an interview. Even though companies tend to be in a specific sector – oil and gas, for example, or solar – businesses saw a need for graduates “who would have a much broader background and could speak across sectors.”

The desire to be able to leave university as a nimble graduate who can straddle different parts of the energy industry comes from students, too.

“We did a survey of our students asking, ‘If we were to make this a larger program, how many people would be interested in it?’ And there was pretty overwhelming demand,” he said.

Offering a balance of scientific fundamentals covering multiple different energy technologies, alongside other subjects such as economics and communication, has proved popular.

Hundreds of hopefuls applied for the first energy science intake in September, but the initial cohort has been limited to 25 so the university can fine-tune the course before opening it up.

“That’s part of the nature of what graduates are asked to do in the real world,“ he said. ”Once they’re out there, they don’t just sit in one little niche anymore.”