David Anthoff is an environmental economist who studies climate change and environmental policy. He co-develops the integrated assessment model FUND that is used widely in academic research and in policy analysis.

John Harte is a physicist turned ecologist. His research interests span ecological field research, the theory of complex systems, and policy analysis. Current interests include applying insights from information theory to the analysis of complex ecosystems and empirical investigation of climate-ecosystem feedback dynamics.

Lara Kueppers is an Assistant Professor in the Energy and Resources Group, with a Faculty Scientist appointment at Berkeley Lab. She is an interdisciplinary environmental scientist, whose research focuses on ecological responses and feedbacks to climate change.

The focus of my work is carbon and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems and trace-gas flux between soil and atmosphere. I conduct research on soil carbon, global change, and the impacts of human activities on ecosystem processes.

Gordon is broadly interested in the intersection between sustainable technology and individual behavior, and how the use of technology can be influenced to optimally achieve sustainability goals. Climate change arises not just from flawed technology, but also from society’s interaction with it, and any solutions must pay heed to these interactions as well. Prior to […]

Dennis has focused his career on technology and sustainability policy in emerging and developing economies. His research interests include technology and innovation policy and impacts to resource and rural development, technology transfer and the political economy of land use management. He has led programs with the Paris based International Energy Agency, as an official of the […]

High-resolution weather and climate data is fast becoming cheap and ubiquitous. As a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellow, Ian works to capitalize on this increasing availability of data to drive improvements in forecasts of the impacts of climate change on water and energy resources. In parallel to this work, he is also […]

John is interested in the geographic dimensions of environmental politics and policy. As an undergraduate researcher, he used geospatial tools to connect the environmental history of North Georgia to observed changes in land use. As a Masters candidate, his research explored the politics of distributed solar energy in conservative-leaning states. He is also very interested […]

Nick earned his BS in Hydrology along with a minor in Environmental Policy from UC Davis in 2013. Since graduating, he spent over three years working for the Stockholm Environment Institute based in their Davis, CA office participating in watershed modeling and management projects for river basins in California, Perú, and Ecuador. He then worked […]

Alex Dolginow is a Master’s degree candidate interested in understanding appropriate design and conditions for ‘environmental markets,’ such as trading of carbon, water, and conserved land. He hopes to combine economic, policy, and technical approaches to analyze such markets in places like Brazil and Indonesia. Prior to Cal, Alex worked as a strategy consultant with […]

Adam is interested in how climate change and biodiversity loss can be mitigated through agriculture, forestry, and conservation strategy. Prior to joining ERG, Adam worked with an early stage agriculture technology company called TerViva where he conducted research and business development to expand the adoption of novel, sustainable crops on marginal land. This work exposed […]

Sasha Harris-Lovett is a PhD candidate in the Energy and Resources Group and a NSF Graduate Research Program Fellow. Her research focuses on urban water and wastewater management, decision analysis for socio-environmental problems, and collaborative environmental planning. She is dedicated to making science accessible to students, policy-makers, and community members. Outside of school, she works […]

Kripa earned a BS in Botany from the University of Delhi, and a Masters in Environmental Studies from TERI University. Since 2007 to 2012, she worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in their Climate Change and Sustainability division. There, she managed several Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Climate Change advisory assignments for international organizations, corporate clients, and […]

Catherine received a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College, with a minor in Environmental Studies. Prior to coming to ERG, she worked on issues related to U.S. energy policy and integrated assessment modeling at the Joint Global Change Research Institute. At ERG, she is interested in using statistical techniques to explore the impacts of climate […]

Michelle is a concurrent degree student at the Goldman School of Public Policy and the Energy Resources Group. Prior to graduate school, she worked in political, legal, and regulatory advocacy at the Natural Resources Defense Council and NextGen Climate America. Michelle is currently interested in the financial impacts of climate change, but also likes to […]

Sophie Major’s interests are found at the intersection between political economy and social justice. She is currently investigating theories of ideology, justice, and power in the context of international climate politics. Prior to joining ERG, Sophie completed her interdisciplinary B.A.S. at Quest University Canada, where her thesis research assessed the role of First Nations’ activism […]

Jess studies the impact of and adaptation to climate change on Latin America’s coasts. Currently, she travels on her 39-foot sailboat, Oleada, down the Pacific coast of Mexico and Central America, through the Panama Canal, and into the Caribbean to document local climate knowledge through GIS mapping and personal narratives. You can follow her journey […]

Lisa is interested in using computer science to explore issues related to the economic impacts of climate change. She has spent the past three years working at an environmental consulting firm called Industrial Economics Inc. where she leveraged data analysis, computer programming, and GIS to work on projects related to the economic affects of climate […]

Esther is interested in integrated assessment models and the role of tropical forests and land cover in climate change mitigation. She also studies sustainable agroforestry and the environmental governance of global supply chains. Prior to beginning her graduate studies at UC Berkeley, she worked for the U.S. Department of Justice as a statistician in the […]

