It starts with geography.
That’s partially why Brad Ives, the new director of the LSU Institute for Energy Innovation, accepted the opportunity to lead the university’s efforts to advance reliable, affordable and environmentally responsible energy.
“When you look at Louisiana being at the mouth of the Mississippi River, it occupies such an important place,” says Ives, 59. “Couple that with the history in oil and gas and petrochemicals, and marry that to the effects of climate change on the state. The opportunity here from a macro-level is enormous.”
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Launched in 2022 with a $25 million investment from Shell, the institute’s goal is to find “new ways to fuel the nation” through research, service and outreach. The North Carolina native brings experience in government, industry, law and academia, last serving at Catawba College in the Tar Heel State.
Ives believes we’re in the midst of the largest energy transformation in history. He says LSU is positioned to be a leader in this effort.
An internship with Shell in college piqued Ives’ interest in energy. But when he began to learn more about climate change over 20 years ago, his perspective shifted.
“When I was a lawyer working in Charlotte, I had an office on the 42nd floor of a building, and I could look out my window and see the smog sitting on top of the interstate,” Ives says. “I could see the bad air quality. That made me start looking a lot harder at environmental issues.”
His focus at LSU will be to achieve the triple bottom line: finding a solution that will make money, better people’s lives and improve the environment.
As an avid outdoorsman, the last tenet is especially important to Ives.
“I grew up out in the woods. I love being outside,” he says. “Over time, I saw impacts on the places that I loved.”
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In his first months in Baton Rouge, Ives and his wife have adapted to life here, attending football games and enjoying gumbo and po-boys. But while our culture is what most of the country knows us for, he also wants to increase awareness of the critical role the city plays in American infrastructure.
“If all they know of Louisiana is Bourbon Street and some event at the Superdome,” he says, “they don’t understand how hard people are working down here to make sure America has all the energy it needs.” lsu.edu/energy-innovation
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