Dr. Magdalena klemun

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Systems Engineering & Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute
Johns Hopkins University

Magdalena Klemun is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Systems Engineering and a member of the Ralph S. O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute. Her research explores how energy technologies and systems change as a function of investments in technological innovation, with a particular interest in understanding relationships between technology design and performance evolution. Klemun’s research aims to enable more targeted climate innovation efforts, improve the availability of explanatory information about technology trends to enhance road mapping, engineering design, and policy development, and advance theories of technological change.

Current research areas focus on advancing data-driven frameworks to study the evolution of energy policies and technologies, including both hardware and “soft technologies” (the knowledge and codified practices used during processes of technology design, installation, permitting, community engagement, use, and end-of-life management); informing policies and technology design to accelerate industry decarbonization and manage the environmental impacts of advanced digitalization; and developing technology-level metrics to support sustainable development. Klemun’s research has been featured in journals such as Nature Energy, Nature Communications, Joule, iScience, and Environmental Research Letters.

Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, Klemun was an assistant professor in the Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies (AIS) at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS). Before earning her PhD, she was a power grid analyst with energy consultancy GTM Research in New York.

Klemun earned her BS in electrical engineering and information technology from Vienna University of Technology, her MS in earth resources engineering from Columbia University, where she studied as a Fulbright Scholar, and a PhD from the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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our lab values

Our group often starts from on-the-ground problems, not disciplinary knowledge gaps. We rarely use existing models and ask “what can we do with the model” but rather start from the question and develop an approach to answer it. Our lab builds first-of-a-kind datasets and novel approaches to asking and answering questions about energy systems, energy innovation, and climate policy.

As a lab, we seek collaborations across disciplines, ranging from social scientists to engineers. Our goal is to learn from people that think differently and are leading experts in domains that are new to our work. Finding joy in the “discomfort” that comes with working across disciplines, and being curious and intellectually flexible enough to do so, is a hallmark of this lab group.

Current Team

Team Gallery
Dantu Lu
Dantu Lu

PhD Candidate

Dantu Lu is a PhD candidate in the Division of Public Policy. His research interests are in technology management, energy transitions, sustainability, and business processes. He holds a BSc in Applied Mathematics from UCLA and an MA in Climate and Society from Columbia University. Prior to joining the Deployment Lab, he was the Chief Operating Officer of Grid Symphony, Inc, a smart grid and smart building company in New York City.

Ian Varela Soares
Ian Varela Soares

PhD Candidate (co-advised w Prof. Masaru Yarime)

Ian Varela Soares is a PhD candidate in the Division of Public Policy. His research interests are in sustainability and technology, specifically in the interplay between digitalization and decarbonization. Ian holds a Bachelor degree in International Relations from Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro and an LLM in Energy and Climate Law from the University of Groningen.

Qi Gao (PhD student)
Qi Gao (PhD student)

Qi Gao is a second-year PhD student in the Innovation, Policy, and Entrepreneurship Thrust at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou). His research focuses on cost reduction strategies for carbon removal technology. Before beginning his research journey, Qi worked for a nonprofit organization that assists Chinese businesses in developing low-carbon strategies and showcasing their climate actions at several United Nations Climate Change Conferences (COP24-COP27). He holds an MA in Philanthropic Studies from Indiana University and a BSc in Business from Western Oregon University and Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai.

Arati Poudel
Arati Poudel

Research Associate

Arati is a Research Associate with the Division of Public Policy. Her research interests include climate and renewable Energy policy, just transition, and interdisciplinary climate change issues. Through her research, policy interventions, and activism, Arati actively advocates for climate justice issues locally and globally. Prior to HKUST, Arati was a Senior Research Officer at Digo Bikas Institute, a research think tank in Nepal. During COP 27 and COP 28, she presented at UNFCCC side events and spoke at various national and international platforms. Additionally, Arati serves as an advisor to an established youth network in Nepal, Nepalese Youth for Climate Action.