Jennie Stephens’ research, teaching, and community engagement focuses on social and technical change toward sustainability, with a particular focus on how society responds to climate change and energy system innovation. Stephens research on social dynamics of energy technology development has focused on renewable energy, wind power, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, and Smart Grid. Her research also explores stakeholder engagement in climate modeling, communication among different actors including experts and the public, the potential of universities as “change agents”, and sustainable energy clusters. In support of her research, Stephens has been awarded funding from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Agriculture, the Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise, and Mistra: the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research.
Stephens received her Ph.D. (2002) and M.S. (1998) at the California Institute of Technology in Environmental Science and Engineering and her B.A. (1997) from Harvard in Environmental Science and Public Policy. Before joining the faculty of Clark University, she did post-doctoral research at Harvard’s Kennedy School and she taught courses at Tufts, Boston University, and MIT.