Energy Experts

From biofuels to batteries, UW–Madison has a wealth of expertise in energy. The researchers working in energy at UW–Madison are generating the knowledge and clean technologies that will accelerate a transition to sustainable, resilient, and affordable energy systems. This resource connects you to UW–Madison faculty conducting research in all areas of energy. If you are a UW–Madison faculty member working in energy and would like to be added to this list, please email communications@energy.wisc.edu

For specific media requests, please contact Mary Blanchard.

Name/Email	Title/Department	Research Interests
Michael Corradini corradini@engr.wisc.edu Energy Expert	Wisconsin Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics, Former Director of the Wisconsin Energy Institute College of Engineering	Multi-phase fluid mechanics and heat transfer Fission and fusion reactors Nuclear reactor safety Severe accident phenomena Power plant operation and design Energy policy Nuclear fuel cycle
Adrien Couet couet@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies, Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics College of Engineering	Nuclear Materials Irradiation Damage Corrosion of Metals and Alloys Oxidation Model Electrochemistry Molten salt corrosion Defect Transport in Oxides
Ian Coxhead ian.coxhead@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Professor and Department Chair of Agriculture & Applied Economics College of Agricultural & Life Sciences	Economics of development Effects of globalization and global market shocks on production, employment, wages and household income, and welfare Impacts and incidence of domestic policies on growth, trade and environment Economies of East and Southeast Asia
Cameron Currie currie@bact.wisc.edu Energy Expert	Ira L. Baldwin Professor of Bacteriology College of Agricultural & Life Sciences	Symbiotic associations between animals and microbes Symbiosis in fungus-growing ants Microbe and microbial community deconstruction of plant biomass in nature Identification, characterization, and systems biology analysis of cellulolytic microbes and microbial communities
Natalia DeLeon ndeleongatti@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Professor of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences College of Agricultural & Life Sciences	Plant breeding and quantitative genetics Population enhancement for biomass increase and cell wall composition Interface of plant breeding and quantitative and molecular genetics Phenotypic, genotypic and expression data Genetic analysis of developmental traits in maize
Ankur Desai desai@aos.wisc.edu Energy Expert	Professor of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences College of Letters & Sciences, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies	The influence of spatiotemporal scale, ecology, and micrometeorology on ecosystem-atmosphere interactions Micrometeorological, ecological, and biogeochemical interactions at regional to global scales Carbon and water cycling Climate variability and carbon cycles Terrestrial-aquatic linkages of carbon, water, and energy
Stephanie Diem sjdiem@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics College of Engineering	fusion energy experimental plasma physics microwave heating of plasmas magnetically confined plasmas electron Bernstein wave heating
Timothy Donohue tdonohue@bact.wisc.edu Investigator	WEI & GLBRC Director, Ira L. Baldwin Professor of Bacteriology College of Agricultural & Life Sciences	The pathways and networks that microbes use to grow, generate biomass or produce alternative fuels from sunlight or other renewable sources of energy Microbial networks and metabolic and regulatory pathways Genome sequencing, microarrays, proteomics and molecular techniques
Sheldon (Xiaodong) Du xdu23@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Associate Professor of Agriculture & Applied Economics College of Agricultural & Life Sciences	Economics of energy Commodity markets Economics of agriculture Applied econometrics
Juliana Pacheco Duarte pachecoduarte@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics College of Engineering	Nuclear energy Safety analysis Multi-phase flow and heat transfer Nuclear policy and regulation
James Dumesic jdumesic@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Ernest Micek Distinguished Chair and Michel Boudart Professor of Chemical & Biological Engineering College of Engineering	Kinetics and catalysis Surface and solid-state chemistry In situ catalyst studies
Morgan Edwards morgan.edwards@wisc.edu Affiliate	Assistant Professor of Public Affairs La Follette School of Public Affairs	Just transitions, fossil fuels, and stranded assets Leaks in natural gas distribution systems Measuring impacts of local climate action Negative emissions technologies Valuing impacts of non-CO₂ emissions
Tom Eggert tleggert@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Senior Lecturer Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies	Role of Microfinance in the developing world Greening of business, including brand and reputation building Social responsibility of business Environmental leadership programs, including state and federal programs Socially responsible investing
Paul Evans pgevans@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Professor of Materials Science & Engineering College of Engineering	X-ray diffraction Microscopy Optics X-ray probes for ultrafast dynamics Micro-and-nanoscale properties of magnetic materials Magnetism Domains and switching in ferroelectric materials Surfaces and interfaces of organic and inorganic materials Epitaxial crystallization processes in oxide thin films and nanostructures
