Big congratulations to our newest M.S. and Ph.D. graduates, honored in this year’s commencement!

These distinguished graduates have earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Transportation Technology and Policy. During their time at UC Davis, they have published research on topics ranging from car dealers and the plug-in electric vehicle market to commute behavior changes, taxicab transportation in Colombia, and much more.

ITS-Davis seeks to produce thoughtful and educated leaders ready to make an impact on transportation and energy research and policy. ITS-Davis Director Dan Sperling said: “Our most notable and enduring accomplishment is the nurturing and training of incredibly passionate and accomplished graduate students. To this highly talented 2015 class of students I simply say, the future is in good hands—your own.”

Students who seek degrees with ITS-Davis come from all over the world to work with renowned professors. Yuche Chen (pictured, top left), who earned his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering said that “UC Davis provided a solid foundation and network for me to get involved in the whole research community. There’s no better place to pursue a career in transportation, energy, and environmental analysis.” Chen is taking a position as a research engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Hydrogen Technologies and Systems Center in Golden, Colorado. “This is the biggest achievement of my life. I’m speechless,” said TTP Ph.D. graduate Alvaro Valencia Rodriguez. After graduation, he hopes to become a professor at Andes University in his home country of Colombia.

The UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies is looking for talented individuals interested in leading the future of sustainable transportation.  ITS-Davis offers a unique program in Transportation Technology and Policy, and engages with graduate students in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and other related departments. Read all about graduate transportation education at UC Davis and watch a short video about the program by clicking here.

Photo: (Left to right) Top – Yuche Chen, Eric Cahill, Prof. John Harvey, Kevin Fang, Wei Ji, Abdulkadir Bedir, Susan Pike, Cheng Zhuo. Bottom – Prof. Yue Yue Fan, Prof. Alissa Kendall, Juhong Yuan, Prof. Susan Handy, Duaa Gettani, Alvaro Valencia Rodriguez, Bo Wu. Photo Credit: Gene Ang

Federal agency climate leader and UC Davis alumnus Dr. Katharine (Kit) Batten has been named the new executive director of the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy.

The Policy Institute leverages university expertise to inform energy, climate and transportation policies, bringing together scientific researchers and decision-makers.

 “Kit Batten is an extraordinary leader with a great ability to connect science and policy through fact-based research,” said Director Dan Sperling of the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. “She has the ideal background to take the Policy Institute to the next level: strong research skills, extensive policy experience, and a commitment to leveraging university research to inform decision making.  Plus she has a strong connection to UC Davis and California.”

In 2011, Batten was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as global climate change coordinator, responsible for an annual budget of approximately $350 million in worldwide climate change mitigation and adaptation projects for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). A Washington, D.C.-based U.S. federal government agency created by President John F. Kennedy, USAID works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential.

“My passion is to ensure that the best available science and research influences public policy, and it has driven my career,” said Batten.  “I am honored to return to UC Davis after a decade of policy making in Washington, DC to connect the cutting-edge research conducted on campus to state, federal and international policy.”

Prior to USAID, Batten served as a senior science and policy fellow and program director at the H. John Heinz III center for Science, Economics and the Environment; as a science advisor to the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior; and as senior fellow/managing director for energy and environmental policy at the Center for American Progress. She also held positions in the offices of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT). Batten earned a bachelor degree in chemistry from Oberlin College and masters and doctoral degrees in ecology from UC Davis.

In California, the West, and nationally, the Policy Institute plays a leading role in leveraging university expertise to inform energy, climate, and transportation policies—acting as a bridge between scientific researchers and decision-makers. The Policy Institute engages in all aspects of the policy process: understanding the needs of policymakers to inform research questions and projects, proactively delivering accessible and timely research findings to legislative and administrative leadership and staff, and undertaking analysis and evaluation to improve existing policies.

Policy Institute Acting Director James Bushnell, Associate Professor of Economics at UC Davis, applauded Batten’s appointment.

 “The Policy Institute serves a unique and needed role provided by few other organizations,” said Bushnell. “Kit is well versed at helping scientists convey their research findings to better inform lawmakers and the media. I can’t think of any more capable hands than Kit’s to help the Policy Institute continue to evolve and grow in stature and influence.”

