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Summer 2020

June 30, 2020

Nathaniel Stinnett, "Modern Environmental Politics: Big Data, Behavioral Science, and Why Voting Is Everything"

 

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Nathaniel Stinnett
Nathaniel Stinnett

Co-sponsored by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences at Dartmouth, the Dartmouth Government Department, and the Anthropocene Working Group at Dartmouth. 

View recording. 

About the Talk: Environmentalists aren't voting as much as they ought to, but recent advances in data analytics and behavioral science offer hope for 2020 and beyond. With fresh data from recent elections and mobilization experiments, voter turnout expert Nathaniel Stinnett will discuss how modern political campaigns identify and mobilize voters, and how that impacts environmental policy at the local, state, and federal level.

About the Speaker: Nathaniel Stinnett is the Founder and Executive Director of the Environmental Voter Project, a non-partisan nonprofit that uses data analytics and behavioral science to mobilize environmentalists to vote. Named one of five global "climate visionaries" by The New York Times in 2018, and dubbed "The Voting Guru" by Grist magazine, Stinnett is a frequent expert speaker on cutting-edge campaign techniques and the behavioral science behind getting people to vote. He has held a variety of senior leadership and campaign manager positions on U.S. Senate, Congressional, state, and mayoral campaigns, and he sits on the Board of Advisors for MIT's Environmental Solutions Initiative. Formerly an attorney at the international law firm DLA Piper, Stinnett holds a BA from Yale University and a JD from Boston College Law School, and he lives in Boston, MA with his wife and two daughters.

July 14, 2020

Energy Stimulus Panel

Co-sponsored by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences at Dartmouth and the Dartmouth Government Department

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Recent editorials by Sue Tierney and Dan Reicher '78 have presented interesting and important perspectives on opportunities and challenges facing stimulus investments in the energy sector. Join energy experts Tierney, Reicher, Abby Hopper '93, Tom Kiernan '81, and Jeff Dagle as they discuss stimulus investments supporting the creation of new energy systems. Read about the panelists here.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Caitlyn Bunker, "Clean Energy Transition: What We've Learned from Partnering with Caribbean Islands to Develop Inclusive Approaches that Accelerate Progress"

 

Kaitlyn Bunker

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About the Talk: Caribbean islands are among the first to be impacted by our global climate crisis, although their direct contribution to GHG emissions is minimal. At the same time, islands have chosen to be leaders in clean energy transition, recognizing that moving from their current centralized fossil-fueled electricity systems to distributed clean energy options brings a range of benefits, from reducing emissions to lowering electricity costs, increasing system resilience, and using local resource options. The Rocky Mountain Institute Islands Energy Program partners with Caribbean islands to define optimal pathways and accelerate their clean energy transitions. This presentation and discussion will focus on the approach developed by the RMI team to best support islands in their efforts through inclusive energy planning processes and a whole-systems approach. While there are unique aspects of small island electricity systems that create both challenges and opportunities, the presentation will also highlight aspects of islands' experiences that are relevant to larger electricity systems in other regions.

About the Speaker: Kaitlyn Bunker, Ph.D., P.E. leads the Islands Energy Program at Rocky Mountain Institute, including leading energy modeling and technical analysis to complete integrated resource plans in partnership with Caribbean island utilities, governments, and regulators. These plans take a whole-systems view of various options for the future of the electricity sector on each island, and lead to specific investment plans for clean energy solutions. She has worked closely with stakeholders in Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Bermuda. Kaitlyn also leads modeling efforts related to small island microgrid opportunities. She joined RMI after completing a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, MI.