Faculty and Staff - Wagner
Sharon J. Wagner
Office: 305 Winslow Hall
Phone: (207) 581-3174
E-mail: sharon.wagner@maine.edu
Assistant Professor:
Ph.D., Engineering & Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University
B.S., Environmental Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Research Areas:
Energy Economics, Environmental Impacts of Electricity Generation, Energy Storage, and Renewable Energy Policy
Assistant Professor Wagner’s research centers on the economic, environmental and social tradeoffs inherent in the production of energy. Her previous work involved engineering-economic analysis, environmental life cycle assessment, and multi-attribute decision modeling for concentrated solar power and thermal energy storage. She is expanding her research to include other renewable energy technologies, especially wind and solar.
Dr. Wagner received her Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University in 2011. After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Dr. Wagner began her professional career as an environmental technician in San Diego, California. She then worked for three years as a middle school science teacher and earned a California Teaching Credential from National University. She taught International Baccalaureate Environmental Systems to high school students in Quito, Ecuador for two years before beginning graduate studies.
Sharon conducted her doctoral research on the decision to couple molten-salt thermal energy storage with a parabolic trough concentrated solar power plant through the combined support of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and funding from the Climate Decision-Making Center at Carnegie Mellon University. She received the BestPaper Award in Solar Thermal Applications from the World Renewable Energy Congress (WREC) in 2011 for the economic portion of her dissertation work, which will be considered for publication in a WREC special issue of Renewable Energy.