My selected Grand Challenge focus area of Energy is perhaps one of the most global of them all in a physical sense. Energy is woven into every thread of mankind, from keeping us alive through the calories we intake to, the fuels we use and the electricity we now take for granted.

GCU 364: Energy in the Global Arena

Called also "Energy Geopolitics" by the professor, the core focus is on how inequal distribution of resources across the globe is the cause of conflict through straits, chokepoints, pipelines and beyond. This is my favorite class I have taken in college and the one which made me decide to take a sustainability certificate and foster my interest in alternative energy.

STS 329: Energy Technologies 

Not every nation has the infrastructure to have the lights come on when a switch is flipped from a power plants, but neither are the completely rural. These so called '2nd world' or 'newly industrialized countries' have rapidly increasing energy demand and often times the potential to dodge many of the harsh side effects today's 3rd world nations experienced because of their energy usage during the industrial revolution.