Expertise: Energy and environmental systems, technology and policy, the nexus of energy and water, biofuels

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Curriculum Vitae »

Fellow

Michael Webber is an incoming faculty member with the Mechanical Engineering Department and Associate Director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy in the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining UT-Austin, Michael lead and conducted research on projects for policy issues relevant to energy, the environment, innovation, the U.S. industrial base, and national security at the RAND Corporation. Previously, he was a Senior Scientist at Pranalytica, an innovative company making cutting-edge laser-based gas-sensing instrumentation for homeland security, industrial and environmental monitoring applications. Michael has published more than a dozen peer-reviewed scientific articles, contributed dozens of papers and posters to technical conferences, given more than a dozen lectures and invited talks in the U.S. and Europe, applied for five patents (two of which have been issued), and given executive briefings to senior decision makers at NIST, DoD and Honda R&D Americas.

Michael’s educational background includes a B.A. with High Honors (Liberal Arts) and B.S. with High Honors (Aerospace Engineering) from UT-Austin, and an M.S. (Mechanical Engineering) and Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering, Minor in Electrical Engineering) from Stanford University, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow from 1995-1998. In 2005, Michael was recognized by the College of Engineering at UT-Austin as an Outstanding Young Engineering Graduate, and in 2006 was honored as the Commencement Speaker for the spring graduation ceremony. Michael was selected as a Next Generation Fellow of the American Assembly (founded by President Eisenhower) in 2006 and a Marshall Fellow for 2007. From 2004 to 2006 he was a board member for the Hope Street Group, which is a non-profit bi-partisan national organization for young professionals interested in promoting policies that expand opportunity and economic growth.

His recent op-eds on American energy policy and international affairs have been published in the Austin American-Statesman, Dallas Morning News, San Antonio Express-News, and the Houston Chronicle, and in January 2007 he was featured in a documentary by the PBS national weekly newsmagazine NOW. Michael lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and three children.

Webber Energy Group

Selected Research:

• "The Water Intensity of the Plugged-In Automotive Economy," Environmental Science and Technology, June 2008
• "Thirst for Energy," Nature Geoscience, May 2008
• "The water intensity of the transitional hydrogen economy," Environmental Research Letters, 2007

Selected Commentary:

• "Dogget Unveils New Bill to Cut Greenhouse Gasses," Austin American Statesman, June 2008
• "As State's Demand for Water Increases, So Does its Appetite for Power," Austin American Statesman, May 2008
• "When it comes to energy policy, beggars can't be choosers," Austin American Statesman, May 2008"
• "Resource Nationalization: A Smaller Piece of the Pie," Geotimes, May 2008
• "They May Not Use Gasoline, but They Sure Burn Through Water," The New York Times, Mar 2008

Blog Contributions:

• http://webberenergyblog.blogspot.com/