Sharon Klein – Mitchell Center Leadership Council
Associate Professor
Sharon Klein is an associate professor in the School of Economics. She has worked at UMaine since 2011, and has been a faculty fellow at the Mitchell Center since 2019.
Klein’s research focuses on sustainable energy, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy conservation. She studies this topic from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including engineering, economics, environmental science and social science. She is committed to community-focused approaches to research, which look at the way that communities,individuals, and local governments are addressing their energy issues.
Much of Klein’s current work focuses on energy equity and justice. She works with underserved communities such as Tribal and low income communities that historically have not accessed the benefits of sustainable energy, and studies how these communities can reach their energy goals through methods like solar energy, window inserts and microgrids. She works closely with Passamaquoddy student Jasmine Lamb to advance energy justice for the Wabanaki nations that inhabit the land now called Maine, a project that grew out of a grant from the Mitchell Center. Klein continues to serve on the board of the nonprofit WindowDressers, which works to weatherize homes with window inserts.
Klein was inspired to work in sustainability when she learned about the destruction of the rainforests when she was 12 years old. Before becoming an academic, Klein was a middle school science teacher in San Diego, a high school environmental systems teacher in Quito, Ecuador, and an Americorps National Civilian Community Corps volunteer in the southeastern U.S.
Klein joined the Mitchell Center Leadership Council because she is passionate about its commitment to applied research and community-engaged solutions-based approaches. She hopes through her involvement to support the Mitchell Center in continuing its great work, bringing faculty together that normally might not have the opportunity to collaborate on projects and initiatives geared towards introducing students to interdisciplinary research.
Klein teaches courses on sustainable energy economics and policy. Previously, she co-led the five-year National Science Foundation-funded New England Sustainability Consortium Future of Dams Project, which estimated the costs and benefits of different hydropower technologies in New England and evaluated tradeoffs in dam decision-making. She has led the creation of a U.S. community-based renewable energy projects database, and supported the development of a Dam Decision Support Toolbox. Klein is currently leading the development of the Maine community-led Energy and Climate Action Network (MAINECAN), an energy-related social network for Maine that is part of a $1.125-million grant awarded by the U.S. EPA, which will launch a public website in 2025. She is also a co-lead on a $6-million grant awarded by the National Science Foundation to help develop secure electric grids in communities disproportionately impacted by climate change.