The Energy and Resources Group trains interdisciplinary leaders and thinkers that are defining and solving the systemic, inextricably linked, social, environmental, and technological challenges facing the globe. ERG has built an unparalleled reputation for rigor and relevance through its unique interdisciplinary model. While ERG alumni share a common skillset in practical problem solving, their areas of substantive expertise and their employment interests are amazingly diverse.
Alumni
Alumni
Andrew Crane-Droesch
MS, PhD
Andrew does applied empirical research at the intersection of international development and the environment. His goals center on the provision of rigorous evidence to inform policies aimed at enabling sustainable ... Continue Reading »
Anne Crawley
MS
Implementing Building Standards for Energy Efficiency: An Inter-Organizational View with Examples from Jamaica (91 MS)
- climate responsive building design
- energy efficiency in buildings
- greening projects
- renewable energy
- strategies to encourage use of energy efficiency in building design and retrofitting
- utility interaction in energy use in buildings
Yoshika Crider
PhD
Yoshika has a B.S. and M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University. She combines methods from environmental engineering and public health to study safe water and sanitation, with a focus ... Continue Reading »
Lara Cushing
MA, MPH, PhD
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 ... Continue Reading »
- climate
- Community-based participatory research
- Environmental health
- environmental justice
- GIS
- Social Epidemiology
Eric Cutter
MS
Getting Serious About Water Wheeling in California: Learning from the Experience of the Natural Gas and Electric Industries (01 MS) Research Interests: Removing impediments to water markets and transfers in ... Continue Reading »
Zubair Dar
MA
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 ... Continue Reading »
- Energy Efficiency
- Hydroelectric Power Projects
- International Conflicts
- River Basin Management
- sustainability
- Water and Renewable Energy
- Water Resource Management
Naim Darghouth
MS, PhD
Sustainability of Micro-grids and Solar Home Systems: Evaluating Means for Rural Electrification in Africa (’06 MS) Uncertainties in the Value of Bill Savings from Behind-the-Meter, Residential Photovoltaic Systems: The Roles ... Continue Reading »
- economics of renewable energy technologies
- federal and state energy policies
- including electricity rate design and its impact on the value of residential renewable energy systems
- renewable electricity policies in West Africa
- research and analysis on renewable energy policy
William Davis
MA
Effects of Feebates on Vehicle Fuel Economy, Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Consumer Surplus (’89 MA)
- market-based energy and environmental policies and integrated resource planning
- national energy forecasting and planning
John Dees
MS, PhD
John’s research is primarily concerned with macro-energy systems analysis. He is interested in the life cycle characteristics of renewable energy systems, with a current focus on the carbon drawdown potential ... Continue Reading »
Peter Deibler
MA
The Geopressured Geothermal Resource of the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast: A Technology Characterization and Environmental Assessment (’80 M.A.)
- climate change issues
- energy deregulation
- jazz bass
- marketing professional services
- site remediation
- solid waste management (collection/recycling/composting/disposal)
- waste management economics and financing
Christine Demchak
MA
Complexification and Organizational-Institutional Design: The Case of the U.S. Radioactive Waste Program (’80 M.A.)
Nicholas Depsky
MS, PhD
Drought in Central America: Past Patterns and Future Projections (MS ’19) Nick’s primary research focus is on the impacts of climate change on human migration and displacement. Specific focus areas ... Continue Reading »
Elisabeth Derby
MA
Appliance Standards Transplantation: Applicability of a United States-based Energy Efficiency Standards Model in Costa Rica (’01 M.A.)
- energy
- Energy Efficiency
- health and development
- household energy and health
- renewables
- water disinfection
Manish Desai
MS
Towards Developing Agroforestry Systems for Smallholders: a Case Study from the Sarapiquí Canton, Costa Rica (MS ’99)
- Central America
- East Africa
- ecology & epidemiology of infectious diseases
- global change & public health
- indooor air pollution
- malaria
- mathematical and statistical modeling
- political ecology
- south asia
Ranjit Deshmukh
PhD
India’s Low Carbon Electricity Futures (PhD ’17) Ranjit’s research efforts largely focus on addressing the clean energy and energy access challenges in developing nations. As part of both the International ... Continue Reading »
- demand response
- energy access and micro-grids in developing countries
- energy markets
- Energy modeling
- Power Systems
- renewables integration
Kostas Despotakis
PhD
A Computable General Equilibrium Model of Energy in the California Economy (’84 Ph.D.)
