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/

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Ep. 132: Dr. Melissa Lott, Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University