Topic Description:

The US electricity infrastructure consists of an aging stock of power plants and large-scale transmission and distribution equipment, linked together in wide networks vulnerable to high winds, heat, or precipitation anywhere across the region. The large-scale grid thus increases the vulnerability of urban areas to blackouts, while limiting control of local governments over their energy systems, weather risk, and efforts to reduce carbon emissions. This session will examine the impacts of weather and climate on urban electricity, considering weather prediction, system vulnerability, and decision-making under climate and weather risk.

Speaker Bios:

Tracey Holloway (Moderator)
Professor of Environmental Studies, Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Tracey Holloway is a Professor in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with joint appointments in the departments of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Civil and Environmental Engineering. Holloway's research employs computer models and satellite data to understand links between regional air quality, energy, and climate. She serves as Deputy Director of the NASA Air Quality Applied Sciences Team and is a Leopold Fellow, a founding member of the Earth Science Women’s Network, and the first-ever recipient of MIT’s Clean Energy Education and Empowerment Award.

Jonathan Martin
Professor, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Jonathan Martin is a Professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Martin’s research interests include analysis of mid-latitude weather systems, dynamics and kinematics of fronts, and the structure, evolution, and energetics of cyclones.

Manda Adams
Program Director, Education and Cross-Disciplinary Activities, Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Division, National Science Foundation

Manda Adams is a mesoscale meteorologist with interests in ways the atmosphere impacts the demand, production and reliable delivery of energy, particularly on the electric grid.  She received her BS in Meteorology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and went on to earn a MS and PhD in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Manda spent her postdoc as the only atmospheric scientist at the University of Calgary, working as part of an interdisciplinary team within the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy developing one of the first wind farm parameterizations for the Weather Research and Forecasting model. Since, Manda has joined the faculty of the Geography and Earth Sciences Department at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte where she is a fellow of the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center and the Infrastructure, Design, Environment and Sustainability Center. Manda is part of the American Meteorological Society’s Energy Committee, on the leadership board for the Earth Science Women’s Network (ESWN) and is on appointment at the National Science Foundation as Director of Education and Cross-Discipline Activities for the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Division.

James Irwin
Senior Associate, Center on Wisconsin Strategy

James Irwin is a Senior Associate working on the Center on Wisconsin Strategy’s local policy, energy efficiency, and green infrastructure projects, including the Mayors Innovation Project, the Efficiency Cities Network, and Emerald Cities. Prior to joining the Center, James advised the campaign of Seattle Mayor Michael McGinn and served as Conservation Program Manager for the Sierra Club in Washington State where he worked with volunteers and allies to run and win conservation and political campaigns focusing especially on transportation and clean energy issues.