Now in its fourth year, the Policy Institute will be led by Bushnell until September 1, when Batten takes the helm as executive director.

Report on Overcoming Barriers to EV Deployment

A three-year, congressionally mandated study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy has found that “vehicle cost, current battery technology, and inadequate consumer knowledge are some of the barriers preventing widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles.”

The final report was issued on April 22, 2015 by the National Research Council, one of four institutions that make up the National Academies. Sitting on the 15-member council committee that issued the report was Tom Turrentine, Director of the UC Davis Plug-in Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Research Center.

“The PH&EV Research Center focuses on the role of consumer knowledge in expanding the market for EVs,” said Turrentine. “This committee also came to the consensus that consumer knowledge is critical for widespread adoption of plug-in vehicles,” he noted.

Turrentine emphasized that “UC Davis will continue our research on consumer knowledge, attributes and motivation. Consumer-focused tools, like the UC Davis-developed EV Explorer, are one way that we can help consumers better understand the technology and how an electric vehicle can benefit them.”

To access the National Academies press release and a pre-publication copy of the full report, “Overcoming Barriers to Deployment of Plug-in Electric Vehicles,” click here.

Former California state legislator Nancy Skinner is bringing her expertise on energy and climate policy to UC Davis, working with energy, transportation, and policy centers in West Village.

The three-term state assemblymember will serve as a senior policy fellow for the UC energy and transportation programs, including the Energy Efficiency Center, Institute of Transportation Studies, and the Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy.

Skinner will offer to UC Davis her keen insights on how scientific research can help to better inform governmental actions.

“My time in local and state government demonstrated to me how vital it is for public policy to be grounded in science,” said Skinner. “I’m delighted to be at UC Davis, both to learn firsthand from researchers and to identify opportunities to communicate that research clearly to lawmakers and regulators, so that the excellent work being done here can have a bigger impact in the policy arena.”

From local to state government, Skinner said the “trajectory” of her career has had a strong focus on societal sustainability, pollution reduction, clean energy commercialization, and climate action.

She began her public service in 1984 as the first and only UC Berkeley student to be elected to the Berkeley City Council. As a councilmember from 1984-92, Skinner established the Berkeley Energy Services Corporation and the city’s commercial and residential energy upgrade ordinances. In 1990, she co-founded ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, the leading global network devoted to local governments engaged in sustainability, climate protection, and clean energy initiatives. She served as executive director of the organization’s U.S. office and international director of ICLEI Cities for Climate Protection. She is a co-producer of the first carbon counting tool to help cities conduct emissions inventories and coordinated the 2005 Climate Summit, which helped facilitate the signing of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act.

Over the course of her legislative career representing the East Bay’s 15^th District from 2008-14, Skinner served as chair of the Natural Resources, Rules, and Budget committees. She authored dozens of laws, with energy-focused legislation that included an expansion of incentives for solar customers (AB 560)—and others that addressed energy storage (AB 2514) and building energy efficiency (AB 758, AB 1883). Skinner noted that the solar bill in particular sent a clear market signal about solar in California. “We’ve had great job growth in that industry.”

Skinner is a graduate of UC Berkeley, earning a bachelor’s of science degree from the College of Natural Resources and master’s degree in education.

Skinner said she is honored to be affiliated with UC Davis, joining researchers she has worked with and respected for years, including Lew Fulton, co-director of Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways (STEPS), and Dan Sperling, director of ITS-Davis and faculty director for the Policy Institute. “You can’t interface in the transportation world and not be aware of Dan,” she said.

In welcoming Skinner, Sperling said: “We are thrilled to have Nancy Skinner join our team at UC Davis that is working toward a renewable and efficient energy future for California. Nancy’s impressive background in energy public policy will prove highly valuable for our collaborations with government and industry, as well as with our university partners.”

How do we move the nation toward a more sustainable transportation future? A new video spotlights the UC Davis-led National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST), one of five federally established University Transportation Centers helping the nation meet the “need for safe, efficient and environmentally sound movement of people and goods.”

The UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis) was selected to lead the two-year, six university, $13 million research, education and outreach consortium for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Other institutions partnering with ITS-Davis include: California State University, Long Beach; the University of California at Riverside; the University of Southern California; Georgia Tech, and the University of Vermont.

