Friends, family, colleagues and students gathered Friday afternoon in Barrows Hall to celebrate the life and achievements of Alex Farrell, a UC Berkeley associate professor in the Energy and Resources Group who died last month.

Farrell, who came to teach at UC Berkeley in 2003, died on April 13 at age 46. The memorial was hosted by the Energy and Resources Group in the Lipman Room.

With a mixture of humor, grief and gratitude, more than a dozen of Farrell's colleagues and students spoke in his memory, recalling Farrell's distinction in his field, his excellence as a teacher and his unflappable character.

"Alex was woven into the fabric of our community. I hope this gathering will help cement memories and stitch together the fabric to fill this hole," said William Nazaroff, chair of the Energy and Resources Group.

Farrell's colleagues lauded his knowledge in the fields of transportation fuels and climate change and his work on the low-carbon fuel standard.

"Alex was on a never-ending journey to do something about the climate problem," said Dr. Lee Schipper, the director of research for the World Resources Institute Center for Sustainable Transport.

Several speakers noted that Farrell's expertise was in high demand and that, because of this, his workload was exceptionally heavy.

"Alex was at the point where he was about to be asked to do way more things than he could take on, which is a good position to be in, but can be daunting," said Severin Borenstein, director of the UC Energy Institute.

All present agreed that Farrell would be greatly missed, but that his inspiration and legacy would live on in the friends and colleagues he left behind.

"He was one of us," Schipper said. "The good news is there are a lot of us, and there's a very good chance his work and spirit will continue."

­-Anna Widdowson

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