I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow at University of Saskatchewan, Canada. As part of the Community Appropriate Sustainable Energy Security (CASES) project, I work collaboratively with First Nations partners on co-producing sustainable energy futures in remote northern communities.

Before this, I was a social scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Energy & Environment Directorate and an Adjunct Faculty at Portland State University's School of Public Policy. Since 2016, I've been engaging with local communities globally to envision sustainable futures and co-create transition pathways.  

As a researcher and educator, I specialize in participatory research and co-creating knowledge to advance sustainability transitions of marginalized communities and groups. I also create practical toolkits to apply knowledge in practice. As a seasoned energy engineer, I explore the energy-poverty nexus landscape and design place-based strategic pathways to transform the human and technical aspects of energy systems, to intensify individual and community well-being. I have mentored undergraduate and graduate students completing their degrees in India, Canada and the United States.

Integrated Energy Planning to End the Energy–Poverty Nexus 

by Clark A. Miller, Saurabh Biswas, Wilbourne Showers, Nalini Chhetri, Netra Chhetri, BrieAnne Davis

in COP27 Policy Briefs

Summary: Ending the nexus between energy and poverty is a critical priority for advancing just energy transitions and meeting many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. To achieve these goals, integrated energy planning needs to attend to: (a) how energy users will use energy productively or to create tangible value; (b) the knowledge, skills, and equipment to use energy effectively; and (c) the net value created through energy use, including benefits, costs, risks, and burdens. In this way, energy investments and projects can be designed in ways that result in high levels of societal benefit, contribute to economic growth and sustainable development, and are bankable to investors and sustainable over the long-term.