The goal of the National Center is to enhance the environmental sustainability of the United States’ transportation system through reduction in fossil fuel consumption and emissions. The National Center is addressing the U.S. DOT’s strategic goal to advance national environmentally sustainable policies and investments to reduce emissions from transportation systems while supporting climate adaptation activities and continued mitigation of air pollution and other environmental impacts. NCST is committed to delivering research that helps federal—as well as state, regional, and local agencies—identify and tackle the nation’s most pressing transportation issues.

In this new four-minute overview video of NCST, Center Director and UC Davis Environmental Science and Policy Professor Susan Handy notes that “the Institute of Transportation Studies here at UC Davis has been a leader in sustainable transportation research for more than two decades.”  She expresses her and UC Davis’ “excitement” at working with the NCST partner schools and describes the “cutting-edge” research that each of the six universities are bringing to the consortium.

In video’s second interview, NCST Co-Director and ITS-Davis Director Dan Sperling discusses the national need for an “economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable transportation system.” He focuses on NCST’s four main research areas: infrastructure, fuels and vehicles, land use and mobility, and policy Speaking to the issue of institutional change, Sperling asks: “How do we take all the research and make sure that it is impactful and used to influence decision making?”

The video’s concluding interview features California Energy Commission Commissioner and NCST Leadership Council member Janea Scott explains why academic institutions like NCST are vital to a state like California that is at the policy forefront.

“The relationship between government and academic institutions is incredibly important. It’s great to have [a center] like NCST to dig into to some of the data that is there to help us think through what types of data we do need to continue to inform our decisions. When academia and government work hand in hand we have a great opportunity to have really well informed policies with great data provided by academia,” said Commissioner Scott.

Click to view the video, “National Center for Sustainable Transportation: A Six-University Consortium.”

To learn more about NCST, visit http://ncst.ucdavis.edu/

The National Center is funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation along with the California Department of Transportation, the California Air Resources Board, the California Energy Commission, and through sources in the states of Georgia and Vermont.

What will the world’s energy mix look like in 2035?

A large contingent of ITS-Davis faculty, staff, researchers, and students gathered March 2 to hear Mark Finley, BP’s General Manager of Global Energy Markets and U.S. Economics, outline the company’s world energy predictions for the next 20 years in a special seminar hosted by UC Davis Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways (STEPS).

Finley provided a forecast of world energy trends and policies, while also acknowledging market uncertainties. His presentation is based on BP’s Energy Outlook, a publication produced annually for the last 63 years that provides a statistical review of the world’s energy sources, and projections and models for those sources in the near future.

 “The review represents our best efforts to articulate what we think is the most likely trajectory for the world’s energy systems between now and 2035, taking into account the evolution of the world’s economy, and changes in the world’s technology and government policy,” said Finley.

Finley focused on analyzing the growth of the world’s economy and the shifts in global trade patterns. China is expected to continue its exponential growth of energy demand, representing the biggest national growth over the next 20 years, followed by Europe and North America. World energy demand will be strongest in Asia, which will account for more than 60 percent of global economic growth. Accompanying this trend is a reverse shift in  energy flow from West to East, due to the rise in the West of oil and natural gas production, improving energy efficiency and alternative and renewable energy sources— as well as slower income and vehicle growth.

The world’s energy mix is more diverse than it has ever been, and will continue to diversify over the next 20 years, Finley noted. Coal consumption is projected to continue slowing down, due to the availability of cheap natural gas and renewable energy, as well as policies toward reducing coal usage. While oil is expected to remain as the dominant primary energy source, BP predicts a steady loss of oil’s market share as renewables surpass nuclear and hydroelectric energy.

Shale gas production will continue to grow, especially in North America, with China becoming a significant production player. U.S. shale oil production is expected to grow as well, with the nation becoming an exporter of natural gas in 2016, and net oil exporter in 2031. Indeed, the U.S. is expected to become the world’s leading producer of liquid fuels, as well as the leading producer of natural gas.

The U.S. also is predicted to become energy self-sufficient by 2021, and, over the next 20 years, to become the global leader in energy production. The nation’s energy consumption is projected to increase by only one percent, whereas production will increase by 32 percent.

