Student Corner - Bio
Vid - Sharon Wagner
Posted on: December 03, 2010
Sharon Wagner is a Ph.D graduate in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy (EPP) at Carnegie Mellon University. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a California Teaching Credential from National University. Sharon was a teacher for five years prior to beginning graduate studies, including two years as an International Baccalaureate Environmental Systems teacher in Quito, Ecuador. Supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and EPP’s Climate Decision-Making Center, Sharon is conducting her doctoral research on the decision to couple molten-salt thermal energy storage with a parabolic trough concentrated solar power plant. She has analyzed the economic and environmental implications of this decision in order to inform public policy on the potential social benefit of developing future trough plants with storage. Her broader research interests include cost reduction in solar power technologies, the role of renewable energy alternatives in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, issues concerning the integration of renewables into the electricity grid, optimization of regional renewable electricity portfolios, climate change policy initiatives to encourage low-carbon electricity options, and demand-side management of greenhouse gas emissions.