The 2035 Initiative brings together world-leading environmental policy and politics researchers at UC Santa Barbara: faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars, and students working to turn climate ambition into action.
Matto is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, and is affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. His research explores the politics of climate change here in the United States and around the world.
Ranjit is an assistant professor in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of California Santa Barbara, and is affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. He studies the intersection of energy, environment, and economics, specifically in low carbon energy systems, clean energy access, and electricity markets.
Leah is the Vonk Chair of Environmental Politics in the Department of Political Science, and is affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Department of Environmental Studies. She works on energy, climate and environmental politics. Leah is also the co-host of the popular climate podcast "A Matter of Degrees."
Paasha is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, and is affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. His research explores the impact of oil and gas resources on governance and environmental politics.
Sarah is a professor in the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, and is affiliated with the Department of Political Science. She studies how politics shapes the environmental policies that we do (or don't) get from the US political system. Sarah works on wildfire and disaster resilience.
Mark is a professor in the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, and is affiliated with the Department of Political Science. His work addresses how governments and international organizations can be made accountable for delivering environmental and development policy goals.
Eric is a professor in the Department of Political Science, and is affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Department of Environmental Studies. He studies environmental politics, public opinion, and elections.
Cesar is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science. His research explores the political economy of climate change and deforestation, including the global dimensions of environmental justice.
Eric is the Duncan and Suzanne Mellichamp Chair in Sustainability Science for Emerging Technologies at UCSB. His research develops energy and materials systems models to identify technology and policy pathways for decarbonizing industrial systems. From 2015-2017, he led the Energy Demand Technology Unit at the International Energy Agency in Paris.
Grace is an assistant professor in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of California Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on how to balance land use for climate solutions and conservation. She seeks to understand the impact of energy infrastructure on land use and conservation, and to develop practical strategies for avoiding negative impacts.
David is a professor in the Psychological & Brain Sciences Department and Director of the Social Climate Science Lab. He studies psychological barriers to green behaviors and climate policy support and how to overcome them.
Will is an assistant professor in the Political Science Department at the University of California Santa Barbara. He researches how identity and domestic politics shape international intervention using a mix of computational, experimental, econometric, and field methods.
Jim is the Donald Bren Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law with joint appointments at the Bren School and UCLA Law School. In 12 books and more than 100 articles and book chapters, his broad-ranging scholarship has addressed topics spanning drinking water, trade and environment conflicts, ownership engineering, and the legal and institutional issues in creating markets for ecosystem services.
Simone is an associate professor & program vice-chair in the Environmental Studies Department. Her research focuses broadly on the intersection of economic action and environmental harm and seeks to integrate theoretical frameworks related to global governance, organizational theory, and economic and environmental sociology.
Alex is an assistant teaching professor in the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. Her teaching and research focus on environmental communication to scientists, policymakers, and the public. As an oceanographer, Alex is especially interested in understanding the marine impacts of climate change. Previously, she worked for US Senator Alex Padilla as a AAAS fellow on climate, energy, and ocean policy.
Lucas is the Executive Director of The 2035 Initiative. He works with world-leading UCSB faculty and staff to accelerate the clean energy transition and develop equitable solutions to the climate crisis. Previously, he worked with the advocacy group Evergreen Action and held several leadership roles in environmental education. Lucas has a Masters of Environmental Science and Management from UCSB's Bren School and a B.A. in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of San Diego.
Carrie is the Deputy Director at The 2035 Initiative where she manages a wide range of climate policy projects. Prior to joining the Initiative, Carrie worked in Operations and People Team roles at the Boston Consulting Group where she enhanced internal processes and increased engagement with green initiatives. Carrie holds an MPA degree in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and a B.S. in Biology from UCLA.
Christin is the Communications & Outreach Coordinator for The 2035 Initiative and is responsible for overseeing the Initiative's public-facing policy and research outputs, manages media relations for the Initiative, and coordinates with external partners and stakeholders. Additionally, she provides production support for the podcast A Matter of Degrees. Christin has a master's degree in Environmental Science and Management and a B.A. in Biology from UCSB.
