2022 Young Professional Best Paper Award Competition
This webinar, was held on Friday, Oct 14th, 2022, at 10 am ET, and featured four finalists of the USAEE Young Professional Best Paper Award Competition, who presented their work to a panel of judges. The competition was open for young energy economists (35 years and younger at the time of submission or five years or less from completion of their last degree) working in academia, industry, government, and other organizations. The four finalists were selected through a very competitive first-round evaluation process. Each of the presenters had 12 minutes to present their work and 8 minutes for Q&A with the judges and the audience. After the event, the judges selected the winner of the "Best Paper" award among the competitors, though all presenters are recognized for the quality of their work by being selected for the final competition.
Congratulations to our winner:
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Paige Weber, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill INTERMITTENCY OR UNCERTAINTY IMPACTS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN ELECTRICITY MARKETS Paige Weber is an Assistant Professor in the Economics Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with an adjunct appointment in the Environment, Ecology, and Energy Program. She uses methods in applied microeconomics and industrial organization to answer research questions in energy, equity, and policy. Her research studies energy and electricity markets, climate change policy, distributional impacts of environmental policy, and industry responses to environmental regulation. She received her Ph.D. in Environmental Economics from Yale University in 2019, and her Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She has professional experiences in the electricity industry, federal government, and non-governmental research organizations, all of which inform and motivate her research agenda. |
Congratulations to our runner-up:
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Tim Schittekatte, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Tim Schittekatte is a postdoctoral associate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He teaches a course on engineering, economics, and regulation of the power sector and conducts research about the same topics within the MIT Energy Initiative. More specifically, his current research interests are power market design in times of crisis and electricity retail rates for decarbonizing power systems. Prior to joining MIT, he was a research fellow at the Florence School of Regulation at the European University Institute. He graduated as an engineer from Ghent University, Belgium, and completed the EMIN program with an international master's in economics. He holds a Ph.D. in energy economics from University Paris-Sud XI.
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Finalists
The presentations will occur in this (randomly selected) order:
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Paige Weber, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill INTERMITTENCY OR UNCERTAINTY IMPACTS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN ELECTRICITY MARKETS Paige Weber is an Assistant Professor in the Economics Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with an adjunct appointment in the Environment, Ecology, and Energy Program. She uses methods in applied microeconomics and industrial organization to answer research questions in energy, equity, and policy. Her research studies energy and electricity markets, climate change policy, distributional impacts of environmental policy, and industry responses to environmental regulation. She received her Ph.D. in Environmental Economics from Yale University in 2019, and her Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She has professional experiences in the electricity industry, federal government, and non-governmental research organizations, all of which inform and motivate her research agenda. |
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Xingchi Shen, Yale University THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF LOCAL GAS LEAKS: EVIDENCE FROM MASSACHUSETTS HOUSING MARKET Xingchi Shen is a Postdoctoral Associate in Energy Economics at Yale School of the Environment (YSE). His research interests include the economics of electrification and energy efficiency, energy consumption behaviors, clean energy transition, and social equity. His previous and ongoing research examines the economic incentives and consequences of clean technology adoption (e.g., heat pumps, solar photovoltaics, electric vehicle, home battery) in the buildings and transportation sectors, which provides decision-support for decarbonization policies. Xingchi received his Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Maryland.
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Ruoyu Chen, University of Windsor EVALUATING POWER SECTOR EMISSIONS UNDER CHINAS REGIONAL CARBON ETS PILOTS: A VIEW FROM SPACE Ruoyu Chen is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Windsor, specializing in the areas of environmental and energy economics, urban economics, and development economics. Ruoyu’s research primarily focuses on advancing the understanding of the effectiveness of carbon trading in restriction power sector emissions and renewable energy adoption, with a special interest in the Chinese economy. His research also encompasses the economic impacts of housing market regulations. He obtained his Ph.D. in Economics and his M.A. in International Trade and Investment Policy from George Washington University, and his B.A. in English Literature and Linguistics from Tsinghua University. For more information on Ruoyu’s research, please see https://stevenrychen.com/. |
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Tim Schittekatte, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Tim Schittekatte is a postdoctoral associate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He teaches a course on engineering, economics, and regulation of the power sector and conducts research about the same topics within the MIT Energy Initiative. More specifically, his current research interests are power market design in times of crisis and electricity retail rates for decarbonizing power systems. Prior to joining MIT, he was a research fellow at the Florence School of Regulation at the European University Institute. He graduated as an engineer from Ghent University, Belgium, and completed the EMIN program with an international master's in economics. He holds a Ph.D. in energy economics from University Paris-Sud XI.
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Moderator:
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Yueming (Lucy) Qiu University of Maryland College Park |
Yueming (Lucy) Qiu is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy at University of Maryland College Park. Her research group focuses on using big data with quasi-experimental and experimental methods to answer empirical questions related to the interactions among consumer behaviours, energy technologies, and incentives. Her research projects have been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, Electric Power Research Institute, the Department of Defence, and Water Research Foundation. Dr. Qiu received her Ph.D. from Stanford University and B.S. from Tsinghua University. She has published in scientific journals including the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Nature Energy, Nature Sustainability, and Nature Communications. |
Judges:
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IMELDA The Geneva Graduate Institute |
Imelda is the André Hoffmann Assistant Professor in Environmental and Resource Economics and part of the Center for International Environmental Studies since 2021. She is an applied microeconomist and she received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Hawaii in 2018. She did her postdoctoral research at the Department of Economics, Carlos III University in Madrid, where she investigates policies to achieve the clean energy transition. Her research explores the intersections of health, energy, gender, and environmental economics, looking at how clean energy transition and policies can improve welfare and market outcomes. |
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Eric Hittinger Rochester Institute of Technology |
Eric Hittinger is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Policy at Rochester Institute of Technology. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, an MS in Macromolecular Science, and BS in Polymer Science and Engineering from Case Western Reserve University. Professor Hittinger has a background in electricity system policy, operation, and economics, with a focus on understanding the benefits and limitations of energy storage and renewable electricity sources. His research often uses techno-economic modeling of electricity systems to understand the effects of system policies and interactions.
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Akshaya Jha Carnegie Mellon University |
Akshaya Jha is an Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy Jha’s research interests lie at the intersection of energy and environmental economics and industrial organization. His research uses a combination of economic modeling and causal inference techniques to quantify the economic and environmental costs and benefits of a wide range of policies impacting wholesale electricity supply. In recent work, he has examined the introduction of financial trading to California’s wholesale electricity market, the phase-out of nuclear power in Germany, the dramatic growth of rooftop solar capacity in Western Australia, and the determinants of electricity blackouts in India. He received a BS in Economics and Statistics from Carnegie Mellon University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University. |
