ERG’s sixty plus graduate students are geographically and ethnically diverse. About half are in the masters-degree program and half in the PhD program. The students come from a wide variety of disciplinary backgrounds in engineering, natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities; the characteristics they have in common are an ability to cross disciplinary boundaries, an interest in the complex problems at the interface of technology and society, and the intellectual credentials to succeed in a rigorous academic program. Graduates of the program are employed across the United States and around the world in governmental and international agencies, legislative staff positions, national laboratories, public and private utilities, other energy and resource companies, consulting firms, public-interest organizations, and universities.
Kelsey is interested in how global economic and climate policies influence national environmental governance and impact vulnerable communities, particularly in developing economies and conflict environments. At ERG she looks forward to exploring interdisciplinary approaches to developing energy policies and project implementation that are rights-based and community-driven. Kelsey spent the last 10 years advocating on related […]
Richard applies computational and mathematical techniques to better understand the complex interface of society and the environment. His work includes developing (a) in silico models to exlore ecoevolutionary interactions over long time scales and (b) high-speed algorithms for understanding landscape use and evolution. A recipient of both the DOE CSGF and the NSF GRFP fellowships, […]
Transportation has long been dominated by the personal gasoline-powered automobile, but breakthroughs in electric vehicles, shared mobility, and automation promise to disrupt the sector. Gordon’s research focuses on leveraging these disruptions to maximize both social and environmental sustainability, drawing on insights from a variety of disciplines to understand how people might interact with these new […]
An interest in the human dimensions of climate change – in particular, in understanding the dynamics of power and agency in responses to climate change – has always been at the heart of Ella’s work. She graduated from McGill University with a B.A. Joint Honors in Environmental Studies and Economics in 2016, where she studied […]
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 […]
Ian’s interests lie in predicting regional impacts of climate change on coastal communities and on water management systems, as well as in developing tools to facilitate efficient resource management that is adaptive to these impacts. Currently, he is developing a spatially-resolved, probabilistic quantification of the economic risk of climate-driven changes to hurricane frequency and intensity. […]
Anna is an MS/PhD student at ERG. She is interested in enabling high-penetration renewable energy on the electricity grid while ensuring cost-effectiveness and preserving grid reliability. Previously, Anna was a SunShot Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office in Washington, DC. While at the SunShot Initiative, her […]
Bodie’s interests lie at the intersection of health, environment, and energy access. To date, Bodie has primarily focused on modernizing cooking in South Asia and Sub Saharan Africa. This work has taken him from rural villages building mud “chulhas” to high-tech cookstove manufacturing and testing facilities. Presently, he is working to understand the social, economic, […]
Jess Carney is interested in understanding how sustainable energy integration impacts power grids and electricity markets. She received her undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins University in 2018, where she majored in Environmental Science and minored in Applied Mathematics and Statistics. She has held internships at the Independent System Operator or New England (ISO-NE), studying environmental […]
Since graduating as an electronics engineer in 2004, JP Carvallo has been working, studying, and researching different aspects of the energy field. His current interests relate to varied topics in sustainable development for less industrialized economies, with a geographical focus in Latin America and Asia. He brings together different disciplines – engineering, economics, political science, and […]
Jack Chang is interested in researching new strategies for communicating sustainability policy and science, as well as for improving renewable energy development and environmental governance in developing countries. He has worked as a journalist for two decades in California, Washington, D.C., Latin America and China, for companies such as The Associated Press, McClatchy and The […]
A native of Utah, Nick holds a BA in Environmental Studies from Westminster College in Salt Lake City. He has focused his career on real-time environmental monitoring, previous working at Oberlin College and Lucid on energy and resource monitoring. Prior to ERG, he lived in China, first as a Henry Luce Scholar in 2015 focused […]
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 on South Asia. In particular, she is interested in implications for gender equity and improvements in maternal, neonatal, and child health. Her previous work has […]
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 […]
Contact: ddombrowski@berkeley.edu
Micah Elias earned his B.S. in International Agricultural Development from UC Davis in 2012. After graduating he worked with international development organizations and non-profits working to connect small farmers to markets and technical resources. Later, he served in Peace Corps Panama and worked as the National Coffee Coordinator where he trained volunteers and their community […]