Gabriel is a researcher at The 2035 Initiative, specializing in complex public opinion survey research. Prior to joining 2035, he conducted academic research for a PhD in political science at UC San Diego, where he has designed and executed public opinion research in more than 50 countries on the subjects of climate change and migration. He also has experience in elected politics, both in government and on campaigns, advising senior policymakers and elected officials across a range of portfolios. He holds an M.A. in political science from UC San Diego and a B.A. from the University of Toronto in international relations.
Emma is a Senior Energy Analyst at The 2035 Initiative, where she collaborates with engineering and policy teams to develop and advance policy solutions to the climate crisis. Previously, she worked at the White House Council on Environmental Quality where she focused on the intersection of the National Environmental Policy Act, clean energy, and environmental justice. Emma has an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and a B.A. in Biology from Scripps College.
Olivia is a Postdoctoral Scholar at The 2035 Initiative. She works to develop and advance policy solutions to industrial decarbonization in the U.S. and to identify other near-term climate policymaking opportunities around the world. Before joining The 2035 Initiative, Olivia completed a PhD in political science at UC Santa Barbara. Her research examined the drivers of citizen and group engagement in federal policymaking efforts, with a focus on recent climate and energy policy change.
Nathan is a Postdoctoral Scholar with The 2035 Initiative, where he works on climate and energy policy with an emphasis on industrial decarbonization. Prior to joining 2035, Nathan completed a PhD in political science at UC San Diego, where his research explored how climate politics intersects with the private sector.
Antoine is a Postdoctoral Scholar at The 2035 Initiative. He studies decarbonized technologies in the industrial sector with the goal of constructing a database of those technologies as well as modeling the impact of their implementation in order to inform policy. Before joining the 2035 initiative, Antoine conducted a PhD in the University of Liege in Belgium on the economic and environmental assessment of novel manufacturing technologies.
Ann is a Postdoctoral Scholar at The 2035 Initiative, where she focuses on advancing climate adaptation and resilience for vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries. Her work centers on building a data infrastructure to capture spatially detailed, real-time, longitudinal insights from communities most affected by extreme climate events. Prior to joining The 2035 Initiative, she earned her PhD in Economics from the University of Illinois Chicago, where her research explored the health impacts of industrial pollution and evaluated how regulatory interventions can mitigate those harms and promote health-improving behaviors.
Yohan is a Postdoctoral Scholar at The 2035 Initiative dedicated to advancing sustainable and resilient infrastructure planning and grid decarbonization. Leveraging over seven years of industry experience in oil drilling, renewable energy, and disaster recovery projects, as well as expertise in data science, software development, and statistical modeling, he strives to enhance social equity and community resilience through interdisciplinary research.
Aidan is a PhD Student at the Bren School working with the 2035 Initiative. He studies industrial sector decarbonization using modelling techniques to better understand the impacts of both technology and policy. Prior to beginning his PhD, Aidan completed his bachelors in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University.
Devlin is a 2035 Initiative Fellow who researches protective behaviors and the motivation that stems from reactions to threats and appraisals of efficacy. He applies these principles to climate activism and pro-environmental behaviors, investigating the relationship between threat and efficacy appraisals and intentions to adopt climate-protective behaviors.
Jungbin is a Research Fellow at The 2035 Initiative and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Psychological and Brain Sciences at UCSB. Jungbin's research will focus on developing interventions to promote open-mindedness and reduce self-defensive responses in the context of effective climate change communication.
Eleanor is a PhD student at UC Santa Barbara's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. She is a systems thinker whose research integrates technical, economic, and policy dimensions of deep decarbonization. With a background in sustainable transportation, industrial electrification, and climate policy, she works to bridge rigorous scientific analysis and policymaking as a pathway to meaningful climate solutions. Her research lies at the intersection of advanced clean technologies, empirical policy analysis, and renewable energy systems. Eleanor holds a Master's in Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School and an B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Georgia Tech.
Wen-Tien Wang is a PhD student at UC Santa Barbara's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management with the 2035 Initiative. His work applies energy- and industry-system modeling to assess decarbonization strategies and quantify their air-quality and public-health impacts. He holds a master's degree in Sustainable Development from Uppsala University and a bachelor's degree in Public Health.