Samira’s research focuses on the social, economic, and physical processes of urbanization and climate change in Asia. She was previously an international development researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, where her work included an evaluation of the Global Protocol for Community-scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions in cities worldwide. Prior to that, she was a researcher at the […]

Alana Siegner graduated from Tufts University in 2012 with a double major in Environmental Studies and International Relations. She was the Local Outreach Chair of the Tufts-Engineers Without Borders chapter, and spent 3 summers traveling to Uganda to work on an EWB clean water storage project. Before coming to ERG, Alana served for 2 years […]

Emma’s interests are at the intersection of climate change adaptation, environmental justice, and science and technology studies, with a focus on renewable energy technology adoption in under-resourced communities. She received her B.A. in Geography and B.S. in Environmental Sciences at UC Berkeley in 2011, and her undergraduate research focused on critical approaches to GIS technology […]

Valeri Vasquez is a student with the Energy and Resources Group. She is interested in the application of data science toward smart urban growth. Her current research employs integrated assessment models to better understand the impact of climate change-induced human health effects on the economy. Valeri grew her early career in international and domestic climate […]

Hilary received her B.A. in Government and Biological Sciences, with a concentration in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the latter, from Cornell University, where she graduated in 2015. At ERG, Hilary is interested in exploring the science-law nexus and the factors – political, economic, and social – that inform the translation of science into legislation. […]

Taking the Man Out of Manufacturing: Drivers and Components of Industrial Sector Low-Carbon Transformation (PhD ’17) Nate Aden completed his PhD at the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley and is a Research Fellow with the World Resources Institute’s Climate and Energy Program. Nate’s research is focused on industrial energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in […]

Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles, Climate Change, and Energy Security:  The Cost-Effectiveness of an Emerging Technology (’07 MS)

Who Will Cry for the Ice? An Examination of Conceptual Understanding of Climate Change through Metaphor (05 MS)

Wind generation: A step towards energy independence on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua (MS ’08) Exploring the role of information in development policy and practice in the fields of rural electrification, climate change mitigation, and fishing economics on Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast (PhD ’12)

On Rate Regulation in Modern Electricity Sectors (PhD ’17) Felipe was a Ph.D. Candidate with ERG. His research seeks to improve the understanding and organization of energy systems, leveraging methods, and concepts developed in fields including operations research, microeconomics, and industrial organization. Felipe’s work puts a particular emphasis on the development and application of data […]

Zoë Chafe is a Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell University and fellow at the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, where her work spot­lights the ambi­ent air pol­lu­tion, health, and cli­mate effects of household energy use. At ERG, Dr. Chafe was a National Science Foundation Grad­u­ate Research Fel­low. She has served as the IPCC AR5 Human […]

At times the problem of understanding phenomena is one of seeing. That is why Danielle explores new ways of demystifying complexity through visual representation. She seeks new techniques to illustrate often-forgotten, yet fundamental dependencies between human society and the natural world. One such technique is terrestrial laser scanning (also known as LIDAR), which she used to create a 3-D model of her ecological study site in the Sierra Nevada. This along with her seedling research seeks to inform the uncertain future of resource management.

Assessing Instream Flow Standards Under Climate Change Implications for State-Level Policy in the U.S. (MS/MPP ’17) Rebecca completed a Master’s degree in both the Energy and Resources Group and the Goldman School of Public Policy (MA/MPP). Her research interests focus on the sustainable use of water resources, integrating work in ecology, equity, and climate change […]

Lara is interested in the relationship between social inequalities and the environment, including how environmental and social stressors interact to impact health. Her work seeks to better understand the disproportionate burden of pollutants and climate change risk faced by low income communities of color in the U.S., and to develop tools to help policy-makers address […]

Zubair is a Master’s student who researches water policy and management of international river basins, and is particularly focused on hydro-politics of the Indus basin. He has researched the relationship between water discharge and land use patterns in upper Jhelum watershed, international water agreements (especially the Indus Waters Treaty), and conflict over distribution of water […]

Climate and energy policies; the science of climate change and the relationship between happiness and consumption.

Climate Change Impacts on Community and Ecosystem Properties: Integrating Manipulations and Gradient Studies in Montane Meadows (’00 Ph.D.)

Quick Wins for Climate: A Gas-Specific Framework for International Mitigation Policy (MS ’08) Nuances of Climate Change Mitigation: Four Different Goals and Approaches in the Climate Boxes Framework (PhD ’12)

Mitigation Banking: Protecting Resources or Minimizing Enforcement Costs? (’87 M.S.) Population Differentiation in Tree-Ring Growth Responses of White Fir (Abies Concolor) to Climate: Implications for Predicting Forest Responses to Climate Change (’93 Ph.D.)

