Pages (6 results)
TopGive to ERG
Your donation to ERG provides critical funding and academic opportunities for our graduate students. ERG has a 50-year history of outstanding research, teaching, policy advice and scholar-activism. ERG has researched ... Continue Reading »
Faculty by Primary Interest
Areas of Interest Climate ChangeEcologyEnergyGovernanceWaterInternational Climate Change ERG CORE David Anthoff David Anthoff is an environmental economist who studies climate change and environmental policy. He co-develops the integrated assessment model ... Continue Reading »
Affiliated Faculty
ERG has a small core faculty but a much larger group of affiliated faculty. Affiliated faculty are based in other departments on campus or at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, ... Continue Reading »
Publications
“Biodiversity Scales from Plots to Biomes With a Universal Species-Area Curve” John Harte, Adam B. Smith, and David Storch“Carbon Cycle Uncertainty Increases Climate Change Risks and Mitigation Challenges” Paul A. ... Continue Reading »
Summer Instructors
The Energy and Resources Group summer instructors understand the complex and interdisciplinary nature of sustainability. All have significant experience teaching and/or professional experience in the subject areas of their courses. ... Continue Reading »
Minor/Certificate in Sustainability — Courses
Summer 2022 Curriculum ERG’s minor and certificate require a minimum of five courses and 15 total units of coursework, completed over one or two summers (or for a UC Berkeley ... Continue Reading »
Faculty (5 results)
TopMeg Mills-Novoa
Assistant Professor
Meg Mills-Novoa is a human-environment geographer who researches the enduring impacts of climate change adaptation projects. She is jointly appointed to the Energy and Resources Group and the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management.
- climate change adaptation
- critical development studies
- Deforestation
- Latin America
- participatory mixed methods
- political ecology of global change
- water justice
Andrew D. Jones
Assistant Adjunct Professor
Dr. Jones is an Earth scientist who works at the interface of human and environmental systems. His research uses quantitative models and data analysis to understand climate change and human-Earth system interactions at decision-relevant scales. He also collaborates with social scientists and interacts closely with stakeholders to understand how science can effectively provide actionable insight into strategies for increasing resilience of energy water, food, and urban systems.
David Anthoff
Associate Professor
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.
Margaret Torn
Adjunct Professor
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.
John Harte
Professor of the Graduate School
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.
Students (3 results)
TopCatherine Van Dyke
MA
Catherine is a second year Master’s student at ERG studying California agriculture and climate change. Her research focuses on water governance, resource allocation, and equity for farmers and ranchers in ... Continue Reading »
Lisa Rennels
MS, PhD
Sobol Sensitivity Analysis for Integrated Assessment Models: Supporting Result Characterization (MS ’19) Lisa is interested in using computer science to explore issues related to the economic impacts of climate change, ... Continue Reading »
Dennis Best
MS, PhD
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, ... Continue Reading »
- Agriculture
- China
- climate
- economics
- energy
- energy policy
- environmental markets and design
- geospatial analysis
- industrial ecology
- Innovation systems
- rural development
- South East Asia and Latin America
- technology policy
Alumni (27 results)
TopMichelle Sims
MS
At ERG, Michelle is interested in environmental and equity challenges within global food systems. In particular, her research focuses on the dynamics of land use change in agricultural landscapes in ... Continue Reading »
Scott Zimmermann
MS
Sustainable Biofuels: Designing Indirect Land Use Change Regulations that are Compatible with International Trade Law (MS ’08)
Michael Kiparsky
MS, PhD
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, ... Continue Reading »
- climate adaptation in water resources management
- governance and management of complex systems
- risk and decision making in water resources
- science/policy interface
Andrew Jones
MS, PhD
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)
- Agroecology
- biogeochemistry
- climate policy
- market-based policy
- mathematical models
- social and ecological impacts of biofuels including food security/energy security/climate/land use issues
- transportation
Alana Siegner
MA, PhD
Alana Siegner received her B.A. from Tufts University in Environmental Science and International Relations, and served as an AmeriCorps National Teaching Fellow in Boston for two years after graduating from ... Continue Reading »
- climate change education
- environmental education
- Food Justice
- Sustainable food systems
- urban agroecology
Christian Miller
MPP, MS
Measuring California’s Energy Service Affordability (MS ’19) 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 ... Continue Reading »
- climate
- development
- economics
- energy
- energy policy
- equitable energy access
- rural electrification
- transportation
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 »
Emma Tome
MS