Reuben Deumling
MA, PhD
The Industrial Ecology of Household Refrigerators: Product Life and the Demand for Materials and Energy (’99 MA) Public Policies, Private Choices: Consumer Desire and the Practice of Energy Efficiency (’08 ... Continue Reading »
- appliance standards
- climate change
- consumption studies
- energy conservation and efficiency
- greening of urban transport
- history and philosophy of technology
- inter-household variability in energy and water consumption
- social structuring of demand
- the rebound effect
- utility meters
David Dietrich
MS
“Incentive Regulation” of Nuclear Power Plants by State Public Utility Commissions: Program Design for Safety and Economic Efficiency (’87 M.S.)
Tanya Dimitrova
MS
REDD Hot: How One Community Defends its Forest One Carbon Credit at a Time (MS ’14) Tanya was born and grew up in Bulgaria. She came to ERG after a ... Continue Reading »
Luke Dodds
MA
Climate and energy policies; the science of climate change and the relationship between happiness and consumption.
Kari Dolan
MS
Tomorrow’s Clean and Fuel-Efficient Automobile: Opportunities for Cooperation Between Industry and Policy-Makers (91 MS)
- community organizing
- instream flows
- stream restoration
- sustainable water management
- water quality and Clean Water Act
Alex Dolginow
MA, MS
Valuing Co-benefits of California’s Climate Policy: Industrial Facilities and Public Health (MA ’18) Alex Dolginow is a Master’s degree candidate interested in understanding appropriate design and conditions for ‘environmental markets,’ ... Continue Reading »
Francisco Donez
PhD
Where the Sky is the Right Color: Scale and Air Pollution in the Big Bend Region (PhD ’10)
- air quality
- climate change
- environmental impacts/risks/vulnerability
- expertise and local knowledge
- Science and Technology Studies
James Downing
MS
Of Microbes and Membranes: Towards more Efficient Wastewater Reclamation Results from a Pilot Study and an Assessment of Water Reuse Planning Issues. (00 MS)
Elizabeth Dreier
MA
Opportunities for North American Development Bank Investment in Air Quality Improvement Along the U.S.-Mexico Border (’02 M.A.)
- agriculture and rural development
- development finance and policy including institutions/trade/aid
- Latin America
- south asia
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- sustainable development including poverty/environment/gender
Navroz Dubash
MA, PhD
Commoditizing Carbon: Social and Environmental Implications of Trading Carbon Emissions Entitlements (MA 94) The Agrarian Question and the Institutionalization of Groundwater Exchange in Gujarat, India (PhD 98)
- electricity reform/restructuring
- groundwater
- infrastructure financing
- Political economy
- privatization
- regulation
- rural electricity
- Water Resource Management
Kristin Duin
MS
Community-based Environmental Protection: Watershed Restoration in the Waimanalo Ahupua’a (’00 M.S.)
- community participation in decision making
- ecosystem/watershed management
- natural and cultural aspects of conservation and development
Jennifer Dunne
PhD
Climate Change Impacts on Community and Ecosystem Properties: Integrating Manipulations and Gradient Studies in Montane Meadows (’00 Ph.D.)
Kristen Durham
MS
Planning a Bioenergy Future: Understanding uncertainty in biomass resource assessment in China (MS ’08)
- International development and trade policy
- ways of analyzing economics and the potential impacts of policy decisions
Michael Dwyer
MS, PhD
Seeing Like a Sagebrush – Measuring and mapping spatial heterogeneity, self-similarity and local vegetation structure (’03 MS) Territorial Affairs: Turning Battlefields into Marketplaces in Postwar Laos (’11 PhD)
Mark Dyson
MS
Economic, technological, and policy aspects of integrating renewable energy into existing electricity systems using innovative demand response strategies.
