20222023ANNUALREPORT
About UsC-PREE is an interdisciplinary research center at the Princeton School of Public andInternational Affairs committed to training leaders in the field of environmental and energypolicy. We develop rigorous research that blends scientific knowledge and methods withsocial science and practitioner perspectives in ways that yield practical solutions for themajor environmental and energy challenges facing the world today. C-PREE tackles keyissues such as global climate change, energy transitions to cut greenhouse gas emissions,air pollution and health, loss of biodiversity, psychology of decision making, andsustainable land use and agriculture. Its faculty consists of experts across a range ofdisciplines who are both leading scholars and have served as practitioners in governmentagencies, NGOs, and the private sector. C-PREE faculty's research, teaching, and publicoutreach provide an opportunity for students, researchers and faculty to become engagedcitizens and future leaders in pursuit of a sustainable planet.
Dear Princeton Community and Friends, The 2022-23 academic year marked the fifth year of the Center for PolicyResearch on Energy and the Environment’s work as a research center atthe School of Public and International Affairs, and with the anniversarycame a number of important accomplishments. These activities were setagainst the background of the passage of unprecedented U.S. climatelegislation in the form of the Inflation Reduction Act. While much remainsto be seen about the success of the IRA, it was certainly a critical stepforward that put America back in a leadership position internationally onclimate change – and this legislation has certainly captured the attentionasdf of our graduate students, who are eager to understand how and where they can apply their training at SPIAto work on addressing climate change and other environmental issues. For the last several years our Center has been steadily building out program activities and policy outreachefforts, helping to connect our students and researchers with real-world policy issues at the state, federal,and international levels. During this year, we were able to send our first major delegation of 11 students andresearchers to attend COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where they witnessed the formal governmentnegotiations and participated in the dynamic conversations happening in panels, pavilions, and corridors ofthe conference. Other highlights included the first full year of our C-PREE Environmental Policy Associatesprogram, which provided a formal pathway to connect MPA and MPP students and graduate students andpostdocs outside of SPIA with our Center around the research happening here. These associates organized apopular “Climate Change 101” workshop for incoming students, invited practitioners to campus, arranged anenvironmental policy career trek to Washington, DC, wrote press releases about C-PREE research, planned atour of campus energy facilities, and much more. By the end of the year, our associates program exceeded 30 members. We also celebrated the graduation of16 STEP Certificate recipients and 4 graduates from the STEP PhD cluster of SPIA. All of these new activitieswere made possible by the generous support of several new funders, to whom we are enormously grateful.Their support has allowed us to keep up with growing student interest in environmental policy topics and agrowing research staff at C-PREE.Our faculty and researchers also made significant contributions to the state of environmental policy with awide range of publications and projects, from research that informed the new U.S. valuation of the socialcost of carbon to launching a new collaboration with the National University of Singapore to studybiodiversity conservation and natural climate solutions. After years of advocating for more environmentalpolicy faculty from the social sciences, we were thrilled to welcome new associates from the Economics andSociology Departments, and received the excellent news of the addition of two new core faculty – Eric Tateand Wei Peng, all of whom have helped to expand our course offerings and research expertise significantly.I invite you to read more detailed accounts of our activities and meet our network of students, researchers,staff, and faculty in this report. Thank you for your continued support. L E TT E R F RO M O U R DI R EC T ORMichael Oppenheimer, Ph.D. Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and InternationalAffairs and the High Meadows Environmental Institute
