If you are interested in decarbonizing energy systems, integrating hyperscale demand in our electricity grids, and advancing sustainable mobility, consider applying to RIT’s Sustainability PhD program (Deadline: Jan 15, 2026) and mention my name in your application. Feel free to reach out to me via email with your CV!
More information below:
Research Focus: Current topics of interest include sustainable mobility, integrating hyperscale demand onto electricity grids, electricity affordability, and fossil phase-out.
Lab Philosophy: Our lab develops prescriptive climate solutions that work in the real world. We focus on the ‘messy middle’ of the energy transition, where clean and fossil technologies coexist and the pace of change varies dramatically across subnational and national scales. Through spatially-explicit models and policy analysis, we identify actionable pathways that accelerate decarbonization while addressing the unequal pollution and cost burdens borne by disadvantaged communities.
Who should apply? I welcome a broad background in engineering, public policy, and natural sciences. Experience in programming, policy analysis, and economics is a plus. I highly encourage you to apply if you have a non-linear trajectory in life—whether you’ve worked in industry, switched fields, or come from unconventional paths. If you’re interested in building prescriptive climate solutions, I’d love to hear from you.
Apply: Apply to RIT’s PhD program by Jan 15 and mention me in your application. Feel free to reach out to me before that—always happy to chat. Send your CV along.
Why RIT: Excellent graduate program at GIS (Golisano Institute for Sustainability). A tailored curriculum that equips you with the needed analytical toolkit to excel in your PhD. We also collaborate through extended program faculty across RIT’s colleges—including the College of Liberal Arts, College of Engineering, College of Science, and the College of Computing and Information Sciences—by design, ensuring your PhD is truly interdisciplinary.
Why Rochester: Affordable, accessible (1 hour flight/5 hour drive to pretty much most big East Coast cities), plenty of hiking nearby and in the Adirondacks, great music, and great lakes!
Why Upstate New York: Excellent cluster of universities—RIT, U Rochester, Cornell, Syracuse, U Buffalo, U Toronto—in 2-hour drives. New York State has maintained forward momentum in climate action.