Salma is an MS/PhD student. She is interested in energy systems and regional planning, including energy system modelling and energy infrastructure-related decision making and policy. Before coming to ERG, Salma was living and working in Edmonton, Canada, where she graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Alberta and worked as an […]
Frank grew up on the central New Jersey coast, completing a B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in Environmental Policy & Sustainability from the Richard Stockton College. He went on to earn an M.A. from Columbia University’s Climate and Society Program, focusing on atmospheric science and international economic development. Upon graduation Frank worked on […]
Isa is a MS/PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group. She is interested in the impact of renewable energy on rural electrification, global development, and the domestic energy sector. Previously, Isa gained experience on both the technical and applied sides of renewable energy. She researched innovative energy materials at Duke University and the National […]
Taryn Fransen is a PhD student with the Energy and Resources Group and a Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute. Her research interests center on the design and implementation of deep decarbonization strategies. Taryn came to Berkeley from a career in climate policy, during which she served most recently as an advisor to the […]
Nancy Freitas grew up in Tucson, Arizona and received her B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Arizona (UA). She worked in environmental conservation with Peace Corps Paraguay and then helped run the Bio/Diversity Project, a STEM outreach and education program, at the UA. At ERG Nancy’s research focuses on how carbon cycling in […]
Jess came to ERG to advance research on the equitable distribution of clean water. Her dissertation develops an approach to measure and understand water affordability and social equity in California. She’s co-produced her dissertation work with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment at the Cal EPA as part of the state’s first comprehensive Human […]
Will’s primary research interests involve assessing the opportunity for distributed energy resources to participate on the electric system while investigating their technical impact on the grid. Prior to joining ERG, he worked for the Brattle Group’s utilities group in Boston studying electricity markets and renewable energy. He holds a B.S. in chemical engineering and a […]
Anaya is a PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG) at UC Berkeley. Prior to joining ERG, Anaya attended the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University where she earned a Master of Science in Agriculture, Food and Environment and a Certificate in Water Systems. As an InFEWS and DS421 […]
Cecilia is a MS/PhD student at ERG. Cecilia received her BS in environmental science from Brown University. For several years, she worked in Washington, DC on international climate, energy, and agricultural policy at Climate Advisers, a politics and policy firm. Cecilia is particularly interested in energy-intensive commodities in Asia, and the economic, social, and political […]
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 […]
Zeke is an energy systems analyst and data scientist with a strong interest in climate science and policy. He is currently the VP of Energy Science at Essess, Inc, an energy efficiency startup that develops vehicle mounted thermal imaging systems, a research scientist at Berkeley Earth, and the senior climate analyst at Project Drawdown. He […]
Hilary is interested in developing innovative conservation tools for the lands and waters in the Western United States using applied science, policy, and community engagement. She graduated Duke University in 2012 with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and Policy. Over the past five years, she has worked for the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative on […]
Anushah studies internet accessibility and security. Her interest in these topics grew from experiencing difficulties accessing critical online services while working on development projects abroad. She has since been investigating disparities in website availability worldwide and the role of intermediaries, such as governments and web security companies, in determining who can see web content. Anushah’s […]
Through whatever I do, I want to help create a better society and a better environment. Though I’ve been involved in a variety of projects in the water and sanitation sector, I have recently published about my study on street-level bureaucracy of intermittent water supply in India (where I followed water valvemen around by foot and […]
Veronica Jacome is a PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG) and holds a BS in Engineering Physics from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At ERG, Veronica focuses on the terms of access within electricity services – investigating how policy, supply and infrastructure shape access and how access shapes vulnerabilities. Veronica’s work draws […]
Kripa’s research interests are in the field of climate change adaptation and climate-resilient planning. Her PhD focuses on improving the ‘usability’ of climate science for adaptation decision-making, particularly for water resources management and agricultural planning. She uses qualitative and participatory research methods to understand decision-makers’ climate information needs, as well as quantitative climate model evaluations […]