Jeremy Eddy
MS
Quantitative Analysis and Community Decision-Making: A Case Study of Palo Alto’s Organic Waste Management Decision (’09 MS)
- development and deployment of clean energy technologies
- ecological monitoring and conservation
- environmental justice
- public policy and education
Mohamed El-Gasseir
PhD
Design and Simulation of a Novel Hybrid Cooling Cycle for Steam Electricity-Generating Stations (’86 Ph.D.)
- distributed technology applications and pay-as-you-drive insurance
- electric industry restructuring
- retail wheeling
John Elliott
MA
Lowering Energy Bills in American Indian Households: A Case Study of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (’98 M.A.)
- climate change
- endocrine disruptors
- Energy Efficiency
- energy issues for American Indian tribes
- renewable energy
- web-based software for managing energy use
Salma Elmallah
MS, PhD
Characterizing Fairness, Transparency, and Openness in US Wind Project Planning (MS ’19) Salma’s dissertation studies the equity and distributional impacts of residential heating electrification policy and planning, focusing on cities ... Continue Reading »
Katie Epstein
MA
Katie’s interests are in community forestry, natural resource conflict management, cultural dimensions of ecosystem management and place studies. She graduated with a BA in Anthropology from Davidson College (2010) and ... Continue Reading »
Frank Errickson
MS, PhD
The Joint Effect of Uncertainty and Inequality on Global Climate Policy (PhD ’20) Frank grew up on the central New Jersey coast, completing a B.A. in Political Science with a ... Continue Reading »
- atmospheric science
- climate adaptation in vulnerable regions
- climate change
- development
- economics
- energy
- Environmental Economics
- equitable energy access
- integrated assessment modeling
- sustainable development
William Jamil Farbes
MS
Identifying Priority Government Investments from AB32 Cap & Trade Revenue (MS, ’10)
Isa Ferrall
MS, PhD
Decentralized solar energy systems for electricity access: historical context and comparisons of reliability (MS ’18); Quantitative approaches to energy justice: examining fair access to reliable electricity (PhD ’22) Isa earned ... Continue Reading »
- data sharing
- decentralized energy systems
- development
- energy
- RAEL
- rural electrification
- solar innovation
- sustainable development
Michael Ferry
MS
A Renewable Energy in Vehicles (REV) Mandate: Establishing a Zero Carbon Energy Standard for California Automobiles (MS ’08)
- biodiversity threats
- ecological conservation and restoration
- water resouces management
- watershed protections
Steven Fetter
MS, PhD
Modeling the Consequences of Accidental Releases of Radioactivity from Fusion Reactors (’83 M.S.) Radiological Hazards of Fusion Reactors: Models and Comparisons (’85 Ph.D.)
