Great Valley Center Opens New Bakersfield Office to Better Serve Region

Newest Staff Member Will Focus on Energy Policy in
Southern San Joaquin Valley

Bakersfield (July 17, 2009) –The Great Valley Center is pleased to announce it has opened a new office in Bakersfield. Stacey Shepard, who joined the staff as the South Valley Energy Program Representative in May 2009, will be the first Great Valley Center staff member to be based out of the new office.

Shepard, a Bakersfield resident, previously worked as the environmental and energy reporter for The Bakersfield Californian newspaper. Her reporting covered topics from the area’s severe air pollution problem, water shortages, shrinking habitat for endangered species, and the burgeoning renewable energy sector. In 2008, she received the George F. Gruner Prize for Public Service in Journalism for an investigative series on groundwater contamination at a Bakersfield refinery.

Shepard's responsibilities will include working with local governments, industry and utility companies to boost energy efficiency and promote renewable energy use throughout the southern valley. As part of her work, she will also research the potential for energy independence in the vlaley and green regional economy.

“With the new office in Bakersfield we will be able to serve the entire region better,” says Great Valley Center Energy Program Director Tim Fisher. “Stacey’s background and understanding of the Southern San Joaquin Valley will help as we seek to educate policy-makers and those in the community about reducing energy consumption.”

The Great Valley Center’s new satellite office is located at UC Merced’s Bakersfield Center at 2000 K Street, Suite 300. The Bakersfield office will complement the already established Great Valley Center offices located in Modesto and Chico.

→Download the full press release here