Our TeamCore FacultyAffiliatesSTEP Doctoral StudentsAlexander GlaserDenise L. MauzerallMichael OppenheimerWei PengEric TateElke U. WeberDavid S. WilcoveMargot AdamHaley N. AndersonAvery BarnettTom BearparkEdmund DownieSabrina FieldsXiangwen FuRohit GuptaShelley HooverBrian LeeBing LinShangwei LiuJieyi LuBeichen LyuMalini NambiarPaul NixOladoyin PhillipsPooja RamamurthiCalvin SpanbauerMelissa O. TierMegan Verner-CristYujie WuRachel YoungBenjamin BradlowSmita B. BrunnermeierAmy CraftJanet CurrieAndrew P. DobsonFiliz GaripLars HedinAllan HsiaoJesse JenkinsRobert Keohane, EmeritusMelissa LaneEric D. LarsonSimon A. LevinNing LinGuy NordensonAnu RamaswamiTimothy SearchingerHarold T. ShapiroNicky SheatsPeter SingerRobert Socolow, EmeritusShirley Tilghman, EmeritusJanet A. VertesiJerry ZeePostdoctoral/Research AssociatesChristopher CrawfordFrank ErricksonYang GuoOliver JamesJing LiangJeffrey LeesDan LiangTong MuLisa ThalheimerLoring Thomas Daniel VaronTingyin XiaoYuanyu XieEmma ZajdelaYiwen ZengMi ZhouC-PREE Annual report 202322/23 EnvironmentalPolicy AssociatesStaffCara M. ClaseCharles C. CrosbyKeely SwanFunke AderonmuNeha AgarwalLizabelt AvilaKelso BrasunasThomas CarterGlen ChuaGiulia CrippaMary Grace DarmodyClaire DennisElise DoumergueBrent EfronCharles FraserRia HansonClaire KaufmanRyan KlausKimberly KreissKristen KuhnHilary LandfriedJ. Sebastián LeivaNong LiBing LinChristian PerkinsJessie Press-WilliamsKacie RettigChristian RiveraJustin SchusterAchinthya SivalingamTony Solís CruzCalvin SpanbauerParker WildEvelyn WongMaya WoserLuo XuLucas FryeAnna JacobsonJeffrey LeeJoseph LockwoodSofia MenemenlisErin PhillipsWilson RicksMichael SchwoererMatthew SimaHansen TjoEmily Wei-Hsin SunHMEI-STEP FellowsShashank AnandGlen ChuaMaya ChungKairui FengKelly FinkeGarrett Albistegui AdlerRenato Bolson Dala CorteNicolas Choquette-LevyDivyansh ChugSara ConstantinoC-PREE Annual Report 2023 | p. 02
STUDENTENGAGEMENT 7 Core Faculty21 Faculty & Sr. Research Affiliates 3 Staff23 Research Associates/Postdocs70 Graduate Students124 PEOPLEEVENTS22 Bradford Seminars 3 Conferences & Workshops 2 UNFCCC Delegations13 Additional Campus Events GRADUATES10 Environmental Policy Associates 4 Doctoral Students 2 HMEI-STEP Fellows14 STEP Certificate Recipients16 PhD Research Presentations 1 Student Career Trek 8 EPA Lunch Seminars16 Student-Organized Events
Generated by mapchart.netC-PREE engages with energy and environmental issues in over 30 countries.C-PREE Annual Report 2023 | p. 04
Michael Oppenheimer, C-PREE DirectorMichael Oppenheimer is the Albert G. Milbank Professor ofGeosciences and International Affairs in the Princeton Schoolof Public and International Affairs, the Department ofGeosciences, and the High Meadows Environmental Institute.He is the Director of C-PREE at SPIA and faculty associate ofthe Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences Program and thePrinceton Institute for International and Regional Studies. Hisresearch examines the potential for “dangerous” outcomes ofincreasing levels of greenhouse gases by exploring the effectsof global warming on the ice sheets and sea level, the risk fromcoastal storms, and the patterns of human migration. Recent PublicationsAlexander GlaserAlexander Glaser is an associate professor of Mechanical andAerospace Engineering and International affairs, and he is co-director of the Program on Science and Global Security. Glaser’s work focuses on the technical aspects of nuclear-fuel-cycle technologies and policy questions related to nuclearenergy and nuclear weapon proliferation. Since 2017, Alex hasbeen working on a number of virtual reality (VR) projects withnuclear security applications. One of his current projects usesfull-motion VR to design and simulate new, cohesive arms-control treaty verification approaches, with outputs relevant toreducing and securing both weapons and fissile materials.Recent PublicationsDenise L. MauzerallDenise Mauzerall is the William S. Tod Professor of Civil andEnvironmental Engineering and Public and International Affairs.Her research examines opportunities to simultaneously reduceair pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions and evaluates theresulting co-benefits for climate, air quality, public health andfood security. Her recent research has focused oninterventions in the residential, transport, power, industrial andagricultural sectors in China and India, as well as identificationof leakage of methane from abandoned oil and gas wells in theU.S. and U.K.Recent Publications