- climate change and the coming transformation of world energy supply - in particular the future of nuclear energy
- nuclear arms control and nonproliferation
Maria Figueroa
MS
Transportation Energy Use in Bolivia: Environmental Implications, Policy Perspectives (MS ’96)
- intermediate means of transport/appropriate levels of transport/energy services under environmental/energy constraints for developing energy conservation strategies for organized communities and NGOs
- proper role of gender and development issues on the energy and environment debate
James Fine
MS, PhD
Evaluating the Use of Tradable Particulate Emissions Permits to Improve Air Quality in California’s San Joaquin Valley (98, MS) The Ends of Uncertainty: Air Quality Science and Planning in Central ... Continue Reading »
- air quality
- filling the void between scientists policy makers and regulators
- Forestry
- managing model uncertainty in environmental management
- technical regulatory and economical issues associated with implementing market based approaches to addressing environmental concerns
- water quantity and quality
Kevin Fingerman
MS, PhD
The System of Rice Intensification: Lessons from South India (MS ’07) Measuring and moderating the water resource impacts of biofuel production and trade (PhD ’12)
- Agroecology
- ecological and social impacts of increased biofuel production
- focus on India
- water-use efficiency in agriculture
Kenneth Finney
MS
Nuclear Safety: A Proposal to Improve Off-Site Safety Precautions of Commercial Nuclear Power Plants (’87 MS)
- current pro bono matters: RCRA Subtitle D (solid waste landfills) citizen suit litigation
- San Francisco Bay Marine Mammal Project (litigation)
Jolanka Fisher
MS
Trends in Electricity Consumption, Peak Demand, and Generating Capacity in California and the Western Grid 1977-2000 (’02 MS)
- California electricity markets
- demand response
- deregulation
- electricity markets
- Energy Efficiency
- environmental agreements
- International energy policy
Garrett Fitzgerald
MA
Sustainability Indicators as Tools for Local Government Decision Making (’06 MA)
- arts and crafts
- community sustainability assessment and engagement
- energy policy and program management
- green buildings
- hockey
- social structure and governance
Pamela Franklin
PhD
Is All Research Created Equal? Institutional Credibility and Technical Expertise in Environmental Policymaking at US EPA (02 PhD)
- air quality and global climate change
- private-public (voluntary partnerships)
- synergies of environmental and energy policy
- the role of private sector science in environmental policy and regulatory decisions
Lindsey Fransen
MS
Common Resources, Private Benefits: Shifting Access in Mexico’s Community Forests (’08 MS)
- community forestry in Mexico
- ecology and politics of locally-based natual resource management
- watershed management
Karina French
MA
Karina is focused on urban climate resilience, specifically studying how climate impacts will affect social infrastructure systems that protect vulnerable populations in cities. At ERG, she is interested in the ... Continue Reading »
Hannah Friedman
MS
Comparative Guide to Emerging Diagnostic Tools for Large Commercial HVAC Systems (01 MS)
Nina Friedman
MS
The Iranian Consortium and the Death of the International Petroleum Cartel Case (81 MS)
Rafael Friedmann
PhD
Electric Efficiency in Mexican Households: Implementation Issues and Savings Potential (96 PhD)
- effective governance of public resources
- Energy Efficiency
- institutional and political aspects affecting sustainable energy policy
- renewable technologies
- sustainable energy policy
Matthias Fripp
MS, PhD
Now You See It, Now You Don’t: The metastable defect in boron-doped czochralski silicon (’03 MS) Optimal Investment in Wind and Solar Power in California (’08 PhD)
Heidi Fuchs
MS
Water Access in a Changing City: Evaluating Reliance on and Value of Public Borewells in Hubli-Dharwad, India (MS, ’13)
- ecological water management
- energy water nexus - especially in American West
- mitigation and adaptation scenarios for climate change (on local or regional scales)
- social dimensions of environmental change and adaptation
Merrian Fuller
MA
Enabling Investments in Energy Efficiency: A study of energy efficiency programs that reduce first-cost barriers in the residential sector (’09 MA)
- adoption of energy efficiency & renewable energy technologies
- behavior change
- energy policy
- innovative financing & new business models
Julian Fulton
PhD
Julian’s interests lie in the relationships between water use and economic development, focusing on modeling and governance. Mr. Fulton’s previous research includes water use in the transportation sector, conservation strategies ... Continue Reading »
- California
- cotton
- Delta
- environmental history
- footprint
- water management
- water systems
- water use
- water-energy-food nexus
John Galloway
MS
Policies and Programs to Support Solar Water Heating Systems: An Analysis with a Case Study Of a Municipal Solar Utility in Santa Clara, California (00 MS)
- cultural and social aspects of energy use
- distributed generation policy
- energy education in schools and public outreach
- financing and policy
- government regulation and programs for renewable energy and energy efficiency
- photovoltaic/wind/solar water heating systems
- renewable energy technology
Karina Garbesi
MS, PhD
Experiments and Modeling of the Soil-Gas Transport of Volatile Organic Compounds into a Residential Basement (’88 M.S.) Toward Resolving Model-Measurement Discrepancies of Radon Entry into Houses (’93 Ph.D.)
