Today's guest is Dr. Melissa Lott, Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Melissa leads the Power Sector and Renewables Research Initiative. She has a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Texas, Austin and a PhD in Sustainable Energy Resources & Engineering from University College of London. Melissa has worked in many aspects of the energy sector, where she focuses on the intersection of power and public health. She's worked in government, the public sector, and academia. Melissa briefly worked on the Council for Environmental Quality under President Obama in early 2009. After finishing her Masters degree, Melissa was a Program Analyst at the US Department of Energy and an Energy Analyst at the International Energy Agency. Melissa has been a Program Director at the Energy Transition Forum and spent time as a lead energy writer for the Scientific American's "Plugged In". Most recently, she was the Assistant Vice President of the Asian Pacific Energy Research Centre before being tapped for her current role. Melissa has expansive knowledge of the energy sector and has seen many different approaches between industry, academia, and public service. Melissa and I have a great discussion, in which we dive into her background and origin story, what brought her to working in energy, how she sees the energy transition playing out, how we can successfully decarbonize power, and how energy and environmental justice can’t be decoupled. We also discuss how her team decides which projects to take on, and goes about doing their modeling and research. Enjoy the show! You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at info@myclimatejourney.co, where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests. Episode recorded November 10th, 2020

Today's guest is Dr. Melissa Lott, Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.

Melissa and I have a great discussion, in which we dive into her background and origin story, what brought her to working in energy, how she sees the energy transition playing out, how we can successfully decarbonize power, and how energy and environmental justice can’t be decoupled. We also discuss how her team decides which projects to take on, and goes about doing their modeling and research.

In today’s episode, we cover:

• Melissa's origin story
• Her focus on power and public health
• Why she chose energy
• Her time at Tokyo Asian Pacific Energy Center
• Motivation for choosing academia
• SIPA Center on Global Energy Policy projects
• How often research evolves and which models are used
• Who determines research topics and how are they chosen
• Ways to make the energy transition successful
• Decarbonization and the power sector
• What Melissa would like to see in Joe Biden's first 100 days as President
• Net Zero Carbon and how we get there

Links to topics discussed in this episode:

• Melissa’s articles in the Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/author/melissa-c-lott/
• Center on Global Energy Policy: https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/
• Professor Richard Smalley Explains Why Energy Is The #1 Challenge Facing Humanity Today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8SUlhNZvvw&ab_channel=BiancaM.Rhym
• What Are Biden’s Climate Options if the Senate Stays Republican?https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/11/06/biden-climate-policy-senate-republicans-congress/

Get connected with MCJ: 

• Cody Simms X / LinkedIn
• MCJ Podcast / Collective / YouTube

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