Sara Hastings-Simon
Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy and School of Public Policy
University of Calgary

Dr. Hastings-Simon is an expert in energy, innovation, and climate policy; her work is focused on understanding how energy and industrial transitions happen within different sectors of the economy, and how policy responses can improve outcomes. She explores the role of incumbents and governments in development and deployment of new clean technologies, particularly within high carbon economies; the markets and policy structures that enable decarbonisation of electricity systems; and the response of firms to carbon pricing and other climate policy measures.

Sara is an expert member of the panel for Clean Growth with the Canadian Climate Choices Institute, a member of the board of directors of Emissions Reduction Alberta, and the Pembina Institute. She was previously the Director of Clean Economy at the Pembina Institute where she founded Business Renewable Centre Canada. She was also the practice manager for Clean Technologies at McKinsey & Company, where she worked as a management consultant on topics of cleantech, energy, and sustainability. Earlier in her career she worked as an experimental physicist on realisations of rare earth ion-based quantum memories.

EDUCATION
PhD, 2008, University of Geneva, Physics
MA, 2004, University of California at Santa Barbara, Physics
BA, 2002, Pomona College, Physics