Who Governs a Sustainable Neighborhood? Planning a Community-scale Retrofit in Oakland, California (MS ’18) Emma’s interests are at the intersection of climate change adaptation, environmental justice, and science and technology ... Continue Reading »
Adam Hanbury-Brown
MS, PhD
Predicting the future of forests under global change: the critical role of the regeneration process (PhD ’22) Adam is a PhD focused on ecosystem modeling and remote sensing. His research ... Continue Reading »
- Agriculture
- climate
- Earth System Models
- ecology
- Forest Regeneration
- Movement Ecology
- remote sensing
- Vegetation Dynamics
- Wildlife Ecology
Anna Brockway
MS, PhD
New challenges facing electric power systems: Integrating technical realities and policy goals (PhD ’22) Anna Brockway is a PhD from the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley. She holds ... Continue Reading »
- climate adaptation
- economics
- electricity grid
- electricity markets
- energy
- Energy System Modeling
- renewable energy integration
- renewable energy policy
- solar energy
- utility business models
Richard Barnes
PhD
Algorithms for, and Applications of, Global Terrain Analysis (PhD ’20) Richard applies computational and mathematical techniques to better understand the complex interface of society and the environment. His work includes ... Continue Reading »
Adrienne Marshall
MS
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 ... Continue Reading »
- California ecosystems
- climate change
- climate change adaptation
- ecology
- Harte Lab
- land use politics
- riparian and aquatic ecosystems
- water
Alana Siegner
MA, PhD
Growing Environmental Literacy: On Small-Scale Farms, in the Urban Agroecosystem, and in School Garden Classrooms (PhD ’20) Alana Siegner graduated from Tufts University in 2012 with a double major in ... Continue Reading »
Jim Williams
MS, PhD
M.S. 1986 – A Vehicular Power Plant Application of the Monolithic Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Ph.D. 1995 – Fan-Lizhi’s Big Bang: Science and Politics in Mao’s China ERG alumnus Jim Williams, now ... Continue Reading »
- acid rain
- Arctic haze
- China
- comparative religion
- cosmology
- dissidents and outlaws
- economic globalization and cultural survival
- fuel-cell powered vehicles
- global change
- over the last ten years: speech synthesizers
- science and politics
- the theory and practice of Utopia
Anne Short
MS, PhD
Understanding Urban Food Access (’05 MS) Governing Change: An Institutional Geography of Rural Land Use, Environmental Management, and Change in the North Coastal Basin of California (’10 PhD)
- environmental governanace
- land management and conservation planning
- rural land use change
- science and policy
- water quality
Philippe Martin
MS, PhD
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.)
- atmosphere/biosphere interactions
- carbon cycling
- climate change and public health - especially malaria
- energy and resources geopolitics
- integrated environmental assessment
- terrestrial biosphere modeling
Amber Kerr
PhD
Drought resilience of maize-legume agroforestry systems in Malawi (PhD ’12) Amber Kerr is an agricultural ecologist focusing on climate change impacts and adaptation. She has studied nutrient cycling in California ... Continue Reading »
Erica Newman
MS, PhD
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.
- anthropogenic impacts on fire regimes
- California chaparral
- climate change and biodiversity interactions
- Fire ecology and natural disturbance
- French Polynesia cloud forests and wet montane forests
- macroecology
Autumn Preskill
MS, PhD
Autumn Petros-Good received her B.S. in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College in 2009, and her M.S. from ERG in 2011 and her PhD from ERG in 2015. She worked on ... Continue Reading »
- energy distribution & management policy
- mathematical programming approaches to energy problems
- Renewable energy usage
Benjamin Mandel
MPP, MS
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 ... Continue Reading »
Morgan Levy
MS, PhD
Morgan’s research focuses on hydrology and water resources, the effects of land use and climate change on human health and the environment, human-environmental system dynamics, and environmental data science. Her ... Continue Reading »
- Agriculture
- climate
- climate change
- climate change adaptation
- eco-hydrology
- environmental data science
- environmental health science
- geographic information systems
- hydroclimatology
- hydrology
- irrigation
- water
- water resources management
Christopher Jones
MS, PhD
Chris Jones is Director of the CoolClimate Network, a university-government-industry partnership at the University of California, Berkeley, and Lecturer at the Haas School of Business. His primary research interests are ... Continue Reading »
- behavioral psychology
- Carbon footprint analysis
- economics
- energy
- Environmental / Climate Equity
- Environmental Policy
- Environmental Psychology
- RAEL
- transportation
- urban planning
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
Michael Cohen
MS, PhD
Michael Cohen puts the power and complexity of the grid into students' hands via a video game. We asked Michael about his innovative project and his unique experience at ERG. "In addition to developing the game itself, I am working with teachers at local high schools to develop curriculum around it and try it out with their students this year. I hope to not only create a solid educational product but also gain some insights into how technology can be used to support learning about complex systems in general."
