Jesse Jenkins is a PhD candidate in Engineering Systems at MIT’s Institute for Data Systems and Society and a researcher with the MIT Energy Initiative. Jesse studies electric power sector operations, regulation, policy, and economics with a focus on two overarching trends transforming the electricity sector: the transition to zero-carbon power systems and the proliferation of distributed energy resources. Jesse earned a S.M. in Technology & Policy at MIT in 2014 and previously directed the Energy and Climate Program at the Breakthrough Institute, a public policy think tank. He has published peer-reviewed papers in the journals Applied Energy, The Energy Journal, Energy Policy, and WIREs: Climate Change. His research and writing has been featured in invited testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and in major media outlets including NPR, and the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Time Magazine. Jesse has received fellowships from the National Science Foundation, MIT Energy Initiative, and Martin Family Society of Fellows for Sustainability and serves as co-president of MIT’s Electricity Students Research Group.