(John Shanahan) USofA - Recognizing opportunity and following up

Recognizing opportunity and following up (How a civil engineer came to be Editor of a very diversified science and environmental website: allaboutenergy.net.)

John Shanahan March 26, 2020 Our lives can be much better, if we recognize opportunities and following through.

Here is a story of a civil engineer who encountered a seemingly insignificant opportunity that led to many more opportunities and a much more meaningful and rewarding life.

There are two kinds of opportunities: those that are handed to you and those that you have to find. Then you have to decide if and how you want to pursue them.

Another way through life is determining what you want to do and going for it.

A third way is waiting for everything to come to you from the government on down to from people around you.

John Shanahan had a good youth, with a close circle of friends. Good grade school, high school and Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering education.

He went on for a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering. During the summer of 1962 before starting on his Master’s Degree he had the first summer without planned activities or work obligations. He was open for adventure.

He routinely checked the bulletin board in the civil engineering department for department announcements. It was NOT the place for finding interesting, fun adventures. There was a small notice posted from IAESTE. He knew nothing about this organization but decided to apply for a summer job in a foreign country. He got his wish, a job with a design and construction company in Berlin, Germany. He quickly took his first course in German.

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The summer of 1962 working in Berlin followed by travel by bicycle and hitchhiking around Europe opened a whole new world that would stay with him for the rest of his life. His airplane ticket from New York to Amsterdam and back was $300. He took $400 in cash to pay for lodging, food for three months and purchases of gifts to bring home.

On arrival by steam engine train in Berlin from Amsterdam, he bought his first 35mm camera. Life in West Berlin, visits to East Berlin, work with German engineers, and contacts with students at Berlin’s universities was a big adventure. For the last month in Europe, he traveled by bicycle on fairly empty country roads for two weeks, then hitchhiked to see more places. He saw wonderful countries, including being invited by Italians to stay a week with them. Here are some photos.

Planning bicycle trip with German landlady in Berlin Starting bicycle trip in Hannover.

The summer job opportunity in Berlin, Germany through IAESTE led to a completely different life than I otherwise would have had. Without going into the stories of each step, here is a list of things that happened because of my first experience in Europe.

1) Decision to earn a Dr. of Engineering Degree from a German University.

2) Ask to be sent to Germany for fulfilling my ROTC obligation and work with German engineers and technicians in order to learn German.

3) Met my American born wife, Isabel Williams, in Germany. We’ve been happily married 54 years with two wonderful children and four happy grandchildren.

4) Got first job in nuclear power field in 1970 because of my graduate studies in Germany.

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5) Was introduced in 1970 to one of America’s top anti-nuclear power and global warming alarmists, John Holdren, because of my career in nuclear power. We have been adversaries about fossil fuels and nuclear power for fifty years.

6) Became a colleague and friend with a Swiss engineer. He was an avid hiker, snowshoer, whitewater enthusiast who introduced me to all these activities in Europe, Nepal, Tibet, Argentina and Ecuador. He arranged a job for me as consultant to Swiss nuclear power plant. This led to two other jobs in Switzerland in the 1980s. My wife and teenage children loved our five years there.

7) Met one of the best engineering managers in advanced nuclear power in 1990, Donald Riley. We became close friends for the rest of his life until 2015. He introduced me to many top experts in advanced nuclear power.

8) My acquaintance from 1970, John Holdren, became President Obama’s Science Advisor. In February 2010, I wrote him an official letter at his office attached to the White House recommending the government get its act together for existing nuclear power, advanced nuclear power and domestic production of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine. In all these areas the government had failed since the late 1970s. It was signed by scientists, engineers and people in many fields from around the world.

9) Also, in 2010 I was introduced to a freshman in high school in Augusta, Georgia, Mary Claire Birdsong. She was going to compete for a year in nationwide student debates about nuclear power. She did an excellent job. Her essays are here. She has moved on. But her sister, Katherine Birdsong has stepped in to follow in Mary Claire’s footsteps. She recently joined our staff and Board of Advisors. Her main contribution will be to write for and connect with high school and undergraduate students and young parents.

10) Mary Claire Birdsong and her mother, Lisa, another student and mother in Florida and I opened the first website, go-nuclear.org in 2012 with Michael Hancock’s technical help. That website is no longer open. But they did outstanding, very spirited work to get us started.

11) With an expanding scope, go-nuclear.org evolved into efn-usa.org with Bruno Comby in France. Michael Hancock continued with website technical help and expert editing of 19 videos. That website is no longer open.

12) With still expanding scope, we opened allaboutenergy.net. All the content of the previous websites was brought forward to this new website. Michael Hancock has 3

been key to the successful operation of all three websites.

13) In 2020, our two person staff (Michael Hancock and John Shanahan) was expanded to include Katherine Birdsong and Mary McCormick. They will fill areas that we haven’t been able to address in the past: a) Katherine Birdsong will focus on young students and young parents. b) Mary McCormick will focus on advanced students, professionals in nuclear medicine, nuclear science and other fields, older adults, as well as guide us in global public education).

14) Going forward, our website, newsletter and new activities will focus on two things: a) Global public education about nuclear energy, nuclear medicine, nuclear science and how they fit in with other important technologies to help humanity and the environment. b) Identify what has held nuclear energy and nuclear medicine back since the late 1970s and how to resolve these problems. Nuclear power and nuclear medicine have not succeeded in these areas. We hope to contribute to the solutions.

All of this and a lot more is a result of seeing an opportunity from IAESTE on the bulletin board at the Civil Engineering Department, University of Notre Dame in Indiana in November 1961. That’s how this civil engineer came to be Editor of the website: allaboutenergy.net and work with thousands of wonderful people in 121 countries.

The past is connected to the present and future.

Everything on Earth is connected like scientist James Lovelock has said.

During these very unusual and difficult times each of us should find ways to get outdoors and enjoy nature. Example, a snowshoe race in Joseph, Oregon with John Shanahan and friends in 1994 and Switzerland in 2019.

Once again, these things are thanks to my reading a small notice on the bulletin board at Notre Dame in 1961.

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Joseph, Oregon 1994

Shanahan family in La Punt Chamues-ch, Switzerland 2019 John, Jennifer, Isabel and Ford 5