David S. WilcoveDavid S. Wilcove is professor of Ecology and EvolutionaryBiology and Public Affairs and the High MeadowsEnvironmental Institute. His research group (The Drongos) haveworked in Asia, Africa, South America, North America, andAustralasia. Recently, he has devoted particular attention towildlife conservation in Asia. He and his students have workedin Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, New Zealand, East Africa,South America, Central America and North America. Their worktypically combines ecological research with economics andother social sciences to address biodiversity loss,deforestation, protection of migratory bird species, commerciallogging, agriculture and the wild animal trade.Recent PublicationsRecent PublicationsRecent PublicationsElke U. WeberElke Weber is a Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy andthe Environment and professor of Psychology and PublicAffairs. Weber’s research analyzes how people assess risk andmake decisions under uncertainty, often in the context ofclimate and environmental policy. Her Behavioral Science forPolicy Lab at Princeton studies a broad array of humandecision-making processes and motivations. Weber’s work hasinformed best practices for effectively communicating the risksof climate change, creating policy that incorporate riskperception, and motivating individuals to make environmentallybeneficial choices.New Faculty Spotlight: Wei PengWei Peng is an assistant professor with a joint appointmentbetween the Princeton School of Public and InternationalAffairs and the Andlinger Center for Energy and theEnvironment. Her research uses computational models toquantify difficult tradeoffs of climate policy across social,political, and environmental aspects. Wei’s recent projectsfocus on realistic energy transition pathways and theidentification of decarbonization strategies that can yieldrobust health benefits given deep future uncertainties.C-PREE Annual Report 2023 | p. 06
Eric Tate is a professor of Public Affairs in the School of Publicand International Affairs. He conducts research in the areas offlood hazards, social inequity, and water resources, usingspatial indicators to explore interactions among society andenvironment that generate disasters. He currently serves onthe Board of Directors of the Anthropocene Alliance; on theResilient America Roundtable of the National Academies ofSciences and Engineering, & Medicine; as co-chair of theNational Academies study committee on spatial screening toolsfor environmental justice; and as co-author of the Adaptationchapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment. Recent PublicationsNew Faculty Spotlight: Eric TateFaculty HighlightsRobert Keohane, Emeritus, concluded a multi-year prize from the InternationalBalzan Foundation to spur new research by early-career faculty on the politics ofclimate change. The funding supported five teams of scholars and resulted inthirteen research streams across more than 10 institutions. The High Meadows Environmental Institute supported a new cross-departmentresearch initiative on Climate & Conflict with Michael Oppenheimer, KristopherRamsay, Ethan Kapstein, and Garrett Albistegui Adler.David Wilcove collaborated with National University of Singapore (NUS)/Lian PinKoh on research around Biodiversity Conservation and Nature-Based ClimateSolutions. He hosted the first of several joint workshops on the topic at Princeton inApril 2023, welcoming 8 scholars from NUS.Elke Weber was appointed an Einstein Visiting Fellow with the Einstein Foundationin Berlin. She worked on a project studying how behavioral science interventions canbe used to design more effective transportation and building policies to reducecarbon emissions.In May of 2023, Elke Weber was awarded the Patrick Suppes Prize in Psychologyfrom the American Philosophical Society for her work to understand how peoplemake important decisions in real-world environments.In April of 2023, Denise Mauzerall and seven of her group members attended the MITEnergy Conference in Boston, MA. The conference topic was, “Technology,Investment, and Geopolitics.” She also led a group of students and researchers toattend the Global Clean Energy Action Forum in Pittsburg in September 2022.C-PREE hired two new Core Faculty members: Wei Peng and Eric Tate.
