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Staff
Aiqun Yu has been a China researcher with Global Energy Monitor since 2014. She was a journalist and TV documentary editor in Beijing, China, focusing on environmental and social justice topics before moving to the US in 2012. She received a master’s degree in journalism from the Communication University of China, and spent two years as a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. She currently lives in Zurich, Switzerland.
Andrew Gamez
Andrew Gamez (he/him) is a Researcher at Global Energy Monitor. He received his BA in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research background includes Environmental Law and Policy, and his passion lies in Environmental Justice issues. Based in Long Beach, CA he focuses on Ocean Conservation in his free time.
Baird Langenbrunner
Baird Langenbrunner (he/him) is a research analyst working on the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker. Before GEM, he worked as an editor at Nature Climate Change, where he handled research and commentary on the physical impacts and broader implications of contemporary climate change. Baird has a bachelor’s degree in Geophysics from Brown University, a PhD in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from UCLA, and a keen interest in the decarbonization of the global energy system.
Bob Burton
Bob Burton (he/him) is the Editor of CoalWire, Global Energy Monitor’s weekly bulletin on global coal industry developments. He has been researching and writing on energy and the mining industry for over thirty years and is a regular contributor to the RenewEconomy and EndCoal websites. In 1992 he was entered on the United Nations Environment Program Global 500 Roll of Honour for an outstanding contribution to the protection of the environment. With Guy Pearse and David McKnight he co-authored Big Coal: Australia’s Dirtiest Habit. He is also the author of Inside Spin: The Dark Underbelly of the PR Industry and co-authored Secrets and Lies: The Anatomy of an Anti-Environmental PR Campaign.
Caitlin Swalec
Caitlin Swalec (she/her) is an engineer and energy and climate researcher. At GEM she focuses on industrial decarbonization, particularly iron/steel and hydrogen. She previously worked as an air quality engineer in compliance reporting and permitting for fossil fuel fired power plants throughout the United States. Caitlin also worked as a wind farm planner and analyst for Fraunhofer IWES, a European wind energy research institute, and as a communications specialist for the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. Her research specialties also include sustainable forestry, carbon easements, and wildfire management. Caitlin received a bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and a master’s degree from UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management.
Christine Shearer
Christine Shearer is the Program Director for Coal at Global Energy Monitor. She previously worked as a postdoctoral scholar in Earth System Science at the University of California in Irvine and as a research fellow at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. Her peer-reviewed research has appeared in Nature, AGU Advances, and Earth’s Future, among others, and has been featured in The New York Times and National Geographic. She is author of Kivalina: A Climate Change Story, which was runner-up for the 2012 Rachel Carson Environment Book Award. She received her PhD in Sociology from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Daisy Ren
Daisy Ren is a part-time researcher in GEM and in her final year of Ph.D. program in Public Policy and Management in Carnegie Mellon University. Her research has focused on evaluating and designing energy and environmental policies in China. She is one of the first few authors that investigated the issue of coal power over-investment in China around 2015, and her work has published on the Energy Journal, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Utility Policy, and etc. Her work is featured in media outlets such as VoxEU and Wired.
Dorothy Mei
Dorothy Lan Mei is a Researcher at GEM. She has more than 7 years of experience in international and grassroots NGOs and venture capital tackling issues including climate change, urban planning, energy, and air pollution. In 2015 and 2016, she led China’s youth delegation to COP21 in Paris and COP22 in Marrakesh to foster greater youth participation in the fight against climate change. In 2015 she was selected as a U.S.-China Professional Fellow by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs to work with the National Trust for Historic Preservation on historic building preservation in the US. She holds a master’s in Development Practice from University of California, Berkeley, a master’s in History from Hebei University, and a bachelor’s in English Language from Guizhou University in China.
Flora Champenois
Flora Champenois (she/her) is a Research Analyst for coal at Global Energy Monitor and brings over a decade of experience working on environmental, energy, and social justice issues. Previously, she was a Senior Research and Policy Analyst at Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest environmental law organization. During her seven years there, Flora primarily worked alongside Coal Program attorneys to secure, strengthen, and defend federal standards, ensure compliance, and prevent the industry from shifting the costs of uneconomic plants onto customers. Her role included leading toxic coal ash data analysis efforts and collaborating with international partners. She holds a degree in Environmental Sciences and GIS from the University of California, Berkeley. She is fluent in French and studied Mandarin.
Gregor Clark
Gregor Clark (he/him) has worked as a writer and researcher focusing on Latin America and Europe for 20 years, including intermittent stints at Global Energy Monitor since 2014. He is the author or coauthor of over four dozen books, including multiple editions of Lonely Planet guides to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, and Switzerland. He holds a degree in Romance Languages from Stanford University, with additional undergraduate work in Environmental Studies at UC Santa Cruz and graduate work in Spanish at Middlebury College. He speaks Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and German.