Finley cited two uncertainties in BP’s predictions:

• While China and India are predicted to see major Gross Domestic Product growth, a lower GDP scenario would result in a lesser demand for fuels, and a decrease in carbon emissions. (Even in this scenario, however, emissions would greatly exceed the levels needed to limit climate warming to limit climate warming to two degrees Celsius, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.)
• Climate policies could alter predictions, especially if policy makers adopt stronger policies to reduce emissions.

The talk quickly evolved from a traditional lecture to a lively discussion and Q&A, in which ITS-Davis professors, researchers and students posed questions about BP’s analysis process and the origins of the statistical review publication.

Finley concluded his presentation with three key takeaways:

• Continuous energy change is the norm for energy markets, with the growth in renewables and decline of coal and oil leading to a fast-changing energy mix
• Energy trade patterns are switching from West to East instead of the historic opposite
• Reducing carbon emissions will require action on many fronts, with no silver bullet to fix the problem

To learn more about BP and their statistical review, visit their website, or read the full report.

Mark Finley has spent more than 30 years in the public and private sector working as an energy economist. In 2001 he joined BP’s Economics team. He has served as the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Business Economics, chair of the American Petroleum Institute’s Committee on Economics and Statistics, vice president of the International Association of Energy Economics, and was a 2013 Senior Fellow of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics. He sits on the external advisory board of the University of Michigan Energy Institute, and is an elected member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Photo credit: Gene Ang

More than 100 of the state’s leading climate policymakers, modelers and stakeholders gathered on the UC Davis campus February 23 to review the current status of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) modeling for the California and examine pathways for achieving the state’s climate goals.

The California Climate Policy Modeling Dialogue featured representatives from every major state agency involved in climate policy, legislative representatives, academics, industry and NGO leaders from across the state and was co-organized by Cliff Rechtschaffen of the governor’s office,  Michael Gibbs of the California Air Resources Board and ITS-Davis Researcher Sonia Yeh.

They came together to help lay the scientific foundation for policymakers who are now looking beyond the current 2020 emissions reduction timeframe. Gov. Jerry Brown in January outlined 2030 climate and energy goals for California, including:

• reducing today’s petroleum use in cars and trucks by up to 50 percent;
• increasing the portion of electricity generated using renewable resources to 50 percent;
• doubling the energy efficiency achieved in existing buildings, and making heating fuels cleaner;
• reducing emissions of methane, black carbon and other potent pollutants across industries; and
• managing farm and rangelands, forests and wetlands so they can store carbon.

In the event’s introductory remarks, Cliff Rechtschaffen, a senior advisor to Brown, referenced the governor’s inaugural address: “As the governor said, climate change is the greatest existential threat that we face in the world today. Nothing threatens the long-term health and prosperity of California more than climate change.”

 Acknowledging the “ingenuity and talent” of the people assembled in the room, Rechtschaffen talked about the progress being made in California on renewable energy procurement, energy efficiency and the cap-and-trade program.

“Governor Brown and California are demonstrating to the rest of the world that we can fight climate change and have a healthy economy,” said Rechtschaffen, while acknowledging that we have to do “much more. The sooner we act the greater the climate benefits, and the less steep of a hill we have to climb.” To that end, this gathering responded in part to the governor’s call for active collaboration with business, academics, entrepreneurs and local government; commitment to innovation, research and imagination; and pragmatic caution.

“One of the critical first steps of any modeling effort is to consider the range of questions that we seek to answer,” explained UC Davis’ Yeh. “How might California’s energy system evolve by 2030 and 2050? What assumptions drive these results? What are the key uncertainties? How can models shed lights on the scale of challenges we are facing in terms of new technology and infrastructure and what policies are needed to address these changes?”

Yeh also emphasized the need to “identify ways to make the models and model findings useful and accessible and more transparent to policymakers and stakeholders.”

The modeling workshop discussion considered:

• achievable GHG emission reductions through 2030;
• scenarios for technologies and actions required economy-wide and from individual sectors that may enable deep reductions in state GHG emissions;
• costs and benefits of reducing emissions, including contributions to local air quality improvements; and
• potential aggregate and distributional impacts of GHG mitigation policy options on the State/regional economy.

As Rechtschaffen noted, “We need to find out and learn what is technically feasible and doable, the impact on the grid, the best sequencing. That’s what modeling can help inform.”

To view the agenda and presentations from the California Climate Policy Modeling Dialogue click here.

