Nuclear Energy Today: Perspectives on Policy, Practice, and Regulation in the Energy Transition
Hear from a panel of accomplished experts in energy policy who will address the persistent challenges, emerging opportunities, and policy implications that shape our understanding of nuclear energy. The panel will engage with multiple perspectives and will be moderated by Michael Mann, Presidential Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media at Penn.
About the Speakers
Allison M. Macfarlane is Professor and Director of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs within the Faculty of Arts at UBC. Macfarlane has held both academic and government positions in the field of energy and environmental policy, especially nuclear policy. Most recently, she directed the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at the George Washington University. She recently held a fellowship at the Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC and was Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Applied Public Policy at Flinders University and Carnegie Mellon Adelaide in Australia.
Paul Wilson is the Grainger Professor of Nuclear Engineering and the Chair of the University of Wisconsin-Madison‘s Department of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics. His research interests focus on developing improved tools for computational modeling of complex nuclear energy systems, with applications in radiation shielding, nuclear waste management, nuclear non-proliferation and energy policy. Wilson joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison as an assistant professor in August 2001 as part of the Energy Systems and Policy Hiring Initiative.
Michael Mann (moderator) is Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on climate science and climate change. He was selected by Scientific American as one of the fifty leading visionaries in science and technology in 2002, was awarded the Hans Oeschger Medal of the European Geophysical Union in 2012, made Bloomberg News‘ list of fifty most influential people in 2013, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2020. He is co-founder of RealClimate.org and author of many books and publications.
Special Thanks
This event is made possible by the Costa Family Building Bridges Fund, established by Eddy Costa, C’98 and Lia Costa in 2024. The program recognizes the Penn Libraries as the heart of the University, providing a venue for students, faculty, and community members to freely access information and ideas. It is in this spirit of equitable information and exchange of ideas that the Building Bridges Program supports events and partnerships that foster dialogue across differences, using civil discourse to "build bridges" across the Penn community.