How Trump could undo portions of Biden’s climate legacy
Biden's most recent climate initiatives are all but certain to be short-lived, mostly thanks to an obscure law that tends to come into play every four years.
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Center on Global Energy Policy Announces New Staff
December 5, 2024
The Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University SIPA today announced recent additions to its staff supporting research, operations, administrative, and development goals within the Center.
“I am thrilled to have welcomed these additions to our team over the last several months at The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA,” said CGEP Founding Director Jason Bordoff. “These new policy experts and dedicated staff have truly hit the ground running, immediately helping us to further establish CGEP as a world-class leader in energy and climate policy solutions in areas such as artificial intelligence’s transformative impact on the energy sector, energy use in the world’s fastest growing economies, and other critical issues at the nexus of energy, climate, and geopolitics.”
Recent additions to CGEP’s staff include:
Salem Alhajraf, Visiting Senior Research Scholar
Salem Alhajraf, Ph.D. – MBA, is a Visiting Senior Research Scholar at The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA. He is also a visiting research scholar at the Center for Energy Studies and the Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and a research scientist at the Energy and Building Research Center at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR).
Kevin Brennan, Visiting Senior Research Scholar
Kevin Brennan is a Visiting Senior Research Scholar at The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA, focusing on the geopolitics, economics, and market dynamics of the energy transition. Kevin is Head of Commodities and Geopolitics Research at Bridgewater Associates, following two decades serving various executive leadership roles across Bridgewater, including nearly a decade as Director of Investment Systems, more than five years as Co-Director of Research, and a year as Co-Head of Technology.
Jared Dunnmon, Non-Resident Fellow
Dr. Jared Dunnmon is currently the Cofounder and Chief Scientist of a maritime logistics startup. He has previously served as the Technical Director for Artificial Intelligence at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), Vice President of Future Technologies at battery firm Our Next Energy (ONE), and a member of the early team at Snorkel AI. Prior to this, Jared was an Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Fellow in Computer Science at Stanford University, where he was advised by Prof. Chris Ré at the Stanford AI Lab.
MD Khan, Associate Director of Operations
MD Khan is the Associate Director of Operations at The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA. MD joins CGEP from Eurasia Group’s GZERO Media, where he led business and sales operations, and special projects. Prior to Eurasia Group, he worked as an account executive and operations manager for Herschel Supply Co., a Canadian fashion brand.
Emi Marica, Senior Administrative Manager
Emi Marica is the Senior Administrative Manager at the The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA. Prior to joining CGEP, Emi worked as Board Liaison & Manager of the Office of the President at Japan Society in New York, where she managed the Office’s daily operations and provided confidential administrative support to the executive team, as well as engagement strategy on behalf of the organization with the Board of Directors.
Kevin Robbins, Senior Director of Development
Kevin Robbins is the Senior Director of Development at the The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA. Prior to his current role with CGEP, Kevin was director of development for the University of Chicago’s Humanities Division, where he led the Humanities to the successful completion of its part of the university’s comprehensive Inquiry and Impact campaign, raising $148.6 million toward the division’s $140 million revised and expanded campaign goal. Kevin previously served as associate director of development with Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, where he secured major gifts in support of climate, energy, and sustainability education and research.
Star Sawyer, Director of Strategic Events and Policy Programming
Star Sawyer is the Director of Strategic Events and Policy Programming at the The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA. Prior to joining CGEP, she was the Senior Executive Director of Alumni and Corporate Relations at Columbia Business School, where she led the engagement effort of the school’s global alumni network. Since 2010, Star has held leadership roles within fundraising and advancement at Columbia University and the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Her teams have primarily focused on creating connections and providing meaningful experiences through strategic programs and events for alumni and students.
Shayak Sengupta, Senior Research Associate
Shayak Sengupta is a Senior Research Associate at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA where he leads the center’s India program. Previously he was the Fellow in Energy & Climate at ORF America, the Washington, DC-based affiliate of one of India’s largest think tanks, ORF. Shayak has also served as a Visiting Researcher at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (formerly Brookings India) in New Delhi. His interests in India’s energy and climate future began when he served as a Fulbright-Nehru scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
Josh Zoffer, Non-Resident Fellow
Josh Zoffer is Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA. His research and writing focuses on climate and energy policy, the global financial system, and the intersections between international economics and national security. From 2023 to 2024, Mr. Zoffer served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House National Economic Council (NEC). At the White House, he led the NEC’s work on issues at the intersection of climate, energy, and markets, including climate technology investment, climate-related financial risk, carbon markets, energy security, and energy-related sanctions.
The Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs team is made up of many of the world’s most trusted senior energy experts from government, academia, industry, and nongovernmental organizations. Our staff includes scholars, fellows, and dedicated support professionals from communication and development departments.
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