The February 2015 gathering was the second meeting of the California Climate Policy Modeling Dialogue. View the summary materials from the December 2013 forum here.

Photos: (Top) California Air Resources Board Executive Officer Richard Corey delivers the luncheon address. (Mid) Part of the big turnout at the CCPM Dialogue workshop. Photo credit: Gene Ang.

Amy Myers Jaffe’s passion for her job originated in the front seat of a 1973 Oldsmobile Sedan.

The energy expert was a child during the 1973 oil crisis. There was only one gas station in her hometown of Swampscott, Massachusetts, near Boston, and she spent many early morning hours in the car with her father, waiting in long lines to fuel up.

“I would get up at 5 a.m. twice a week and sit with him in line to make sure we’d have enough gas for the week,” Myers Jaffe says. “It made a huge impression on me.”

Myers Jaffe is now the executive director of energy and sustainability for UC Davis’ Graduate School of Management and Institute of Transportation Studies. Her research helps bring together policymakers and leaders in the technology, oil and gas sectors to explore business models that can achieve clean energy in a commercially sustainable way.

Success, according to Myers Jaffe, is identifying incentives for businesses to make choices that are profitable and best for the public good. She’s hopeful that new technology and the diversification of fuel use could smooth the way.

“I would like to see the oil industry be part of the solution instead of part of the problem,” she says.

Myers Jaffe is glad to be at a campus unique in its zero net energy commitment, where it’s easy to practice what she preaches. She starts each day at UC Davis by plugging in her Ford C-MAX at an electric vehicle charging station. She teaches business courses in sustainability metrics and energy 101, and often helps students prepare for job interviews in the sustainable energy industry.

“This generation is going to change the things that really need to change, so it’s rewarding to hear from former students that they’ve found my class useful.”

Amy Myers Jaffe is the lead author on Exploring the Role of Natural Gas in U.S. Trucking, a February 2015 report released from the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis and Rice University. Read the report’s highlights and listen to an audio clip from Jaffe.

Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) Sacramento, an organization dedicated to furthering the careers of women in the transportation industry, awarded two UC Davis students with scholarships at the annual WTS-Sacramento Awards and Scholarship dinner. The event recognizes the accomplishments of women in the transportation industry, while also supporting promising students through scholarships and awards.

Transportation Technology and Policy (TTP) graduate student Kalai Ramea and undergraduate Melody Lin were each awarded scholarships on January 22 that will help advance their careers in transportation and energy.

Kalai Ramea, Ph.D. candidate in Transportation Technology and Policy received the Helene M. Overly Memorial Graduate Scholarship for her research into consumer’s vehicle behavior.  The scholarship honors Overly for her 15 years of service to WTS.

In the TTP graduate program, Ramea studies different consumers groups, and the effect that those groups have on the direction of the automotive industry. Formerly a transportation engineer at a consulting firm, Ramea is well versed in intelligent transportation systems projects and high-level policy analysis. She conducts various analyses of policies to determine how the public sector can encourage and influence greener vehicles choices by consumers.

“Organizations like WTS are extremely important especially at this pivotal stage where woman are breaking all kinds of glass ceilings in the transportation sector, whether it’s in construction, design, or academia,” said Ramea. “I feel extremely grateful and honored to receive this award, and it will provide me with the resources needed to travel to various conferences and present my research.”

Melody Lin received the Sharon D. Banks Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship. Named in honor of the late chief executive officer of AC Transit in Alameda-Contra Costa County, California, this scholarship aims to foster the development of young undergraduate women’s careers in the transportation field.

Lin, a UC Davis senior, is a double major in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning (EPAP) and International Relations. In these degree programs, she specializes in advanced policy analysis and global environmental health respectively, and is particularly interested in bike-sharing programs, pedestrian-friendly downtown areas, mixed-use zoning, and transit network fluidity.

“WTS is an amazing organization filled with fantastic people in the transportation industry. It’s wonderful that WTS encourages and gives women the opportunity to learn about professions in the transportation field,” said Lin. “I’m extremely grateful for being able to receive this scholarship, and it has me excited for my role as a transportation planner in the years to come.”

Photo (left to right): Research Engineer Sonia Yeh, Kalai Ramea, and Melody Lin. Photo courtesy of WTS-Sacramento.