Undergraduate Seminar
Climate & Energy Policy Seminar
Connect with researchers across campus, meet like-minded students, and get published.
About the Seminar
Each spring, the Kleinman Center hosts its undergraduate student fellows program and climate and energy policy seminar series. This program is designed as a competitive and selective appointment for committed undergraduates. Admitted students are expected to attend a lunchtime seminar every other week at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. These energy and climate policy seminar sessions provide students with the opportunity to meet and hear from energy researchers as they discuss the findings and policy implications of their recent research.
Seminar Topics
Lectures and discussions cover a wide range of energy and climate topics, including:
- Adaptive Design
- Climate Science and the Carbon Cycle
- Energy Markets
- Environmental Justice
- Environmental Law and Regulation
- Environmental Risk Management
- Renewable Energy and Storage
- Transportation
Note: Seminar discussions are designed to challenge students to think critically. Students need not have expertise on these topics.
2025 Seminar Speakers
We are thrilled to welcome an esteemed lineup of speakers for our 2025 undergraduate seminar:
- Danny Cullenward, Kleinman Center Senior Fellow
- Akira Drake Rodriguez, Assistant Professor of City & Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design
- Niall Mac Dowell, Professor in Energy Systems Engineering at Imperial College London; Kleinman Center Visiting Scholar
- Jacqueline Patterson, Kleinman Center Senior Fellow and Carnot Prize winner
- John Quigley, Kleinman Center Senior Fellow
- Megan Ryerson, UPS Chair of Transportation and Chair of City & Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design
- Benjamin Schmitt, Senior Fellow at the Kleinman Center and the Department of Physics and Astronomy
- Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, Director of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) Centre of Excellence in Food Security; Kleinman Center Visiting Scholar, Sustainable Agriculture Fund
- Paul Stainier, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Social Policy & Practice
Student OpportunitiesÂ
Student fellows selected for this seminar have many unique opportunities for both academic and professional development.
Networking. Admitted students learn from many of Penn’s top energy researchers—engaging and networking with presenters and student fellows.
Publishing. Blog posts that students submit at the end of the semester are published on the Kleinman Center website and shared with our growing community of students, faculty, policymakers, and industry experts.
Career Building. This program is an excellent career-building opportunity, helping student fellows develop a deep understanding of energy and climate policy topics. As official members of the Kleinman Center community, student fellows receive a number of ancillary benefits such as occasional opportunities to meet visiting scholars and speakers, advanced notice of Kleinman Center events, and the professional benefits of having an official association with a globally respected energy policy center.
Workshops. In addition to the eight lunchtime seminars scheduled throughout the semester, our undergraduate fellows have the opportunity to participate in writing and training workshops led by professionals working in energy. These workshops provide valuable professional development opportunities.
Student Commitments
The Spring 2025 seminar is held every two weeks for the entirety of the semester—a total of eight or nine seminar sessions. These sessions are on Wednesdays from 12PM to 1PM. Accepted student fellows are expected to attend all of the seminar sessions. Students must notify Oscar Serpell, associate director of student programming, of any unavoidable absence in advance of the seminar. Students with two or more unexcused absences will be dismissed from the program.
In addition to attending seminar discussions, each student fellow is invited to submit a blog post (~600 words) on an energy or climate topic of their choice by the end of the semester. Student fellows then work with the Kleinman center’s editorial and communications team to publish their blog on the Kleinman Center website.
Applicants do not need to be pursuing a degree related to energy or climate policy and science.Â
Publication Highlights
Past Blog Posts
This year’s insights tackled everything from research lab emissions to coal’s dominance in the developing world. Take a look at the full lineup of publications.
Read Student Blog Posts
Meet the 2025 Student Fellows
Naseebullah Andar
Matthew Barotz
Martina Bulgarelli
Elea Castiglione
Anjali Dhupam
Charlotte Fletcher
Jack Leitzell
James Li
Vivek Nair
Amelia Pilot
Ben Sailors
Solemei Scamaroni
Sara Takenaka
Tobey Theiding
Nina Wang
Tommy Zeng
Rachel Zhang
Amy Zhou
