Explore Energy (Theme)

Are you eager to make friends among housemates who are charged up for energy revolutions shaping the future? Explore Energy House, a four-class academic theme house in Potter at Sterling Quad, is open to any undergraduate in any major, and graduate students are welcome to the seminar series.

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Benefits of Living at Explore Energy House

• Assured housing in a community of active residents who are avidly pursuing interests that intersect with clean energy revolutions in many contexts around the world.
• In-house activities featuring springboard opportunities through on-campus engagements, summer jobs, and post-graduation pursuits.
• Exceptional access to fun field trips.  Priority access to highly sought experiences such as the Tesla Fremont factory, the Tesla Gigafactory, Redwood Materials, SLAC, and more.
• Priority for limited volunteer positions that enable student access to invitation-only events hosted by Precourt Institute for Energy.
• Excellent location near the Science & Engineering Quad, abundant open space, an excellent dining hall, an expansive gym with a pool, courts, rock climbing wall, and rental station for weekend camping and more.

Highlights of Living in the Academic Theme House

1. Exploring energy! We aspire to be a house where residents are actively exploring aspects of any energy field, including but not limited to technology, entrepreneurship, finance, history, political science, equity and justice, communications, and cultural power. It is not expected that residents come in with domain knowledge, but rather that they have a desire to engage each other as we explore a wide range of energy ecosystems together. Examples include: attending programs led by students, alumni, and faculty and summer fellowship managers through the Explore Energy Seminar .
2. Joining field trips; enrolling in relevant courses; connecting with Explore Energy and other initiatives at the Precourt Institute for Energy; and tapping into any energy-related student clubs.
3. Creating a vibrant, supportive, engaged and inclusive community at Explore Energy House by participating in the community, attending house meetings regularly, supporting house activities, and giving feedback to house leaders and the Resident Fellow.
4. Assisting fellow residents in learning about and accessing campus resources and building cross-campus relationships.  
5. Taking advantage of a four-year house, the arriving first-year residents can also look forward to older residents being mentors and friends who can help with navigational aid.

Upperclass Theme Requirements

Pledged Commitments

1. Participate in a half-day Community Kickoff at the beginning of Fall Quarter (Tentatively Sunday, 9/29) and one energy-related field trip during the year.
2. Residents in upper classes work with one or more other residents, the Resident Fellow, and the Explore Energy House Leaders to co-host at least one theme-related program/workshop/event/trip during the academic year.
3. All residents are strongly encouraged to participate in one or more quarters of the weekly Explore Energy Seminar.

How to Apply

If you are admitted to join the next incoming class, look for an email from Approaching Stanford in May that includes a link for listing housing preferences by a deadline in early June.  Most of the applicants who are selected for a spot in Explore Energy House have listed it as one of their top 2 options.

If you are a returning undergrad or coterm, look for an email announcement from Residential Education in March regarding a 10 day period at the start of Spring Quarter when you can complete a short application for one theme house.  This is named the “pre-assignment” period because it occurs prior to the general draw, and if you are not selected, you proceed to the general draw.

If you have questions about Explore Energy House, please use the Interest Form above or write to ExploreEnergyHouse@stanford.edu.  

If you have questions about your eligibility for living at Explore Energy House or other aspects of assignments, please refer to their webpages or write to HousingAssignments@stanford.edu.

Leadership Team 

Explore Energy House is supported by our House Leadership Team, a group of faculty and staff representing our key partners across campus who expand engagement with the House, as well as provide strategic direction and feedback. Residents will have the opportunity to engage with our House Leadership Team through Explore Energy Seminar, faculty dinners, field trips, and/or our opening and closing celebrations.

• Sally Benson: Precourt Family Professor; Professor of Energy Science Engineering; Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
• Jane Woodward: Adjunct Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering; Founder and Managing Partner of WovenEarth Ventures
• Roland Horne: Thomas Davies Barrow Professor of Earth Sciences at Stanford University; Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
• Yi Cui: Fortinet Founders Professor; Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, of Energy Science and Engineering, and of Photo Science; Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment 
• Bruce Cain: Director of Bill Lane Center for the American West; Professor of Political Science; Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
• Mark Jacobson: Director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program; Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Hunt Allcott: Co-Director of the Stanford Environmental and Energy Policy Analysis Center; Professor of Global Environmental Policy
• Lincoln Bleveans: Executive Director of Sustainability & Energy Management
• Kristin Parineh: Director of the Office of Sustainability
• Keegan Cooke: Director of Stanford Ecopreneurship Programs, a partnership between the Graduate School of Business and the Doerr School of Sustainability
• Rimvydas Baltaduonis: Project Scientist at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
• Anthony Kinslow II: Lecturer in Civil and Environmental Engineering; Founder and CEO of Gemini Energy Solutions
• Dena Montague: Environmental Justice Lecturer in the Earth Systems Program
• Kirsten Stasio: Adjunct Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering; CEO of the Nevada Clean Energy Fund
• Diana Gragg: Managing Director of Explore Energy at the Precourt Institute for Energy; Core Lecturer in Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Bianca Patel: Assistant Director of Explore Energy at the Precourt Institute for Energy