Eduardo BhatiaRohit ChandraPatrick Devine-WrightSimon DonnerPaul ElsenShanti Gamper-RabindranDanae Hernandez-CortesAllan HsiaoNatasha IskanderDaniel JacobSeema JayachandranNa’Taki Osborne JelksJesse JenkinsAmy Myers JaffeAli NouriRebecca PerlmanAndrew Reid BellTobias SchmidtAlexis SegalDaniel SimberloffVeda VaidyanathanYiwen ZengSpeakersThe David Bradford Seminar series is named after the late Prof. David Bradford (1939-2005),who previously served as a director of the Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy(STEP) Program. Bradford, a professor of economics and public affairs, helped initiate andorganize this seminar series in Fall of 1999, inviting speakers to share their cutting-edgeresearch on science policy topics. C-PREE continues to organize the seminar series eachyear, highlighting scholars and practitioners from various fields that work on climate-relatedissues. Last year, invited speakers covered a rich array of topics including the renewableenergy transition in Puerto Rico, expansion of protected areas for conservation ofbiodiversity, Asia-Africa sustainability partnerships, climate migration and displacement in theGlobal South, and environmental justice.The David Bradford Seminar SeriesC-PREE Annual Report 2023 | p. 08
AERIAL MAPPING CONFIRMSDEGRADATION OF HAWAIIANCORAL REEFS BY TOURISTSDavid Wilcove anddoctoral student BingLin collaborated withState University to Arizona State University to study the effects ofcoastal tourism on Hawaiian coral reefecosystems. Using social media and aerialmapping data, they found that popular reefsites had elevated pollution and damage. U.K. METHANE EMISSIONSFROM OIL AND GAS LIKELYUNDERESTIMATEDA study published byDenise Mauzerall andStuart Riddick foundthatthat current methods used to estimate offshoreoil and gas emissions in the UK are likelyinaccurate. The researchers concluded that fivetimes more emissions from oil and gas werelikely being emitted than currently reported.MICHAEL OPPENHEIMERWRITES CHAPTER FOR GRETA THUNBERG’S BOOKMichael Oppenheimerwrote an essay titled“The Discovery ofClimate Change” forGreta Thunberg’s book,The Climate Book. openResearch & Literature HighlightsOppenheimer was one of 100 experts who contributed to this anthology of illuminating essays,graphics, and contrasting perspectives on how to address climate change. STUDY FINDS SOCIAL COST OF CARBON SHOULD BETRIPLE THE FEDERAL ESTIMATEPostdoctoral researcher Frank Errickson co-lead a multi-year study that estimated thesocial cost of carbon emissions to be $185 perton - almost 4 times the U.S. Federal estimateof $51 per ton.
THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE AND SOCIAL HAZARDS ONMIGRATION PATTERNSPostdoctoral researchers Nicolas Choquette-Levy and Lisa Thalheimer led a study thatshows how drought events and socialvulnerabilities such as poverty and pandemicimpact migration patterns in drought-pronecountries like Mexico, Nepal, and Madagascar. Elke Weber, Robert Keohane, Sara Constantino andAlicia Cooperman studied how self-reportedhardship due to COVID-19 is associated with anarrowing of the partisan gap between republicansand democrats, and that personal experiences ofharm from climate change may have a similar effect.CASE STUDIES PROVIDE KEYINSIGHTS ON BUILDINGCOST-EFFECTIVE COASTALDEFENSE PROJECTSMichael Oppenheimerand doctoral student DJ asldkfjRasmussen conducted case studies of twoflood megaprojects in Rhode Island and foundthat legal challenges and design issues are themain obstacles to completing storm surgebarriers. MAPPING OF “STOPOVERHOTSPOTS” GIVES INSIGHTSFOR CONSERVATION OFEASTERN U.S. MIGRATORYBIRDSA study led by DavidWilcove and Fengyi Guo asldkfjused weather radar technology to mapseasonal densities of migratory birds in theEastern U.S. and highlighted the importance ofprotecting popular stopover sites and improvingconservation efforts. PERSONAL HARDSHIP FROM COVID-19 AND CLIMATECHANGE CAN NARROW THE PARTISAN GAP BETWEENDEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS EUROPE’S CLIMATE PLAN WILL OUTSOURCE DEFORESTATION, HARMBIODIVERSITY An analysis by Tim Searchinger, Oliver James, and scientistsfrom several European institutions finds that the current Fit for55 laws will sacrifice carbon storage and biodiversity in Europeand outsource deforestation to other parts of the world.C-PREE Annual Report 2023 | p. 10
