Legislative & regulatory strategy
Preparing and delivering expert testimony, tracking legislation, and translating policy shifts into clear strategic moves—including testimony before the Pennsylvania House Energy Committee.
Public Policy & Energy
Stuart
Deets
Public Policy Fellow, Cordia Energy Ph.D. Candidate, University of Minnesota
I'm a public policy and energy strategist focused on turning complex technical and regulatory landscapes into actionable strategy. As Public Policy Fellow at Cordia Energy, I work on geothermal and thermal energy networks—drafting legislative testimony, white papers, and the communications that move projects forward. I'm completing my Ph.D. (ABD) in Writing, Rhetoric & Technical Communication at the University of Minnesota.
What I do
Strategy and execution at the edge of energy policy
Policy research & white papers
Authoring actionable white papers and reports on geothermal energy, district energy, and community energy planning that drive decisions and resource allocation.
Stakeholder & market engagement
Relationship mapping, stakeholder engagement, and external communications across M&A, greenfield/brownfield projects, and emerging thermal energy network markets.
Research & technical communication
Peer-reviewed scholarship on how technical and computational communication shapes public programs, from SNAP discourse to AI adoption in the workplace.
Selected work
Recent highlights
- Expert testimony on geothermal energy development before the Pennsylvania House Energy Committee. Read →
- Empowering Urban Transformation: Community Energy Planning for a Resilient and Decarbonized Future — Cordia Energy. Cordia Energy
- "Meeting the Growing Power Demands of Data Centers in the Age of AI" — OnRAMP Magazine. OnRAMP
- "Content Analysis, Construct Validity, and Artificial Intelligence" — Journal of Business and Technical Communication. DOI →
Curriculum Vitae
Experience & scholarship
A snapshot below; the full CV is available as a PDF.
Current role
Public Policy Fellow
Dec 2024 – PresentCordia Energy · Minneapolis, MN
- Prepared and delivered expert testimony on geothermal energy development to the Pennsylvania State House Energy Committee.
- Authored white papers, reports, and presentations on geothermal and district energy that drove strategic decision-making and resource allocation.
- Built a legislative tracking and scoring system to monitor opportunities and threats and evaluate consultants and tools for ROI.
- Directed stakeholder engagement and relationship mapping for M&A and greenfield/brownfield projects, contributing to three winning bids and a signed LOI for a >$100M anticipated acquisition.
Education
Ph.D., Writing, Rhetoric & Technical Communication (ABD)
2022 – PresentUniversity of Minnesota–Twin Cities · Minor: Science, Technology & Environmental Policy
M.A., Art History
2020University of Minnesota–Twin Cities · Graduate Minor: Rhetoric & Scientific & Technical Communication
B.A., Art History (Honors), English Literature, History
2018University of Wisconsin–Madison
Selected publications
- Deets, S. (2026, accepted). A Quantitative, Computational Investigation of Computers and Composition: Using Topic Modeling Over Time to Reveal Patterns in Textual Data. Computers and Composition.
- Deets, S., Baulch, C., Obright, A., & Card, D. (2024). Content Analysis, Construct Validity, and Artificial Intelligence. Journal of Business and Technical Communication. DOI
- Breuch, L. A. K., Ghimire, A., Bolander, K., Deets, S., Obright, A., & Remcheck, J. (2026). Reconsidering Writing Pedagogy in the Era of ChatGPT. In Composing with AI, Computers and Composition Digital Press.
- Deets, S. (2025). Using Computational Modeling for Analyzing Social Media Data: A Case Study of r/foodstamps. Proceedings of the 43rd ACM SIGDOC. DOI
Selected policy & public writing
- Deets, S., Sharpe, E., Georges, K., Barnett, W., & McFarlan, E. (2026). Empowering Urban Transformation: Community Energy Planning for a Resilient and Decarbonized Future. Cordia Energy.
- Deets, S. (2025). Danish District Heating Excellence: Lessons for US District Energy. Cordia Energy.
- Barnett, W., & Deets, S. (2025). Testimony on Geothermal Energy Development in Pennsylvania, House Energy Committee. Read
- Schneider, M., & Deets, S. (2025). Meeting the Growing Power Demands of Data Centers in the Age of AI. OnRAMP Magazine.
Recognition
- James I. Brown Graduate Award in Rhetoric — Summers 2025 & 2026
- Human Capital Summer Research Fellowship — 2024
- ACM SIGDOC Student Research Competition travel award — 2023, 2025
Teaching
In the classroom
Writing pedagogy in technical, professional, and first-year contexts.
Teaching philosophy
I teach writing as a practice of clear thinking and real-world problem-solving. My courses help students communicate with precision across technical, scientific, and professional contexts—weighing audience, purpose, ethics, and consequence rather than treating writing as a box to check.
I draw directly on my work in policy and energy: students practice making complex, high-stakes information usable for the people who actually have to act on it.
Courses taught
Technical & Professional Writing
Writing Intensive
Introduces technical and professional writing as a discipline and practice, building students' written and oral communication in engineering, technological, and scientific contexts with an emphasis on social, ethical, and practical problem-solving.
First-Year Writing
Foundations
Introduces university writing as a practice and builds writing fundamentals through literacy narratives, project proposals, essays, and multimedia formats such as podcasts and videos.
In practice
- Audience-first: students design every document around the people who will read and act on it.
- Ethics and consequence: we treat communication choices as decisions with real-world stakes.
- Applied work: assignments mirror professional genres—proposals, reports, and public-facing writing.
- Iteration: drafting, peer feedback, and revision are built into the core of every project.