Marjorie Hall is pursuing a Ph.D. in History of Technology from the School of History and Sociology in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. Her studies revolve around understanding the complexities of America’s environmental history as a means to developing new and better approaches to address negative human impacts on the planet. She is also interested in the intersection of policy, environmental justice, and the history of technology transitions. Marjorie earned a B.A. in English from Guilford College and a M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She then worked at an engineering consulting firm that specialized in the remediation of toxic waste sites. Marjorie’s role was to research and document the history of the sites to determine what toxic substances were dumped, how much, and who was responsible. This work required her to learn how to synthesize information in a highly trans-disciplinary environment, working with chemists, hydrogeologists, statisticians, and engineers, to accurately piece together the history of contaminated areas. Marjorie is a native of DeKalb County and enjoys reading science fiction, hiking with her teenaged daughters, and singing in a church band.

Advisor: Steve Usselman

Bettina Arkhurst is a Ph.D. student in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Her research lies at the intersection of energy, design and equity. She is seeking to create frameworks for mechanical engineers to apply as they design energy technologies for all communities. Bettina has participated in research projects spanning disciplines such as parasitology, neuroscience and thermal metrology. As an undergraduate, Bettina found her passions for community-building, mental health, engineering and equity. Today, she leads her department’s graduate student mental health committee and is a member of the department’s diversity and inclusion council. Bettina is also a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and Alfred P. Sloan Scholar. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT.

Advisor: Katherine Fu

Daniel Matisoff teaches and conducts research in the areas of public policy, energy policy, and corporate sustainability. His research focuses on the effectiveness and efficiency of comparative approaches to addressing environmental problems and the adoption and diffusion of energy technologies and policies. He currently is a fellow with the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainability, and is affiliated with the Strategic Energy Institute and Center for Urban Innovation. He has participated in over $4 million of sponsored research through the National Science Foundation, the European Union Center for Excellence, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Georgia Department of Transportation, and the National Electric Energy Testing Research and Applications Center. His recent research has resulted in publications in the Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Environmental and Resource Economics, Energy Economics, Environmental Science and Technology, Energy Policy, and Business Strategy and the Environment, among other outlets. His current research interests include: evaluating the effectiveness of voluntary eco-labeling programs; the effectiveness of incentives for solar electricity; the adoption of smart grid technologies and policies; and the impact of large scale solar adoption on consumer rates and bills.