Zhai Gen Tan is a PhD Student at the Department of Political Science at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), with research interest in climate politics and public opinion on climate change, focused on energy transition and the political economy of commodities in Southeast Asia. He previously led in establishing research centers at the Asia Schools of Business (ASB) and was a public policy researcher with the sovereign wealth fund of Malaysia. He obtained his Masters in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry from the University of Oxford.
Denis is a PhD student in the Department of Political Science at UC Santa Barbara. His research focuses on the political economy of innovation, examining how corporate actors, public investment, and state institutions shape the development and deployment of clean technologies. He is particularly interested in how carbon dioxide removal technologies become part of broader climate solutions. Prior to his PhD, Denis studied at the University of Manchester and the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences. He also worked at KPMG on corporate risk and sustainability.
Sophia is a 2035 Initiative Fellow and a PhD student in the Department of Political Science. Her research focus is on climate migration and the interplay between environmental and migration politics in the Global North. Before coming to UCSB, she worked at the Hertie School in Berlin and the ZOE Institute for Future-fit Economies in Cologne. She has a Master's degree in Public Policy from the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy and a Bachelor of Science in Politics, Psychology, Law, and Economics (PPLE) from the University of Amsterdam.
Laura is a PhD student in Political Science at UCSB and a 2035 Initiative PhD Fellow. Her research examines the political economy of conflict and its effects on the green energy transition in Latin America, using experimental and quasi-experimental methods to study how conflict shapes renewable energy policies across the region. Before joining UCSB, she worked at New York University Abu Dhabi and Universidad del Rosario. She also has professional experience in the energy sector—particularly in nuclear energy in the United Arab Emirates—and has conducted research on the impacts of public policies and armed conflict in Colombia.
Sanjay is a PhD student in the Bren School and a graduate researcher in the CET Lab. His research focuses on household-level electrification and the adoption of electric technologies — heat pumps, induction cookstoves, electric vehicles, and solar-plus-storage.
Julia studies international relations and environmental politics, focusing on international flows of climate finance, gaps in the global climate finance architecture, and the role of multilateral development banks in climate mitigation and adaptation. Master's in International Strategic Studies from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
Renae studies the political dimensions of energy and decarbonization, with a focus on reducing polarization and finding bipartisan common ground on climate solutions. B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Haven is an MESM candidate at the Bren School specializing in Environmental Policy. She brings five years of public-service experience in coastal access and ocean resource management with Santa Cruz County Parks and NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. B.A. from Duke University.
Sarah is an MESM candidate at the Bren School. A mechanical engineer with a decade of experience in sustainable engineering and, as an Air National Guard officer, military construction planning, she focuses on helping organizations reduce their consumption footprints. B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Gonzaga University.
Hannah is an MESM candidate at the Bren School specializing in Environmental Policy with a Communication Focus. She previously worked in intellectual-property litigation at WilmerHale and on climate-literacy storytelling, and aims to bridge policy development and public communication. B.A. in Political Science and B.S. in Environmental Science & Policy from Chapman University.
Dash is a Research Assistant at The 2035 Initiative. He supports faculty research on the relationship between party identification and positions on climate change, the carbon offsets market, and the development of policy materials. Dash is a second-year undergraduate pursuing a Bachelor's in both Political Science and Statistics and Data Science from UCSB's College of Letters of Science.
Anusha is a Research Assistant at The 2035 Initiative. Her work supports background research for the podcast A Matter of Degrees. She is a third-year undergraduate student pursuing a double major in Environmental Studies and Sociology. With a passion for environmental justice, Anusha aims to pursue a career in environmental law and policy.
Brooke is a Graphic Design & Media Assistant at The 2035 Initiative. She is a third-year undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Communication and Earth Science at UCSB. She works in various graphic design and media roles, including as the Creative Services Supervisor at UCSB Recreation, Design Manager of the Science Communication Club, and incoming Art Director for the Daily Nexus. Brooke loves finding ways to blend her skills in visual communication with her passion for the environment and hopes to pursue a graphic design career in the non-profit sector.