Morgan Edwards

Assistant Professor at University of Wisconsin--Madison and Director of the Climate Action Lab

Research Interests

Climate Policy

Energy Systems

Industrial Ecology

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Fuel Technology

Energy Engineering and Power Technology

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

Geography, Planning and Development

Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Atmospheric Science

Global and Planetary Change

Pharmacology (medical)

Complementary and alternative medicine

Pharmaceutical Science

Environmental Chemistry

About

Morgan Edwards is an Assistant Professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin--Madison and affiliated faculty with the Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, Energy Analysis and Policy Program, Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies, Institute for Research on Poverty, and Data Science Institute. Her research focuses on modeling the role of technology in addressing the threat of climate change and assessing policies to accelerate equitable energy transitions. Her current projects include modeling the role of climate-tech in meeting net zero targets, evaluating the equity impacts of building electrification policies, and assessing pathways to transition natural gas infrastructure. She holds a PhD in Data, Systems, and Society from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a SM in Technology and Policy from MIT, and a BS in Environmental Science and Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to coming to Madison, she was a President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland.

Publications

A plant-by-plant strategy for high-ambition coal power phaseout in China

Nature Communications / Mar 16, 2021

Cui, R. Y., Hultman, N., Cui, D., McJeon, H., Yu, S., Edwards, M. R., Sen, A., Song, K., Bowman, C., Clarke, L., Kang, J., Lou, J., Yang, F., Yuan, J., Zhang, W., & Zhu, M. (2021). A plant-by-plant strategy for high-ambition coal power phaseout in China. Nature Communications, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21786-0

Quantifying operational lifetimes for coal power plants under the Paris goals

Nature Communications / Oct 18, 2019

Cui, R. Y., Hultman, N., Edwards, M. R., He, L., Sen, A., Surana, K., McJeon, H., Iyer, G., Patel, P., Yu, S., Nace, T., & Shearer, C. (2019). Quantifying operational lifetimes for coal power plants under the Paris goals. Nature Communications, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12618-3

Climate impacts of energy technologies depend on emissions timing

Nature Climate Change / Apr 25, 2014

Edwards, M. R., & Trancik, J. E. (2014). Climate impacts of energy technologies depend on emissions timing. Nature Climate Change, 4(5), 347–352. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2204

Fusing subnational with national climate action is central to decarbonization: the case of the United States

Nature Communications / Oct 16, 2020

Hultman, N. E., Clarke, L., Frisch, C., Kennedy, K., McJeon, H., Cyrs, T., Hansel, P., Bodnar, P., Manion, M., Edwards, M. R., Cui, R., Bowman, C., Lund, J., Westphal, M. I., Clapper, A., Jaeger, J., Sen, A., Lou, J., Saha, D., … O’Neill, J. (2020). Fusing subnational with national climate action is central to decarbonization: the case of the United States. Nature Communications, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18903-w

Quantifying the regional stranded asset risks from new coal plants under 1.5 °C

Environmental Research Letters / Feb 01, 2022

Edwards, M. R., Cui, R., Bindl, M., Hultman, N., Mathur, K., McJeon, H., Iyer, G., Song, J., & Zhao, A. (2022). Quantifying the regional stranded asset risks from new coal plants under 1.5 °C. Environmental Research Letters, 17(2), 024029. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4ec2

Vehicle emissions of short-lived and long-lived climate forcers: trends and tradeoffs

Faraday Discussions / Jan 01, 2017

Edwards, M. R., Klemun, M. M., Kim, H. C., Wallington, T. J., Winkler, S. L., Tamor, M. A., & Trancik, J. E. (2017). Vehicle emissions of short-lived and long-lived climate forcers: trends and tradeoffs. Faraday Discussions, 200, 453–474. https://doi.org/10.1039/c7fd00063d

Testing emissions equivalency metrics against climate policy goals

Environmental Science & Policy / Dec 01, 2016

Edwards, M. R., McNerney, J., & Trancik, J. E. (2016). Testing emissions equivalency metrics against climate policy goals. Environmental Science & Policy, 66, 191–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2016.08.013

Methane mitigation timelines to inform energy technology evaluation

Environmental Research Letters / Nov 01, 2015

Roy, M., Edwards, M. R., & Trancik, J. E. (2015). Methane mitigation timelines to inform energy technology evaluation. Environmental Research Letters, 10(11), 114024. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/11/114024