Greig Aitken
Greig Aitken (he/him) has worked on fossil fuel finance with non-profit groups for more than 15 years. For seven years from 2003 he was Media Coordinator for CEE Bankwatch Network, focusing on preventing environmentally and socially destructive financing from multilateral development banks primarily in central and eastern Europe and also globally. Prior to joining Global Energy Monitor he worked for BankTrack, providing research and analysis for publications such as the Fossil Fuel Finance Report Card which have helped bring about increased global pressure on major international commercial banks to restrict their financial support for the coal, oil and gas industries. He has also worked for the Scottish Green Party, is fluent in French and speaks Czech.
Hanna Fralikhina
Hanna Fralikhina is a Researcher at Global Energy Monitor. She holds a BA in Environmental Economics and Policy from the University of California, Berkeley and an MSc in Environment and Natural Resource Management from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Prior to joining Global Energy Monitor, Hanna worked at Both ENDS, an environmental justice organization in the Netherlands, where she focused on divestment, climate campaigns, and renewable energy alternatives in East Africa and on deforestation and community livelihoods in Indonesia. She has also worked for such organizations as the Environmental Defense Fund and Environmental Protection in the Caribbean. She speaks Russian, Belarusian, and French.
Ingrid Behrsin
Ingrid Behrsin (she/her) is a research analyst at Global Energy Monitor for the Global Renewable Power Tracker. She holds a PhD in Geography and an MSc in Community and Regional Development from the University of California, Davis, with an emphasis in the political ecology of renewable energy classifications and waste markets. Her writing on renewable energy transitions is published in academic journals such as Energy Research & Social Science; Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space; and Annals of the American Association of Geographers, as well as in popular outlets such as Utility Dive and Euractive. Prior to joining GEM, she was a postdoctoral fellow and research affiliate at the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment, and the Economy, and the Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement. She received her BA in International Development Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.
James Browning
James Browning (he/him) has worked to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable as a writer, researcher, lobbyist, and game designer. Prior to Global Energy Monitor he worked for ten years as a state and regional director for Common Cause and wrote “Deep Drilling, Deep Pockets”, a series of reports about the fracking industry that was featured on MSNBC, NPR, and in several documentary films. He is the author of The Fracking King, a novel that was named one of the Best 100 Books of 2014 by Amazon. In 2017, he published “Last Chance” in Orion Magazine, a set of cards that introduces air pollution, floods, drought, fracking, and other environmental problems into the game of Monopoly.
Janna Smith
Janna Smith (she/her) began research for Global Energy Monitor in 2021. She holds a BA in Chinese language and culture from the University of Edinburgh, and an MSc from the Global Security Institute at Durham University, UK. Her Master’s research focused on Chinese corporate response to local protest within the resource extraction industry in Peru.
Jenny Martos
Jenny Martos is a Research Analyst at Global Energy Monitor. She previously worked as an energy consultant focusing on power procurement and wholesale energy markets. Her work included research and quantitative analysis, energy price forecasts, and testimony support for regulatory-related projects funded by public utility commissions in the U.S. and Canada. She received her bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and her master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Joshua Kruskal
Joshua Kruskal (he/him) brings a background in sustainable development and nonprofit operations management to his role as Operations and Finance Director at GEM. Previously, he worked as a Program Manager with the University of Chicago’s Office of Civic Engagement and as a Bartlett Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. Through his prior work with global NGOs and domestic nonprofits, he has pursued dual interests in community development and environmental sustainability. He received his master’s degree in environmental science and policy from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, and his bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College. He joined Global Energy Monitor in 2020.
Julie Joly
Julie joined Global Energy Monitor in 2019. Previously, she was the Associate Professor of Natural Resources Law and Policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, focusing on land and resource management issues. She received a master’s degree from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a law degree from Georgetown University. Her research has been published in many academic journals.
Kasandra O’Malia
Kasandra O’Malia brings over a decade of experience in data analysis and visualization, programing, and technical writing to the Global Renewable Power Tracker project as a Research Fellow. Before transitioning to a career in the energy and climate sector, she spent many years as a spacecraft and instrumentation engineer working on programs for NASA, NOAA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Her undergraduate degree in Physics is from Lewis & Clark College and she holds a master’s degree in Astrophysics and Planetary Science from the University of Colorado.
Liz Mason
Liz Mason (she/her) is the Human Resources Manager at GEM and brings an extensive background in supporting non-profit and government organizations and their employees. Previously, she worked at Appalachian State University in the Office of Equity Diversity and Compliance/Office of Title IX Compliance. She also taught classes in Appalachian’s Social Work Department on social welfare policy and working with community-based organizations. Liz holds an undergraduate degree in Non-Profit Business & World Religions from Luther College and a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota in Social Work with a concentration on community practice focusing on improving the effectiveness and responsiveness of systems to serve as a catalyst for sustainable development and social justice. She is also an AmeriCorps VISTA alumna.
Martin Weil
Martin Weil has been working on China energy and environment issues for decades. His experience includes marketing clean power generation technologies for the ABB group, contracting to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s global climate change division to do feasibility analysis for methane recovery projects in China, and representing the US-China Business Council in Beijing.