Stephen is an MS/PHD student at the Energy and Resources Group. He came to Berkeley after three years working for Ofgem, the UK’s energy regulator. Stephen is currently working on a project to create a dataset mapping global energy consumption at fine spatial scales. He is also interested in conducting research on wholesale electricity market […]
Seigi’s primary research focus is on the intersection of drinking water access, social justice, institutional capacity, and individual agency. He holds a B.A. in East Asian Studies from UCLA (2011) and an M.A. in International Studies from the University of Tokyo (2014). In the past, Seigi was: a TEDx organizer in Japan; a graduate intern […]
At ERG, Jessica is focusing on learning advanced methods to comprehensively evaluate the ecological, economic, and societal impacts of development pathways in and beyond the energy sector. She joins ERG from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where she has led analysis projects to provide technical assistance to emerging economies as they transition to cleaner, advanced […]
Jose Daniel was born in San José Costa Rica, received his B.Sc. and Licentiate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Costa Rica in 2009 and 2012 respectively, his M.Sc. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Canada in 2014, and his M.S. in Energy and Resources from the University of […]
Eli is an Ecological Economist working toward the development of a metric combining the elements of sustainability, efficiency, and welfare as core values. He is interested in the potential of re-framing and quantifying value beyond the market mechanism in order to address the most profound problems we face as a species. Most recently, Eli was […]
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 […]
Jonathan studies transitions in electric power systems and electricity markets, specifically microgrids and distributed energy resources, the role of new technologies in grid planning, and the effects of the physical structure of power systems on social equity. He is interested in both industrial contexts and unelectrified rural areas, and has done electrification work in Nicaragua, […]
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’s research is on the financial impacts of climate change and energy transition. She also […]
Inspired by ecological economics, Niklas is focused on global governance of production and consumption. At ERG, he is combining data analysis with case studies to examine the apparel industry’s attempt to improve environmental outcomes and to acquire political legitimacy. Niklas is a part of a NSF NRT for data science, and has contributed to data-based […]
Sophie Major’s interests are found at the intersection of political philosophy and contemporary issues of social justice. She is currently researching the roles of narrative theory and emerging political psychology research for understanding international climate politics. Her MA thesis investigated the philosophical assumptions underlying the concept of “path dependency” in political studies. Prior to joining […]
Margaret is pursuing an MS/MPP with ERG and the Goldman Policy School. At Berkeley, she hopes to focus on demand flexibility (a key aspect of greening the power grid) and electric vehicles (the future of transportation), and ideally on how the two intersect. She is coming to Berkeley from Rocky Mountain Institute, where her interest […]
Christian is fascinated by energy end-uses’ effect on communities’ economic and political well-being. While his formal scientific background is in biorenewable resources, his focus is on the sustainable development of holistic energy solutions based on socioeconomic, geographic, and natural resource characteristics for communities both domestic and developing abroad. As well, Christian is interested in the […]
From digging through trash to looking inside of people’s refrigerators, Laura researches household-level food waste in the United States with a focus on measurement and behavior. In addition to examining the questions of “what?” and “how much?,” her doctoral research also explores why people discard food in households. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, Laura […]
Sara is an architect who delved into distributed generation while developing fuel cell projects for Bloom Energy. She became interested in the energy industry in general, and specifically the regulatory and finance conditions that make markets more open to uptake of innovative technologies. While her focus is in energy, she is also interested in how […]
Adam returned to graduate school after nine years of legal practice specializing in environmental, energy, and natural resources litigation. His research interests – ranging across the environmental, energy, and natural resources sectors – include public policy analysis and development, public administration and management, environmental politics, regulatory development, and legal and environmental philosophy. Adam holds an […]
Gauthami’s research interests focus on how social networks influence health behaviors and decisions around access and use of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructures and its implications on the health and dignity of women and children in developing countries. More broadly, she is interested in exploring the intersection of urban planning and women’s health. Previously, […]
Phillippe is an MS student at ERG. His research interests are in the integration of distributed energy resources and the decarbonization of the electricity sector. In 2005, Phillippe enlisted in the US Navy where he worked on an aircraft carrier as a nuclear power plant electrician. After six years, he left the Navy to obtain […]