- EMAC
- energy
- Energy System Modeling
- Integration of renewable electricity into power systems
- Video Gaming for Education
Danielle Svehla Christianson
MS, PhD
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.
Zoë Chafe
MPH, MS, PhD
Dr. Chafe works at the intersections of public health, air pollution, climate change, and energy use. She holds a PhD from the Energy and Resources Group (ERG), as well as ... Continue Reading »
- climate
- climate change and public health
- co-benefits (ancillary benefits) of climate change mitigation
- development
- energy
- energy transitions and impacts on air pollution
- heating and cooking with solid fuels
- household energy policy options
- Household energy use trends
- short-lived greenhouse pollutants
Nkiruka Avila
MS, PhD
Designing and Adapting Appropriate Socio-Technical Systems for the Renewable Energy Transition (PhD ’18) Nkiruka has expertise in solar grid integration and climate policy in California, and in electricity access in ... Continue Reading »
News (10 results)
TopERG Alumna: Disrupting the Social-Change Industry Scholz
October 26, 2016
Alumna Astrid Scholz (PhD 2001, Energy and Resources Group) seeks to disrupt the social-change industry with Sphaera Solutions.
ERG Alum Patrick Gonzalez Testifies Before Congress as Expert Witness
February 21, 2019
During a recent House Natural Resources Committee event titled “Climate Change and Public Lands: Examining Impacts and Considering Adaptation Opportunities,” ERG alumnus Patrick Gonzalez (PhD ’97) provided testimony as an ... Continue Reading »
ERG’s EcoBlock Project Selected by Scientific American as a World Changing Idea for 2017
November 28, 2017
The Oakland EcoBlock Project is an urban sustainability experiment that focuses on reducing the footprint of a typical neighborhood block. As a mini-grid system for shared energy and water in ... Continue Reading »
New ERG Chair Daniel M. Kammen
July 25, 2017
We are pleased to announce the appointment of the new Energy and Resources Group Chair, Professor Daniel M. Kammen. His appointment began July 1, 2017. Daniel Kammen is a Professor of Energy with ... Continue Reading »
New Study by ERG Postdoc James Rising Finds Northern States Might Profit as the Planet Warms
July 6, 2017
If you live in the South, climate change could kill your economy.
ERG at the Paris Climate Talks
December 1, 2015
The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris has begun and will continue until December 11th. Energy and Resources Group faculty, students and alumni will be playing an active role at the conference and the many peripheral activities.
BOOK: Applying Anthropology and Physics to Sustainability
March 30, 2015
New book by Dove and Kammen released this week.
California could power itself three to five times over with solar
March 17, 2015
ERG postdoctoral fellow Hernandez with Hoffacker and Field from Stanford publish in Nature Climate Change.
Zoë Chafe leads new WHO Report
March 12, 2015
"We wanted to help policymakers and members of the general public understand that household heating with biomass is a complicated issue," says ERG PhD candidate Zoë Chafe.
Profs. Leach & Ray Launch UN Gender Equality Report
October 24, 2014
Dr. Isha Ray at UN Headquarters discussing report on gender equality.
Topics (3 results)
TopMichelle Sims
MS
At ERG, Michelle is interested in environmental and equity challenges within global food systems. In particular, her research focuses on the dynamics of land use change in agricultural landscapes in ... Continue Reading »
Heather Cooley
MS
Impact of Agricultural Practice on Regional Climate in a Coupled Land Surface Mesoscale Model (04 MS)
Noah Kittner
MS, PhD
Energy Systems Integration and Innovation for a Clean Energy Transition (PhD ’18) Noah is an MS/PhD student at ERG. After graduating with a BS in Environmental Science from UNC-Chapel Hill, ... Continue Reading »
- land-use change
- life-cycle assessment
- renewable energy policy
- solar energy
- sustainability
- Thailand
- urban planning