2024 Rachel Carson Lecture by Marilyn Brown

Marilyn Brown delivered lecture "The Climate Challenge and Solutions for Communities" as one of the 2024 Rachel Carson Distinguished Anniversary Lecture Series on Oct 1.

Abstract: The climate challenge and the recent paradigm shift in U.S. climate policy underscores the need for expedited energy and environmental system analysis at community scales: regions, states, and localities. An interdisciplinary team of academics, business leaders, and community organizations in the state of Georgia has developed a data-rich and analytically sophisticated approach that combines energy systems modeling with expert consultation and community engagement. Our down-selected top 20 climate solutions are diverse and impactful, and our approach is helping others.

Dr. Marilyn Brown is a Regents Professor in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a joint faculty member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Her research focuses on the design and impact of policies aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of sustainable energy technologies. Brown has led several energy technology and policy scenario studies and is a national leader in the analysis and interpretation of energy futures. Her 6 books include Climate Change and Global Energy Security (MIT Press), and she has written more than 250 journal articles.

Currently she is focusing on equitable approaches to distributed solar and energy efficiency – coining the term “energy-efficiency gap” in 1990 and more recently quantifying the concept of “virtual power plants”. She contributed to the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment reports for which the IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Her work has had significant visibility in the policy arena as evidenced by her briefings and testimonies before state and local legislative and regulatory bodies, Committees of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, and international organizations.

Dr. Brown has served on 10 National Academies committees and was a Presidential appointee and regulator of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority for two terms (2010-2017). In 2020 she was elected to both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, and in 2022 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.