Our Team - Policy Institute

Austin Brown

Executive Director

Austin builds strong connections between the research and policy communities at the local, state, and national levels with a focus on clean energy and sustainable transportation.

Colin Murphy

Deputy Director

Colin helps guide research and outreach on issues relating to transportation, energy, air quality, and carbon markets.

Mollie Cohen D'Agostino

Policy Director

Mollie directs the 3 Revolutions Future Mobility Program at the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis. Her work spans several sectors and includes environmental policy, community development, and transportation planning.

Kelly Fleming

Energy and Transportation Policy Analyst

Kelly is a policy analyst with the Policy Institute, where she provides analysis of world-leading research for equitable, economic, sustainable energy, and transportation policy solutions.

J.C. Garcia Sanchez

Environmental Justice Policy Analyst

J.C. is an Environmental Justice Policy Analyst focusing on responsible urban development and the equitable distribution of public recreation spaces. He came to UC Davis after working as an Adjunct Faculty for several Community Colleges in Southern California, and as a Lecturer at Cal Poly Pomona.

Sopitsuda (Sophie) Tongsopit

Energy Policy Analyst

Sophie is an energy policy analyst with the Policy Institute, where she provides analytical support on renewable energy, distributed energy resources, grid integration, utilities, and regulatory policy.

Brian Harold

Policy Evaluation Specialist

Brian specializes in program evaluation. He focuses on evaluating the design, implementation, and impact of a diverse array of energy, transportation, and natural resources initiatives.

Hannah Safford

Researcher

Hannah works at the nexus of engineering and public policy, focusing on water, ecosystems, and climate. She also supports the Policy Institute on communications and outreach.

Sam Fuller

Graduate Student Researcher

Sam’s research for the Policy Institute focuses on political behavior. He is interested in how incentives, ideology, and other factors affect behaviors that often influence policy outcomes.

Paige Pellaton

Graduate Student Researcher

Paige is interested in institutional design and state legislative behavior. Her research focuses on committee politics with an emphasis on bureaucratic oversight and interest group influence in the wake of term limits.

Brittany White

Graduate Student Researcher

Brittany is inspired by sustainable and equitable urban landscapes. Her work centers around creative policy and landscape-design interventions that improve transportation and increase urban greening.

Annie Lee

Legal Fellow

Annie is a second-year law student interested in evolving state and federal policies surrounding automated vehicles.

Amber Mace

Policy Fellow

Amber is Interim Executive Director of the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) and a Policy Fellow with the Policy Institute.

Ingrid Behrsin

Affiliate Researcher

Ingrid works on the processes through which energy technologies and fuels are classified as renewable.

Mark Delucchi

Affiliate Researcher

Mark’s research involves economics (mainly cost-benefit analysis), environmental science, analysis of energy technologies, systems engineering, and town planning.

Julia Ekstrom

Affiliate Researcher, Climate Change Program

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Julie Witcover

Assistant Project Scientist

Julie’s research for the Policy Institute and the Institute of Transportation Studies focuses on transportation and climate policies.

Sophia Aldecoa

Student Assistant

While this is Sophia’s first experience working in the transportation and environmental field, she is interested in prison abolition as well as social and environmental justice, like equitable housing and transportation.

Lois Kim

Student Assistant

Lois believes with proper policy and planning, we can create social and physical infrastructure to embolden communities and industries alike to lead sustainable lifestyles, and she looks forward to playing a role in this process.

Tatjana Kunz

Student Assistant

Tatjana is interested in the relationship between environmental health, social justice, and the economy, and believes that well-designed policies will benefit people, the planet, and the economy.