University studies in energy-related fields sparked the creation of LSU Power Players — a new campaign set to kick off this semester.
The initiative will focus on conveying the University’s energy resources and understanding how to use those resources to meet the needs of the state, said Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Stuart Bell. The campaign also will connect students and faculty in energy-related fields to industry.
From engineering to science to business, Bell said LSU Power Players will highlight the resources each academic discipline can offer to the energy field.
The new campaign follows the University’s 2013 Committed to the Coast initiative, which created an online landing page to spread information about Louisiana’s wetlands and the University’s coastal research.
“When I first came in as provost, I said, ‘You know, we do a lot of stuff for the coast,’” Bell said. “We ought to pull together some sort of a communication package in a way that we can do exactly the same thing, and we called it Committed to the Coast.”
Bell said the success of Committed to the Coast prompted him to begin working on a University energy campaign.
“Energy is another area that we just have deep expertise and already great partners,” Bell said. “So we began planning this probably about six or eight months ago for us to do something similar in the area of energy.”
According to the John P. Laborde Energy Law Center, the oil and gas industry has $73.8 billion in direct and indirect effects on Louisiana.
Due to the recent drop in oil prices, Louisiana could be facing major budget cuts for the 2015-16 fiscal year. Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration recently announced the possibility of higher education budget cuts as high as $300 million.
“With energy prices coming down, I think there’s going to be a lot more competitiveness in terms of how do we produce these resources at a lower price,” Bell said. “We can play a role with our companies and our constituents to help come up with those solutions.”
In the Committed to the Coast campaign, the University had more than 200 faculty members involved in coastal research and more than 450 grants totaling $73 million invested in research linked to the coast. 
Bell said he believes the University’s energy-related research efforts will meet, if not exceed, those numbers.
“Everything that you do from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep involves energy, so the more efficient, the cleaner that energy is, the better we all are,” said chemical engineering professor James Spivey. “The technology that we’re trying to develop here at LSU is a good example of that.”
Spivey, a University researcher, said he and his group are working on understanding how to convert natural gas into liquid fuels. 
He said his group works with developing, synthesizing and analyzing catalysts — materials which speed up chemical reactions.
“There’s far less research taking place in companies than there were decades ago,” Spivey said. “In a way, that has been a good thing for LSU because a lot of the companies that might have otherwise carried out research in their own labs, they can now come and work with us.”
Spivey said he has been personally involved with research projects for multiple companies in the energy industry, including Chevron and Albemarle.
Another way the University serves as a resource for industry is by training students to become professionals, Spivey said. Both undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to participate in research.
Bell said one of the major goals of LSU Power Players is to connect students with industry through internships and job opportunities.
“I think the idea is that the students are going to be a beneficiary of everything we do because we’re going to be uncovering new job opportunities, new internships, linking students with the companies,” Bell said.
In fall 2014, several University representatives, including the deans of the College of Science and the College of Engineering, traveled to Houston, where they gathered more than 100 alumni and supporters in the energy field, Bell said. 
Each representative took time to present and discuss the
impact of their work.
“It was an opportunity for them to hear about what was going on at LSU, and it was really part of this effort,” Bell said.
It also was a chance for those gathered to ask questions and provide information about challenges in industry and workforce development, Bell said.
Much like the Committed to the Coast initiative, Bell said an LSU Power Players landing page, scheduled to go live Feb. 18, will use op-ed pieces to discuss industry, how to meet the needs of potential partners and University research.
In 2014, the LSU System received about $14 million through the Workforce and Innovation for a Stronger Economy Fund — higher education funding allocated to meet workforce needs and
address economic development.
“Certainly, our WISE plan was to position us and is to position us to better meet the needs of industry and of the state, and so if you look at what we’re doing there, it is focused a lot on the energy field,” Bell said.
According to the Energy Law Center, each new job created by the state’s petroleum industry supports 3.4 additional jobs in other sectors of Louisiana employment.