Lisa Rennels
Bio: Lisa received her PhD from the Energy and Resources Group at University of California, Berkeley advised by professors David Anthoff and Max Auffhammer and a concurrent MSc in Computer Science advised by professors Fernando Perez and Sarah Chasins. She employs her training in both computer science and environmental economics to carry out interdisciplinary research on the economic impacts of climate change and to support climate policy-making. Her research focuses on climate change economics, risk and uncertainty analysis, integrated assessment modeling and the social cost of carbon, usability and design of domain-specific programming languages, and software engineering and development. She also has extensive experience working directly with nonprofit research institutions and the federal government, most recently including work for Resources for the Future and the National Center for Environmental Economics at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Postdoctoral research project: Climate Risks to Energy-Dependent Climate Adaptation. As a Stanford Energy Postdoctoral Fellow, Lisa will study how a changing climate can complicate and challenge the very adaptation options humans depend on to protect themselves from the impacts of climate change to human health. The impact of a changing climate on human health is one of the largest contributors to current estimates of the costs of climate change. Adaptation is a particularly salient consideration in this category as technological options such as air conditioning have historically proven effective in reducing heat-related mortality historically. While the well-studied feedback of AC adoption on energy demand is important, a crucial and less explored feedback is the effect of climate change on the availably and access of energy-dependent adaptation choices. As highlighted by recent events, the same extreme heat and wildfire risk conditions that necessitate the use of adaptation like ACs and air purifiers impact the reliability and availability of the energy that powers these options. Lisa will combine her expertise in climate economics modeling, software design, and policy analysis to explore these relationships and what they mean for dependable, successful climate change adaptation.
Research focus: Environmental Impacts - Climate
Advisors: Marshall Burke - Doerr School of Sustainability | Inês Azevedo - Energy Science & Engineering