Morgan D. Bazilian is an American-Irish academic, who has spent the majority of his career as a diplomat and in public service. He is the Director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy, and a professor of public policy at the
Colorado School of Mines
The Colorado School of Mines, informally called Mines, is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, founded in 1874. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on en ...
.
His research focuses on energy and climate change policy, national security, and international affairs. In 2019, he was asked to testify in front of the
U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
The United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over matters related to energy and mineral resources, including nuclear development; irrigation and recla ...
as an expert witness.
Education
Bazilian has a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan (1991), a master's in Building Energy Analysis from the University of Colorado (1999), a master's in Applied Physics from Murdoch University (2001), and a Ph.D. in Energy Systems and Thermodynamics from University of New South Wales (2002).
Career
In 2001, Bazilian was a Fulbright Fellow at
SINTEF
SINTEF ( no, Stiftelsen for industriell og teknisk forskning), headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, is an independent research organization founded in 1950 that conducts contract research and development projects. SINTEF has 2000 employees from 7 ...
in Norway. From 2002 to 2007, Bazilian served as the Head of Energy Policy and Climate Change at the
Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) ( ga, Údarás Fuinnimh Inmharthana na hÉireann) is an Irish governmental body established to promote and aid in the development of sustainable energy in Ireland.
History
The SEAI was founded ...
.
Following this, he became a political appointee and Senior Advisor on Energy and Climate to the Irish Ministry of Energy under
Eamon Ryan
Eamon Michael Ryan (born 28 July 1963) is an Irish Green Party politician who has served as Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Minister for Transport since June 2020 and Leader of the Green Party since May 2011. He ha ...
.
In 2008, Bazilian was the lead negotiator for the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
on technology at the
UNFCCC
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...
climate negotiations. In 2009, he became Special Advisor on International Energy Issues to the Director-general of
UNIDO
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour le développement industriel; French/Spanish acronym: ONUDI) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in ...
, and helped to develop the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
Sustainable Energy For All Initiative while leading the
UN-Energy program. In 2011, he began serving as the Deputy Director of the Joint Institute on Strategic Energy Analysis at the
U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. From 2014 to 2018, he was the
World Bank's Lead Energy Specialist.
He is currently a Professor of Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines, and is the inaugural Director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy.
He is a member of the
Council on Foreign Relations, the
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
’s Global Advisory Council on Energy, and the Global Advisory Council of the Sustainable Finance Programme at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
.
He holds or has held academic affiliations at
IIASA
The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an independent international research institute located in Laxenburg, near Vienna, in Austria. Through its research programs and initiatives, the institute conducts policy-o ...
,
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
, and
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.
In 2021, he was appointed to Ireland's Climate Change Advisory Council.
Prior to his career in energy and environmental policy, Bazilian was a professional mountain guide on
Mount Rainier and
Denali
Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the th ...
for both Rainier Mountaineering and International Mountain Guides.
He is a published poet and short story writer who was named "Poet of the low-carbon transition" by
Michael Liebreich
Michael Liebreich (born 11 August 1963) is Chairman and CEO of Liebreich Associates, through which he provides advisory services and speaks on clean energy and transportation, smart infrastructure, technology, climate finance and sustainable de ...
.
Bibliography
Books edited
*(co-editor with Fabien A Roques) Analytical Methods for Energy Diversity and Security: Portfolio Optimization in the Energy Sector: A Tribute to the work of Dr. Shimon Awerbuch (Elsevier Global Energy Policy and Economics Series). (Elsevier Science, 2008). ISBN 9780080915319
Academic Publications
* Nussbaumer, P., Bazilian, M. & Modi, V. Measuring energy poverty: Focusing on what matters. Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev. (2012).
* Bazilian, M., Nussbaumer, P. & Rogner, H. H. Energy access scenarios to 2030 for the power sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Utilities Policy (2012).
* Bazilian, M., Rogner, H., Howells, M., Hermann, S. & Arent, D. Considering the energy, water and food nexus: Towards an integrated modelling approach. Energy Policy (2011).
* Bazilian, M., Onyeji, I., Liebreich, M., MacGill, I. & Chase, J. Re-considering the economics of photovoltaic power. Renewable Energy (2013).
* Bazilian, M., Nakhooda, S. & Van de Graaf, T. Energy governance and poverty. Energy Research & Social (2014).
* Heath, G. A., O’Donoughue, P., Arent, D. J. & Bazilian, M. Harmonization of initial estimates of shale gas life cycle greenhouse gas emissions for electric power generation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 111, E3167–76 (2014).
* Bazilian, M., Bradshaw, M., Goldthau, A. & Westphal, K. Model and manage the changing geopolitics of energy. Nature 569, 29–31 (2019).
* Sovacool, B. K., Ali, S., Bazilian, et al. Sustainable minerals and metals for a low-carbon future. Science 367, 30–33 (2020).
Commentaries
* Bazilian, M. D. Power to the Poor. Foreign Affairs (2019).
* Jaffe, A. M., Iversen, L. & Bazilian, M. D. How Mini-Grids Can Power Disaster Recovery. Foreign Affairs (2017).
* Morgan D. Bazilian, P. M. New Oil Finds Could Mean a Tripling of Guyana's GDP. Foreign Policy (2019).
* Bazilian, M. D. We Need to Get Serious about ‘Critical Materials’. Scientific American (2019).
* Puliti, R. & Bazilian, M. D. How a Key Energy Technology Can Help Developing Countries. Scientific American (2019).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bazilian, Morgan
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Colorado School of Mines faculty
University of Michigan alumni
University of Colorado alumni
University of New South Wales alumni