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I have nearly a decade of experience advancing clean air, clean water, and clean energy initiatives across the United States. I am currently focused on workforce development for constructing clean energy projects and creating healthy, climate-resilient communities.
This website highlights and contextualizes the projects that I have worked on as a staff researcher at the Cornell University Climate Jobs Institute, a graduate student at Columbia University, and an undergraduate student at Dickinson College. These projects were completed in coordination with and to influence governments, developers, labor unions, and environmental justice organizations.
Cornell Climate Jobs Institute
For the past three years, I have been a staff researcher at the Climate Jobs Institute (CJI) in the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR).
My team works with over a dozen state American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and state Building and Construction Trades Councils (BCTC) to develop state jobs policies to tackle local environmental, energy, and health challenges.
Our partner organization, the Climate Jobs National Resource Center (CJNRC), manages state political campaigns to convert these policy proposals into state law.
Publications:
Partners: Michigan Climate Jobs, Michigan AFL-CIO, Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council
Organization: Cornell ILR School, Climate Jobs Institute
Role: Co-Author
Published: February 2026
About:
In coordination with the Michigan AFL-CIO and Michigan Climate Jobs, I designed several policy recommendations for legislative campaigns including the Michigan Public Schools Modernization Program.
This program would create high-quality jobs helping improve health outcomes and energy security in Michigan's public schools. This includes addressing health hazards in schools including replacing led pipes and remediating asbestos and mold. The program would also require solar panels installations and energy retrofits in school buildings.
This program would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 703,000 MTCO2e annually and create 41,000 direct jobs and 10,5000 construction jobs by 2030.
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Partners: Climate Jobs Colorado, Colorado AFL-CIO, Colorado Building and Construction Trades Council
Organization: Cornell ILR School, Climate Jobs Institute
Role: Co-Author
Published: January 2025
About:
My policy research helps address several challenges that Colorado is facing, including high energy costs and wildfires.
In coordination with several Colorado Locals of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, I examine the potential to create jobs expanding and hardening Colorado's transmission infrastructure. Building new transmission lines and de-risking existing lines can address bottlenecks stalling clean energy projects while reducing the risk of wildfires.
These transmission upgrades would create 26,040 jobs through 2030 and cut 1,310,000 MTCO2e annually
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Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) are a proven and growing technology that can help lower energy costs, strengthen electrical grids, and create clean energy careers for oil and gas workers. TENs use pipes installed a few hundred feet beneath the earth’s surface where temperatures are stable at around fifty degrees Fahrenheit. These networks of pipes connect to ground source heat pumps in buildings which helps lower heating and cooling costs.
Importantly, TENs use the same pipefitting skills that oil and gas workers have, which make them an excellent to transition the workforce to clean energy. As a CJI researcher, I have incorporated TENs into several of my policy recommendations.
Support: Building Decarbonization Coalition, Climate Jobs National Resource Center, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry
Organization: Cornell ILR School, Climate Jobs Institute
Role: Reviewer
Published: December 2024
Partners: Union Energy PA, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council
Organization: Cornell ILR School, Climate Jobs Institute
Role: Research Support
Published: August 2024
About:
In my first report with CJI, I wrote about how high speed rail, expanded and electrified public transit systems, and electric vehicle charging networks both create jobs and improve existing commutes. These policies would create over 175,000 jobs by 2035 and reduce over 10,000,000 MT CO2e annually.
I found this particularly fulfilling to contribute to because I had previously spent three years working with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on climate planning for Pennsylvania's transportation sector.
Media:
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New partnership aims to expand steel industry jobs in Pennsylvania - ABC27 News
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As Pennsylvania chooses the next president, its unions are choosing clean energy - Grist
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Faith, Labor, and the Clean Energy Transition - Catholic Climate Covenant
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Union Energy gets Pa. Families to Work during Green Energy Transition - America's Work Force Union Podcast
Columbia Climate School
I received my M.A. in Climate and Society at the Columbia Climate School. I studied the complex relationships between our planet’s atmosphere and oceans, energy systems and policies, and social and economic vulnerabilities.
This unique degree combined physics and geology with markets and public policy to help me better understand the complexities decision makers face today.
As part of my education, I was fortunate to learn from industry leaders, scientists, and government officials. In addition to my studies, I co-authored two reports, which are described below.
Publications:
Organization: Columbia Law School, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Role: Co-Author
Published: April 2024
About:
The Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative provides pro-bono legal assistance to clean energy project developers. My research addressed the common misconceptions about clean energy projects that are contributing to community opposition and project cancellations.
In this report, I outline the benefits of several clean energy technologies including solar, wind, and electric vehicles. Critically, I address false claims about them being too expensive and creating health hazards in communities.
This report has received over 30,000 downloads from developers, governments, and academic institutions worldwide.
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This report provides guidance on Community Benefits Agreements and assesses how project developers can have lasting impacts on communities. This research is focused on how clean energy development can have positive social and economic impacts for nearby communities.
As part of our research, we went to the Ironbound neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey and we learned how past developments have contributed to severe and fatal health impacts for community members.
This research is aimed at ensuring that clean energy projects reverse that harmful legacy and provide meaningful benefits to communities.
Partners: Clean Air Task Force, B W Research Partnership
Organization: Columbia Climate School
Role: Co-Author
Published: November 2023
My work as a CSE researcher partnered with municipal and county government leaders, Pennsylvania state agencies, and ICLEI, a UN-supported organization that helps local governments advance climate action policies globally. I helped design the Carlisle Climate Action Plan and the Cumberland County Climate Action Plan by using data gathered by multiple state agencies including the transportation and energy department, and applying best practices provided by ICLEI to the Carlisle area.
I helped create the first greenhouse gas emissions inventories for the municipal and county governments and provided guidance and best practices on how to reduce emissions while lowering energy costs and increasing energy and transportation accessibility.
Dickinson College
Dickinson College is a small liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and maintains a proud tradition of civic engagement and environmental stewardship. As a Dickinson student, I supported this mission to advance sustainability and social justice on campus and in the community as a researcher for the Center for Sustainability Education (CSE) and as the lead activist with Carlisle Sunrise. I graduated cum laude in 2022 with a BA in History and Political Science minor.
I started Carlisle Sunrise in 2021 to build political momentum to turn the Carlisle and Cumberland County climate action plans into reality. I organized dozens of college students and partnered with advocacy groups on campus and throughout the southern PA region. We spoke with several local elected leaders, including those who I had previously collaborated with as a researcher.
Carlisle Sunrise helped lead the conversation around climate justice on campus and in the surrounding community. Through Carlisle Sunrise, I also strengthened Dickinson’s campus sustainability goals by passing student senate legislation that directs study abroad money to support reforestation efforts in southern Pennsylvania.