Kurt Feigl feigl@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Professor of Geoscience College of Letters & Sciences	Tectonic applications of geodesy Measuring and modeling crustal deformation from earthquake faults, volcano activity, glacier loads, and fluid extraction. Geodetic measurement techniques Numerical modeling approaches
Michael Ferris ferris@cs.wisc.edu Energy Expert	Jacques-Louis Lions Chair and Stephen C. Kleene Professor of Computer Sciences College of Letters & Sciences	Development of modeling tools and software Problem analysis routines, data manipulations, and solution visualization procedures Theory and applications of optimization
Mark Finster mark.finster@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Professor Emeritus School of Business	Sustainable strategy, design, and improvement of complex systems in a wide variety of industries and sectors, including for profit, government, education, not-for-profit, large and small organizations
Cary Forest cbforest@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Professor of Physics College of Letters & Sciences	Liquid metal dynamos and MHD turbulence MHD instabilities in line-tied plasmas and their stabilization by moving metal walls Heat, current transport, and non-inductive currents in tokamaks and RFPs Flow-dominated plasmas
Dave Foster defoster@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Phil and Jean Myers Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering	Thermodynamics Heat transfer Fluid mechanics Internal combustion engines Combustion kinetics Emission formation
Brian Fox bgfox@biochem.wisc.edu Affiliate	Chair, Department of Biochemistry, Marvin J. Johnson Professor in Fermentation Biochemistry College of Agricultural & Life Sciences	Biochemical, catalytic, and spectroscopic studies of redox active enzymes Protein engineering The structure and reactivity of carbohydrate active enzymes
Jennifer Franck jafranck@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Affiliate Appointment in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics & Civil and Environmental Engineering College of Engineering	Computational fluid dynamics Unsteady fluid mechanics Turbulent flows Wind and tidal energy Aerodynamics Flow control Propulsion Fluid-structure interaction
Dante Fratta fratta@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Associate Professor of Geological Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering College of Engineering	Fundamental physical behavior of soils and rocks Assessment of the near-surface underground using non-invasive tomographic studies (geotomography) On-shore and off-shore near surface geophysics Evaluation of electrowetting phenomenon for surface tension changes in quaternary oil recovery Instrumenting and monitoring wind turbine foundation responses under cyclic loading Use of distributed fiber optic sensor arrays for imaging and characterizing low and high-temperature geothermal fields
Zachary Freedman zfreedman@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Assistant Professor of Soil Microbiology College of Agricultural & Life Sciences	Microbial communities and their ecosystem functions Microbiome Plant-soil-microbial interactions Quantitative, trait-based microbial ecology
Audrey Gasch agasch@wisc.edu Affiliate	Professor of Genetics College of Agricultural & Life Sciences	Elucidating the role, regulation, and evolution of eukaryotic stress responses Computational systems and synthetic biology Evolutionary and population genetics Gene expression, genomics, and proteomics
Jaal Ghandhi jaal.ghandhi@wisc.edu Energy Expert	John Bollinger Chair of Mechanical Engineering & Grainger Professor of Sustainable Energy College of Engineering	Combustion and fluid mechanics or internal combustion engines Laser-based diagnostics
Holly Gibbs hkgibbs@wisc.edu Affiliate	Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies	Agricultural expansion in U.S., Brazil, and globally Tropical deforestation Conservation, agriculture, and energy policy Impact evaluation Environmental sustainability
Linda Graham lkgraham@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Professor of Botany College of Letters & Sciences	Algal/plant-microbe symbioses Metagenomics & genomics Wastewater remediation
Corbett Grainger corbett.grainger@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Associate Professor of Agriculture & Applied Economics College of Letters & Sciences	Environmental and natural resource economics Distributional effects of environmental policies Rights-based management Air pollution Economics of climate change Electricity and economic development
Claudio Gratton cgratton@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Professor of Entomology College of Agricultural & Life Sciences	Landscape ecology of arthropods Sustainable management of bioenergy landscapes Examining the ecological links between lakes and land
Dominic Gross dominic.gross@wisc.edu Energy Expert	Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering College of Engineering	Control of microgrids and power systems dominated by power electronics Grid-forming control of converter-interfaced renewable generation and energy storage devices Grid-forming control of power converters subject to constraints Distributed control and optimization of complex networked systems

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