- environmental and social impacts of energy use
- environmental justice
- implementation
- natural resource analysis
- policy
- renewable energy
- soils and soil-atmosphere processes
- technology
- the global environment
- the urban environment
Betsy Gardiner
MS
Diesel Particulate: An Evaluation of Data on the Carcinogenic Risk and Policy Implications (83 MS)
Michel Gelobter
MS, PhD
The Distribution of Air Pollution, By Income and Race (’90 M.S.) Race, Class, and Outdoor Air Pollution: The Dynamics of Environmental Discrimination from 1970-1990 (’93 Ph.D.)
Dimitry Gershenson
MS
Dimitry currently works as a Program Manager on Facebook’s Global Impact Partnerships Team. Prior to Facebook, Dimitry was a graduate student at ERG where he worked on market assessment for ... Continue Reading »
Rebecca Ghanadan
MA, PhD
Questioning Inevitability of Energy Pathways: Alternate Energy Scenarios for California (’02 MA) Public Service or Commodity Goods? Electricity Reforms, Access, and the Politics of Development in Tanzania (’08 PhD)
- energy and development pathways
- geographic interest in sub-Saharan Africa
- local-regional-international linkages of energy policy and technology choices
- political economy of globalization
- renewable energy
D. Asher Ghertner
MA, PhD
Shifting Environmental Trends: A Life-Cycle, Consumption-Based Approach to Environmental Indicators (’04 MA) Rule by Aesthetics: World-Class City Making in Delhi (’10 PhD)
Andre Ghirardi
PhD
Alcohol Fuels from Biomass in Brasil: A Comparative Assessment of Methanol and Ethanol (83 PhD)
Jenny Gitlitz
MA
The Relationship Between Primary Aluminum Production and the Damming of World Rivers (93 MA)
- environmental and social effects of energy development and primary resource extraction/processing/consumption/disposal
- hydroelectricity
- indigenous people
- Russia
Peter Gleick
MS, PhD
Environmental Consequences of Hydroelectric Development: The Issue of Size (’80 M.S.) Regional Water Availability and Global Climatic Change: The Hydrological Consequences of Increases in Atmospheric CO2 and Other Trace Gases ... Continue Reading »
- climate change
- climate impacts
- environment and security
- sustainable water use
- water and conflict
- water conservaton
- water resources
- water use efficiency
Brandon Glenn
MS
Renewable Energy Certificates and Project Development: A Case Study of the Rosebud Wind Turbine’s Success (’09 MS)
- atmospheric science
- coal development
- hydrogeology
- nuclear waste
- renewable energy with a focus on wind turbines
Jessica Joan Goddard
MS 2014 (ERG), MS 2015 (Eng.), PhD
Urban Water’s Hydra: Stormwater’s Problematization in LA (MA ’14) Measuring Drinking Water Affordability and Sustainability (PhD ’20) At ERG, Jess (PhD 2019) co-developed metrics for water affordability in the state’s ... Continue Reading »
- California
- ecological economics
- environmental and engineering sciences
- environmental exposure
- equity
- sustainability
- water access
Rachel Golden
MPP, MS
Achieving Long-term Climate Goals in the US: Unlocking the Potential of High-Efficiency Electric Technology in Our Homes and Buildings (MS/MPP ’16) Rachel is interested in advancing policies that can help ... Continue Reading »
- climate change
- development
- economics
- energy
- environmental justice
- Equity and Access
- Grid flexibility
- renewable integration
Charles Goldman
MS
Technical Performance and Cost-Effectiveness of Conservation Retrofits in Existing U.S. Residential Buildings (83 MS)
William Golove
MA, PhD
Measuring Energy Efficiency: A Critique of the Energy-GNP Ratio (95 MA) Avant Le Deluge: An Investigation on Some Neglected Dimensions of Electricity Restructuring in California (’06 PhD)
- business
- electricity industry restructuring
- environment interactions
- government
- renewable energy/green power
- role of language in public policy
Patrick Gonzalez
PhD
Dynamics of Biodiversity and Human Carrying Capacity in the Senegal Sahel (97 PhD)
Anand Gopal
PhD
Life of Sugar: Developing Lifecycle Methods to Evaluate the Energy and Environmental Impacts of Sugarcane Biofuels (PhD ’11)
Pierce Gordon
MS, PhD
Investigating Innovation Practice: Cross-disciplinary Studies in International Development (PhD ’18) As a NSF, Chancellor’s, and InFEWS Fellow in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG), Pierce investigates frameworks, methodologies, and contexts ... Continue Reading »
- Actors/History in International Development
- Berkeley Expert System Technologies (BEST) Laboratory
- Design
- Design Thinking
- development
- Development Engineering
- Evaluation
- Impact Evaluation
- Marginalization
- Sub-Saharan Africa
Jamal Gore
MA
When Is Small Beautiful? Approaches to Decentralized Hydropower Projects in Nepal (94 MA)
- attempting to maintain an American accent in the U.K.