Biofuel Boundaries: Estimating the Medium-Term Supply Potential of Domestic Biofuels (MS ’07) Land use change is a critical influence on the climate effects of climate policies (PhD ’12)

Chris Jones is lead developer at the CoolClimate Network, an applied research consortium at UC Berkeley’s Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory that supports the development of comprehensive, socially integrated carbon footprint management tools and programs for individuals, schools, businesses and communities. His primary research interests intersect the fields of industrial ecology, environmental psychology, and climate […]

Irreversibility and Learning in the Context of Global Climate Change (’04 PhD)

Environmental policy making; balancing short-term pressures with long-term needs; climate changes policies; economics; decision analysis; ecology.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Ann Kinzig Ph.D. ’94 Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University Perhaps more than most alumni, Ann Kinzig’s intellectual path has traversed ERG’s interdisciplinary bounds, grappling with the physical, life and social science aspects of the world’s ecological and social problems during, and especially after, her time at ERG. […]

Science-Policy Interface in the Case of Climate Change and California Water Management (MS ’04) A Risk Analysis for Water Resources Under Climate Change, Population Growth and Land Use Change (PhD, ’10)

Greenhouse Gas Property – Introducing an Adaptable Climate Policy for an Uncertain World (MS ’07) Characterizing & Responding to Uncertainty in Climate Change (PhD ’11)

Historical Trends in Agricultural Water Use: A California Case Study (MS ’12) Morgan’s fields of study include earth systems science, hydrology, and statistics. Morgan’s research interests are the ‘water-agriculture-climate’ nexus, and research subject areas include eco-hydrology and hydroclimatology, agricultural water management, irrigation, water use efficiency and productivity, and climate change impacts and adaptation. Morgan is […]

Minding Electron Leakage: How Utility Regulation Can Improve Upstream Energy Efficiency (MS ’14) Ben is a concurrent MS-MPP degree student in ERG and the Goldman School of Public Policy. His primary area of focus is the spread of technologies and policies that promote energy efficiency. Ben also works in Berkeley Lab’s Heat Island Group, which […]

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT This ERG alumni spotlight features one of the first ERG graduate students, David Marcus (MA’77), and is written by ERG alumna, Sarita Sarvate (MS’78). The piece is the first of a series of stories on the achievements and journeys of alumni, showcasing their life after ERG. Small is Beautiful by Sarita Sarvate (MS’78) One summer […]

Adrienne works on climate change adaptation and mitigation in the public and private forests and wild lands of California. She is interested in understanding how the natural resources in these areas, particularly water, are affected by climate change. How can we manage our forests and wild lands in order to reduce both the magnitude of […]

Qualitative Analysis: The Method and Its Use in Modeling the Influence of Space on Ecosystems (’86 M.S.) Forest Succession and Climate Change: Coupling Land-Surface Processes and Ecological Dynamics (’90 Ph.D.)

Erica’s niche is fire, particularly in the ecologically sensitive region of French Polynesia. She has already been trained as a physicist, but her curiosity draws her to ecology. ERG has become a unique place for Erica to explore her aspirations in the biological sciences alongside those who have successfully trekked through similar transitions. Read in her own words how Erica has fine-tuned her fascinations while at ERG.

Monkgogi (who goes by MK) was born and raised in Botswana and recently graduated cum laude with her BA from Scripps College in Environment, Economics, and Politics. Personally, MK has worked extensively with and for underrepresent students in higher education through numerous leadership roles, mentorships, and volunteering opportunities. Access to and visibility of underrepresented students […]

State-Level Regulations Effectiveness in Addressing Global Climate Change and Promoting Solar Energy Deployment (PhD ’17)

Environmental, Economic, and Social Trade-Offs of Hydropower Relicensing (MS ’16) Joseph is interested in the social, environmental, and economic trade-offs in energy development, and in particular the social conflicts arising around utility-scale wind farm siting and hydropower relicensing. His master’s research focuses on the relicensing of the Yuba River Development Project, a large hydropower project […]

Formerly a freelance writer and founding director of the Vietnam Green Building Council (2007-2009), Jalel remains a board member and international coordinator for Green Cities Fund (its NGO parent).  In 2012 he co-founded the Southeast Asia – Renewable and Adaptive Energy (SEA-RAE) group at Berkeley.  At ERG he has designed a class on ecological economics; […]

Global Climate Change and Ecosystem Carbon Storage: An Experimental Investigation of Ecologically-Mediated Feedbacks to Climate in Montane Meadows (’98 Ph.D.)

Greenhouse Gas Abatement Supply Curves for California’s Transportation Sector (MS ’08) Interactions of Water and Energy Mediate Responses of High Latitude Terrestrial Ecosystems to Climate Change (PhD ’12)

Why do POUs Fail?  Barriers to the Adoption of Point of Use Water Treatment Technologies (’07 MS) Transforming trash:  reuse as a waste management and climate change mitigation strategy (’11 PhD)

Seeds of Change:  Making High School Climate Change Education Transformative (’05 MA)

Challenges and Opportunities for Corporate Fleet Transitions to Lower-Carbon Fuels (MS ’14) Svetlana is interested in the intersection of public policy and corporate social responsibility, as well as in the psychology of sustainable behavior. During the summer of 2013, she consulted for a large company’s sustainability department as a member of the Environmental Defense Fund […]