Research priorities for supporting subnational climate policies

WIREs Climate Change / Aug 13, 2020

Klemun, M. M., Edwards, M. R., & Trancik, J. E. (2020). Research priorities for supporting subnational climate policies. WIREs Climate Change, 11(6). Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.646

Satellite Data Applications for Sustainable Energy Transitions

Frontiers in Sustainability / Oct 03, 2022

Edwards, M. R., Holloway, T., Pierce, R. B., Blank, L., Broddle, M., Choi, E., Duncan, B. N., Esparza, Á., Falchetta, G., Fritz, M., Gibbs, H. K., Hundt, H., Lark, T., Leibrand, A., Liu, F., Madsen, B., Maslak, T., Pandey, B., Seto, K. C., & Stackhouse, P. W. (2022). Satellite Data Applications for Sustainable Energy Transitions. Frontiers in Sustainability, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2022.910924

Repair Failures Call for New Policies to Tackle Leaky Natural Gas Distribution Systems

Environmental Science & Technology / May 03, 2021

Edwards, M. R., Giang, A., Macey, G. P., Magavi, Z., Nicholas, D., Ackley, R., & Schulman, A. (2021). Repair Failures Call for New Policies to Tackle Leaky Natural Gas Distribution Systems. Environmental Science & Technology, 55(10), 6561–6570. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c07531

The role of corporate investment in start-ups for climate-tech innovation

Joule / Apr 01, 2023

Surana, K., Edwards, M. R., Kennedy, K. M., Borrero, M. A., Clarke, L., Fedorchak, R., Hultman, N. E., McJeon, H., Thomas, Z. H., & Williams, E. D. (2023). The role of corporate investment in start-ups for climate-tech innovation. Joule, 7(4), 611–618. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2023.02.017

Consequences of equivalency metric design for energy transitions and climate change

Climatic Change / Nov 01, 2022

Edwards, M. R., & Trancik, J. E. (2022). Consequences of equivalency metric design for energy transitions and climate change. Climatic Change, 175(1–2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03442-8

The Economic Consequences of Local Gas Leaks: Evidence from Massachusetts Housing Market

SSRN Electronic Journal / Jan 01, 2021

Shen, X., Edwards, M., Qiu, Y. (Lucy), & Liu, P. (2021). The Economic Consequences of Local Gas Leaks: Evidence from Massachusetts Housing Market. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3908392

Equity and modeling in sustainability science: Examples and opportunities throughout the process

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences / Mar 18, 2024

Giang, A., Edwards, M. R., Fletcher, S. M., Gardner-Frolick, R., Gryba, R., Mathias, J.-D., Venier-Cambron, C., Anderies, J. M., Berglund, E., Carley, S., Erickson, J. S., Grubert, E., Hadjimichael, A., Hill, J., Mayfield, E., Nock, D., Pikok, K. K., Saari, R. K., Samudio Lezcano, M., … Tessum, C. W. (2024). Equity and modeling in sustainability science: Examples and opportunities throughout the process. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(13). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2215688121

Air quality and health effects of a transition to ammonia–fueled shipping in Singapore

Environmental Research: Health / Oct 26, 2023

Rathod, S., Edwards, M. R., Roy, C., Warnecke, L., Rafaj, P., Kiesewetter, G., & Klimont, Z. (2023). Air quality and health effects of a transition to ammonia–fueled shipping in Singapore. Environmental Research: Health, 1(4), 041002. https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/acfb2e

Support for climate policy researchers

Science / Dec 16, 2022

Hanna, R., Dugoua, E., Nuñez-Jimenez, A., Nock, D., Arcusa, S., Castellanos, S., Davidson, M. R., Edwards, M. R., Galeazzi, C., Gao, X., Graff, M., Kennedy, K. M., Kontou, E., Lathwal, P., Musa, M., O’Rear, E., Sivaranjani, S., Zhang, J., & Zhu, Q. (2022). Support for climate policy researchers. Science, 378(6625), 1181–1181. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adf8956

Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Data, Systems, and Society / June, 2017

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

S.M., Technology and Policy / June, 2013

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

B.S., Environmental Science and Economics / December, 2010

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America

Experience

University of Wisconsin--Madison

Assistant Professor / August, 2020 — Present

University of Maryland

President's Postdoctoral Fellow / July, 2018 — June, 2020

Links & Social Media

Research Web Site

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