Jennie Stephens, Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Policy (ES&P) and Coordinator of the Graduate Program in ES&P at Clark University, coauthored two chapters in the recently published The Social Dynamics of Carbon Capture and Storage: Understanding CCS Representations, Governance and Innovation (Routledge 2012). The book, edited by UK researchers Nils Markusson, Simon Shackley, and Benjamin Evar, provides new understanding of innovation in the energy and climate change fields, and integrates social and policy issues surrounding growing skepticism and criticism about CSS technology.

“The book makes a significant contribution to our existing knowledge and provides interested professionals, policymakers, and members of the public with a timely overview of the critical issues involved in the societal acceptance of CCS,” says Peta Ashworth, Chair of the Social Research Network under the International Energy Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Research and Development Programme.

Stephens wrote the chapter on “The Evolving International CCS Community” with IDCE alumna Yue Liu (ES&P ‘11) for the book’s Governance section. Another chapter, titled “Learning in CCS Demonstration Projects: Social and Political Dimensions,” was coauthored by Stephens, Markusson, and Atsushi Ishii. Included in the book’s Innovation section, the chapter reports on a collaborative research project that was funded by the Swedish MISTRA Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research.

Stephens’s teaching, research, and community engagement focus on sociopolitical aspects of energy technology, innovation, deployment of renewable energy, public perception of energy technologies, and climate change education and awareness. She received a B.A. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering from California Institute of Technology.