- corporate ethics
- environmental justice
- gender and energy
- pursues intersectoral linkages between clean energy/sustainable livelihoods/project finance/corporate social responsibility/efforts to mitigate or adapt to climate change
Will Gorman
MS, PhD
Effects of Electricity Consumption and Rate Design on Solar Plus Storage-enabled Grid Defection (MS ’19) “Sunsetting the Grid? Opportunities for Customer-Sited Solar and Storage in Modern Electricity Systems (PhD ’22) ... Continue Reading »
- Demand Side Management
- Distributed energy resources
- economics
- electricity storage
- energy policy
- renewable energy
- transportation
Robert Grace
MS
Intermittent Minimum-NOx Dispatch of Electric Power Systems as an Ozone-Control Tactic: A Case Study of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (93 MS)
- "green" power in competitive electricity markets
- electric industry restructuring
- energy and environmental regulation and policy
- solar power
- wholesale and retail competitive electricity markets
- wind power
Shannon Graham
MA
International Investment in Kenyan Solar PV Rural Electrification: Scaling-up or Damaging a Market? (01 MA)
Vivian Gratton
MS
Toxic Trouble in Fruitvale: An Exploration of Education in Science-Based Societal Issues (87 MS)
Chris Greacen
MS, PhD
Community Context and Technology Options in the Yurok Tribal Electrification Project (’97 MS) The Marginalization of “”Small is Beautiful””: Micro-Hydroelectricity, Common Property, and the Politics of Rural Electricity Provision in ... Continue Reading »
- biogas
- biomass
- decentralized energy
- Integrated Resource Planning (IRP)
- micro-hydropower
- photovoltaic
- power sector planning
- renewable energy
- Southeast Asia
- Thailand
Kathleen Greely
MS
Energy Conservation Retrofits in Public Housing: An Analysis of Their Energy Savings and Cost-Effectiveness (85 MS)
Donna Green
MA, PhD
Renewable Energy Technology Systems for Remote Area Electrification in Indonesia: A Critical Review of Technology Transfer (’00 M.A.) Power Games: The Political Use of Solar Technology in Northern Thailand (04 PhD)
- climate change and equity concerns
- gender and technology issues
- globalization
- regional hierarchies and power structures
- renewable energy technology transfer especially of photovoltaic systems in Thailand
- sustainable energy use - focused in rural areas of Southeast Asia
F. Bailey Green
MS, PhD
The Global Environment, A Curriculum for Secondary Schools (’90 M.S.) The Energetics of Advanced Integrated Wastewater Pond Systems (’98 Ph.D.)
- applied phycology
- biomass energy
- environmental engineering
- international scientific cooperation
- sustainable infrastructure
- wastewater reclamation and reuse
Steve Greenberg
MS
Improving Efficiency in Electric Motors and Motor Drives in Commercial Buildings (87 MS)
Nathanael Greene
MS
The Effects of Transmission Pricing on the Cost of Electricity from Renewables (96 MS)