Brandon Charles, who is pursuing a Master of Arts in Public Policy at Harris Public Policy, is working with Mark Templeton, the director of the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic. The Clinic challenges those who pollute illegally, advocates for changes to regulations and laws, holds environmental agencies accountable, and develops innovative approaches for improving the environment. Charles returned to graduate school following twelve years of working in the electric utility industry and chose to study at Harris to gain a better understanding of energy transition policies as well as the social and economic challenges related to those policies.

“I am learning a great deal about accomplishing novel policy outcomes through state-level regulatory processes. I am especially enjoying gaining first-hand exposure to the persistence, creativity, and flexibility necessary for introducing new scientific techniques, forms of information, and worldviews into existing policy processes. This experience will be invaluable to my career goal of positively impacting human mitigation of and adaptation to climate change.”