I’m a first years master’s student and received a B.S. & B.A. from UC Berkeley in Integrative Biology and Molecular Environmental Biology. Prior to coming to ERG, I worked on quantifying rates of nitrogen fixation by bacteria associated with conifer foliage in Western U.S. forests. I’m broadly interested in the dynamics of community-level responses to […]
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 […]
Jenny grew up in Fresno, California, and graduated from Stanford University with an interdisciplinary environmental science and policy degree in Earth Systems. She has supported community-led social justice movements through philanthropy, policy, organizing, and research, most recently at the grassroots nonprofit organization Community Water Center. Previously, Jenny worked at the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation and […]
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 […]
Laura studies the environmental impacts of transportation in the developed world. She focuses on new methods of data collection and analysis to better understand the various levers behind driving behavior, the effectiveness of policies to reduce driving, and the interaction of freight and driving-for-shopping. Laura has been a Berkeley Fellow and a Research Fellow of […]
Esther’s research centers around climate finance mechanisms and environmental justice at a global scale. She is also interested in integrated assessment models and the impact of climate change on the future landscape of the coffee and tea industries. Prior to beginning her graduate studies at UC Berkeley, she worked for the U.S. Department of Justice […]
Samira is a PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group and researcher at the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory. Her research focuses on development for stateless people and migrants, most recently on energy access and the development priorities of UN agencies and NGOs in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. As a researcher at […]
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 […]
Jesse is a student in the concurrent Master’s degree program at ERG and the Goldman School of Public Policy. His research focuses on the political economy of energy transition. He graduated from Brown University with a degree in Anthropology focused on Latin American Studies, and spent the next 7 years working as a labor and […]
Julia studied economics and Spanish at UC Berkeley as an undergraduate, and realized her interest in energy and environmental issues while a research assistant at the UC Energy Institute. After consulting in the energy and finance sectors, she worked at Pacific Gas & Electric forecasting electric generation and its cost for customer rates. For the […]
Elif is interested in the economics of nuclear power, air pollution from electricity generation, and decarbonization of the transport sector. She holds a BS in Earth Systems from Stanford University and an MSc in Environmental Economics from the London School of Economics, where she studied as a Fulbright fellow. Links: LinkedIn Contact: elif_tasar@berkeley.edu
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 PhD student with the Energy and Resources Group, a Moore/Sloan Fellow at the Berkeley Institute for Data Science, and a former research scholar in the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory. Valeri’s research interests include the use of computational models to examine the environmental drivers and economic impacts of infectious diseases. She […]
Tzipora’s is interested in water resources and the role of technology in promoting sustainability, especially in the developing world. Prior to ERG, she worked as a process engineer at Cambrian Innovation Inc, a clean-tech wastewater treatment startup based in the Boston area, where she designed, developed, and deployed energy-positive wastewater treatment systems for the food […]
Rachel is interested in the social, ecological, and geophysical dynamics of agro-forestry coffee and cacao systems in the tropics. Her aim is to couple participatory research of agro-forestry management choices with mathematical modeling and statistical analysis to understand how changes in management influence ecosystem function and regional climate. Prior to joining ERG, Rachel lived and […]
Cody applies statistical and econometric models to the electricity sector and studies how we can consume electricity more efficiently. Going forward, Cody is interested in applying economic concepts to emissions markets in order to minimize damages to society and the environment. Prior to joining the ERG community, Cody was a Senior Research Analyst with The […]
Peter is interested in investigating the market and regulatory barriers to technological solutions to renewable energy generation, net-zero buildings, and sustainable manufacturing. He is a research assistant at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab contributing to projects on electric grid load forecasting and commercial building demand response. Prior to studying at ERG he was an engineer […]
Marshall’s interests lie in environmental governance and ecology, in particular, the relationships among regulatory structure, conflict, and ecosystem outcomes. Before ERG, Marshall was the content manager for a Taipei-based startup working on the demand side of the energy efficiency and renewable transition equation. At ERG, he hopes to build on his background as a writer […]
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. […]