Hometown
Drummondville (Québec, Canada)
Educational and professional background
I am an interdisciplinary scholar with a background in international relations (BA, MSc) and Public Administration (PhD). Prior to pursuing doctoral studies, I worked in various capacities in governmental and intergovernmental organizations including the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development and Canada’s International Development Research Centre. In a previous career, I also worked as a television and radio reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Previous position
PhD student and graduate assistant at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
What types of questions do you address in your research?
How can we design better policies to accelerate innovation in areas of green technology that are lagging behind and are urgently needed to advance climate goals? In my current research, I focus on technologies that could enable the widescale integration of renewables on the electrical grid.
In the future, I would like to broaden the focus of my research to include other emerging green technologies such as hydrogen and batteries, and other hard-to-abate industries, such as steel and cement. In my research, I am broadly interested in problems of coordination in technology development and deployment, in barriers to interdisciplinary research collaborations, and in how companies and workers can leverage their existing knowledge and skills to transition to cleaner technologies.
How did you get interested in this field?
Unfortunately, history has shown that climate policy is highly politically contentious, with governments preferring to opt for the carrot rather than the stick. Except for a small minority of environmentally conscientious individuals, most consumers do not want to give up on their level of comfort. We need to reduce emissions, but as a society, we are not ready to reduce our consumption. It’s an unsolvable conundrum unless we find ways to produce the same goods and services more sustainably. The only way we can achieve this is with better technology.
This is what got me interested in studying green innovation policy, to understand how policy can encourage and accelerate the development of cleaner solutions. Not only do we need clean technologies, but if we want widescale adoption, these technologies need to be better and cheaper than their dirtier alternative.
In the power sector, this means that not only do we need solar and wind energy generation technologies, but we also need solutions to deliver this electricity to consumers reliably and consistently, even when the sun doesn’t shine, and the wind doesn’t blow. Similarly, in the transportation sector, we need reliable and convenient charging infrastructure if we want more consumers to transition to electric vehicles. Many technical challenges still need to be resolved to achieve this.
What attracted you to the La Follette School?
The quality of my colleagues and students. I look forward to many enriching conversations and opportunities to learn from my peers.
How does your research intersect with policymaking?
My research is deeply informed by my previous experience working in a federal science funding agency. Before beginning any new research project, I always ask myself: “Why do we care?” and “How would my former self use this evidence to design policy differently?”
What is your approach to teaching?
I want to help students build the foundations for successful and fulfilling careers in public service (and adjacent sectors). I believe that mastery comes with practice. For this reason, I strive to incorporate many opportunities for active learning, to practice the skills and refine the knowledge that they will use in their future careers.
I also deeply care about providing equitable learning opportunities for students from under-represented backgrounds. This includes BIPOC students, but also first-gen students, and students living with disabilities.
What’s something interesting about your area of expertise that you’re excited to share with students?
There is hope for a cleaner future and technology can be a big part of the solution. There are many reasons to be pessimistic: advancing sustainability transitions is daunting and governments are falling behind on their mid-century commitments. But there are also many reasons to be optimistic: in only a few decades, humanity developed clean energy technologies that are now cheaper than fossil fuel generation. And these technologies are on learning curves, meaning that their costs are continuing to decline fast as adoption accelerates.
As this massive socio-technical transition unfolds there will also be many opportunities to build more inclusive economic systems, for example, by training a more diverse green workforce, by empowering local communities to participate in building and governing distributed energy infrastructure, etc.
What are you reading or watching currently?
I mostly watch nature documentaries with my toddler. His current obsession is the movie “Puff: The Wonders of the Reef”. I highly recommend watching it, the cinematography is fabulous!
Hobbies and interests
I am excited to explore all the outdoor recreation activities that Madison has to offer and take my family along on these new adventures. To recharge my batteries, I particularly enjoy bicycling, hiking, paddle boarding, canoeing, camping, and cross-country skiing.