Mason Inman
Mason Inman (he/him) joined GEM in 2019, and has worked on climate and energy issues as a policy analyst, data scientist, and science journalist for more than a decade. Previously he was the lead analyst and programmer for Near Zero, a climate policy nonprofit. Mason also worked for about a decade as a freelance science journalist writing for Science, Nature, National Geographic News, and other outlets. Many of his technical articles and news stories are on his Google Scholar page. He also wrote The Oracle of Oil, the first biography of maverick geologist M. King Hubbert. He received his bachelor’s in physics from the University of California Santa Barbara, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California Santa Cruz.
Robert Rozansky
Robert Rozansky is a Research Analyst at Global Energy Monitor studying liquified natural gas infrastructure. Previously, he has advocated for clean energy innovation with a DC-based think tank, and served in a fellowship supporting science and technology policy initiatives from the White House and other agencies. He has authored reports on renewable power, emerging technologies, and U.S. innovation policy. He received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Brown University and a master’s degree in physics from Aix-Marseille University, with a thesis at the international nuclear fusion project ITER, while on a Fulbright scholarship to France.
Russell Gray
Russell Gray is a researcher at Global Energy Monitor. He brings a background in both climate activism and research to GEM: he has worked as a full-time organizer with the Extinction Rebellion movement in Washington DC, as a research analyst with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and as a policy researcher with The Climate Mobilization. He received his bachelor’s degree in Government and Economics from Cornell University.
Ryan Driskell Tate
Ryan Driskell Tate is a research analyst at Global Energy Monitor. He holds a Ph.D. in energy and environmental history from Rutgers University, with a specialty in coal development and stakeholder disputes in mining communities. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Review of Books, and other popular and scholarly outlets. Prior to GEM, he held research fellowships at the University of Wyoming and was an adjunct professor in political science.
Scott Zimmerman
Scott Zimmerman (he/him) is a researcher at Global Energy Monitor. He previously worked at the Center for Media and Democracy where he researched corporate power. His writing has appeared in Truthout, ExposedbyCMD, and The Cap Times. He received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Art from the St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Shradhey Prasad
Shradhey Parijat Prasad (he/him) is a Researcher at Global Energy Monitor. In the past, Shradhey worked as a researcher at the Indian School of Business in India on projects that evaluated the impact of digital identity in the field of economics, policy and economic development. Since then, he has worked as a Consultant for Acari LLC where he calculated the carbon footprint of their sustainable jerky product line. Shradhey was an independent Researcher at the IKEA Foundation where his research guided the foundation’s investment and intervention strategy around renewable energy access in rural India. His current interests lie at the nexus of climate, energy and development. He earned his Master’s in Development Practice from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor’s in economics from Shiv Nadar University in India.
Sophia Bauer
Sophia Bauer joined Global Energy Monitor as Researcher in 2021. She received her BA in Global Affairs from George Mason University and holds an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of South Florida. She has worked as a socio-cultural researcher focused on Latin America using open-source and geospatial data to inform work related to climate refugees, environmental change, and social justice movements. She speaks Spanish & Portuguese and has spent extensive time in Central and South America.
Ted Nace
Ted Nace (he/him) is the founder and Executive Director of Global Energy Monitor. He is the co-founder of computer book publisher Peachpit Press and is the author of Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy and Climate Hope: On the Front Lines of the Fight Against Coal. He served as staff director of the Dakota Resource Council and as a columnist for Publish! magazine. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Xiaojun Peng
Xiaojun (James) Peng joined Global Energy Monitor in 2021 as a Researcher. He worked as a documentary director and senior reporter in China for 16 years, focusing on China’s culture and history. He received his doctoral degree at the Communication University of China and studied film production at Vancouver Film School.
Warda Ajaz
Warda (she/her) is a research analyst at Global Energy Monitor. She provides regional support from South Asia for various GEM projects. She holds a PhD in Public Policy from Oregon State University, with a background in Energy Systems Engineering (MS) and Environmental Engineering (BE). Her doctoral research focused on the socio-technical transition toward microgrids and other decentralized energy systems and has been published in reputed academic journals such as Energy Research & Social Science; Energy Policy; and Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. Before joining GEM, she was an Assistant Professor at the U.S. Pakistan Center For Advanced Studies In Energy, National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan.
Yun Feng
Yun (Wynn) Feng joined Global Energy Monitor in 2020. She previously worked as a financial manager for a venture capital corporation and a solar energy company in China. She has also worked in research and accounting roles at environmental organizations including Conservation International, International Rivers, and Pacific Environment. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political economy from the East China University of Technology and Science.
Interns
 Ariane Desrosiers Hong Kong, China ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ |  Ege Yuzbas Middlebury, Vermont ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ |  Elizabeth Clarkson Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ |  Gabe Louis New Orleans, Louisiana ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ |
Board of Directors
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Ted Nace
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Paula Baker
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Ashish Fernandes
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Han Chen
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Dan Newman
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Sheldon Rampton
Advisory Committee
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Gerry Arances
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Pius Ginting
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Leslie Glustrom
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Debi Goenka
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Kimiko Hirata
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Yann Louvel
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Lauri Myllyvirta
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Scott Parkin
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Brent Plater
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Patrick Sweeney
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Sue Sturgis
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Mark Wakeham