Kammen, who helped shape climate and energy policy in the U.S. and abroad, retires from UC Berkeley after 27 years with ERG.
Daniel Kammen, a physicist and climate scientist whose research and outreach have helped shape climate and energy policy in the United States and abroad, retired at the end of June after a nearly three-decade career at UC Berkeley. “UC Berkeley was an amazing home that transformed my research program,” said Kammen, who joined the University in 1998 as a faculty member in the interdisciplinary Energy and Resources Group, and held parallel appointments at the Goldman School of Public Policy and the Department of Nuclear Engineering since 2001. “Through collaborations and friendships with faculty, new and seasoned students, and partners worldwide, I was able to build a program that focused on energy systems, energy justice, energy-AI, and energy access projects.” At Berkeley, Kammen founded and directed the multidisciplinary Renewable and Applied Energy Lab (RAEL), which focused on designing, testing, and disseminating clean and sustainable energy systems across the globe. Kammen and RAEL researchers worked to transform and decarbonize power systems at the local, regional, and global levels by supporting the development and deployment of new technologies, including solar photovoltaics, battery energy storage systems, and microgrids. With RAEL, Kammen focused on innovation theory and efforts to translate research into policy, supporting major initiatives in the U.S., China, and Africa. He conducted extensive analysis on cooking fuels and stove technologies, health, and gender in Kenya, including a recent study that determined the carbon saving credits linked to the technology are vastly overestimated by equipment distributors. To support the developers of cookstove projects, Kammen and the research team released a set of guidelines and best practices in tandem with the study. Much of Kammen’s policy work transcended ERG and the University, as his research on renewable energy science and technology made him a sought-after expert and advisor. “While at Berkeley, I was invited to testify before than California Assembly and Senate, and the U.S. House and Senate more than 40 times,” he said. “I also served in three presidential administrations, and worked at the World Bank and other hubs of energy and climate activity.” Kammen was appointed by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in April 2010 as the first clean energy fellow of the Environment and Climate Partnership for the Americas initiative, and was later named science envoy for former Secretary John Kerry in 2016—a position he held until resigning in August 2017. He returned to federal service in 2021, serving as senior adviser for energy, climate and innovation for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). As senior advisor, Kammen helped guide USAID efforts to design renewable energy systems—primarily comprised of solar photovoltaics plus battery storage—that are capable of powering health care facilities in sub-Saharan Africa and serving as minigrids for surrounding communities. In addition to his government service, Kammen has served as a contributing or coordinating lead author on various reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 1999. He was among the scientists who played a prominent role in the IPCC’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning efforts to build and disseminate greater knowledge about climate change, an honor shared with former Vice President Al Gore in 2007. “I could not have been more thrilled to be honored with that recognition,” Kammen said, “and of course, UC Berkeley celebrated it in a perfectly Cal Bears way.” On campus, Kammen chaired ERG from 2017 to 2022 and helped establish the multidisciplinary Climate Equity and Environmental Justice Roundtable. He graduated over 50 doctoral students during his tenure, and held both the Class of 1935 Chair in Energy and the James and Katherine Lau Distinguished Chair in Sustainability. In recognition of his impact, Kammen was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020 and the National Academy of Sciences in 2025. He joins Johns Hopkins University in Maryland this fall as the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Just Transition, where he will play a core role in the interdisciplinary and cross-campus Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute. Kammmen will remain connected to UC Berkeley as a Professor of the Graduate School in ERG and at the Goldman School. “Nothing has been more transformative than the camaraderie that exists in the Energy and Resources Group,” said Kammen. “I am sad to leave, but will continue to work with the group of friends and colleagues in my next adventure.”