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Our faculty, researchers, and students are engaged with international stakeholders andthought leaders on a range of key issues. Timothy Searchinger received a 4-year grantfrom the Norwegian development aid agency’s International Climate and Forests Initiative(2021-2025) to analyze greenhouse gas accounting standards, which guide public andprivate land management activity. Searchinger also traveled to Brazil to work on landmanagement techniques that can improve farm yields and forest carbon sequestration. David Wilcove and Denise Mauzerall wrapped up their work on the China EnvironmentalInitiative and fostered research collaborations with Chinese scholars working onbiodiversity conservation, air pollution, energy transition, and climate research. Wilcove’sinternational engagement also extended to his conservation research partnership with theNational University of Singapore and his video address on illegal wildlife trade to theConvention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)at the Conference of Parties. Michael Oppenheimer continued his engagement with global environmental governance,advising a new generation of students and researchers attending the annual Conference ofParties, the Bonn Climate Change Conference, and meetings of the IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change. Oppenheimer also presented to the OECD’s Task Force onClimate Adaptation. Global Policy Engagement
State & Federal OutreachC-PREE Annual Report 2023 | p. 14Over the past year, C-PREE began to strengthen its state and federal outreach efforts. At thelocal level, C-PREE has been engaged in the NSF-funded Megalopolitan Coastal ResilienceHub (MACH), coordinated through Rutgers University. In collaboration with MACH, C-PREEsupervised 5 graduate students that studied cities utilizing “Dynamic Adaptive PlanningPathways” for their climate resilience planning. The results of the project were presented tothe Philadelphia Office of Sustainability.At the federal level, Jesse Jenkins and his lab conducted in-depth analyses of the climate andenergy benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act, providing numerous briefings to policymakers.Nicky Sheats has served as a member of the White House Environmental Justice AdvisoryCouncil. Frank Errickson’s research helped inform the EPA’s revised social cost of carbonaccounting. PhD student Rachel Young presented to her peers about her time at the WhiteHouse Council on Environmental Quality in spring 2022. Melissa Tier, Michael Oppenheimer,and Guy Nordenson prepared a memo on federal climate adaptation, which was widelydistributed among the administration and to some extent Congress. Oppenheimer alsocontributed to a scientists’ brief related to a federal court case challenging the EPA’s ability toregulate CO2.
Indigenizing Environmentalism:Sovereignty, Science &SustainabilityThe Future of Green Finance & ESGStandardsWorkshop: Nature-based ClimateSolutions and BiodiversityConservationUrban Food System InnovationsFireside Chat: Championing Scienceto Energy and EnvironmentPolicymakersTowards Low-Carbon, Sustainable,Healthy CitiesThe Glasgow Climate Pact and theFuture of Global Climate Action: ADiscussion with Archie YoungHas China Peaked? Probing theImplications of China’s Economic,Technological, and EcologicalChallenges to MidcenturySponsored Lectures &Workshops
Environmental Policy AssociatesIn Spring of 2022, C-PREE officially launched the Environmental Policy Associates (EPA)program. The program provides an opportunity for graduate students and postdocs acrossPrinceton University to connect with our Center and our research on pressing energy andenvironmental policy topics. Our associates host on and off-campus events, researchpresentations, practitioner talks, and networking events that connect associates withalumni. Initially starting with 14 participants, our program has grown to a cohort of 31associates who have hosted a wide range of events and activities. Many of the associatesalso honed their research and policy communication skills, writing press releases,reflections, blogs, opinion pieces, and interviews for the C-PREE website and broadermedia.C-PREE Annual Report 2023 | p. 16
Center for Policy Research on Energy and the EnvironmentPrinceton School of Public and International AffairsPrinceton UniversityPrinceton, NJ 08544