27th Annual Stauffer Lectureship (Day 1 of 2): Professor Emily A. Carter, Princeton University

About the Lecture

How a Scientist/Engineer Can Help the Transition to a Net-Negative Emissions Civilization

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, and Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics, Princeton University and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

Each passing year brings more evidence that carbon emissions are bringing our world closer to a tipping point beyond which it is unclear whether and how most living creatures will survive. I have been driven by this concern for more than 15 years. I decided back then to use my expertise and pivot all of my research to work on sustainable energy solutions. Although the world still needs more energy innovations, such solutions alone will not suffice. We must stop emitting additional carbon into the atmosphere from all sectors, not just the energy sector; we must go not just to net-zero but to net-negative emissions,[1] in order to combat worsening climate change caused by centuries of fossil fuel burning. As a physical chemist/engineer, I have devoted the last 15+ years to both sustainable energy and carbon mitigation research, as well as leading efforts to build out initiatives and infrastructure that draw talent from across disciplines to solve the daunting problems of combatting climate change. In this first Stauffer Lecture meant for a more general audience, I therefore will give an overview and a few key insights from my group’s research but will also share recent findings on sustainable carbon utilization from a congressionally mandated study I am chairing for the National Academies. I will also discuss sustainability science initiatives I am building out at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a Department of Energy National Laboratory. Each of these recent activities were very intentionally undertaken. They are all about helping to ensure the future of our civilization, focusing on largely unsolved problems: sustainable carbon utilization,[2] electrification of industries, as well as solar radiation management. I hope that both my research (which the second Stauffer Lecture will dive into in more detail) and the studies and programs I am leading at a larger scale will inspire others to join these efforts.

About the Speaker

Emily A. Carter is a member of the executive management team at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), serving as Senior Strategic Advisor and Associate Laboratory Director for Applied Materials and Sustainability Sciences. She is also the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment and Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, and Applied and Computational Mathematics at Princeton University.  Since arriving at PPPL in 2022, she began working to diversify this Department of Energy national laboratory’s research portfolio into the science of electromanufacturing and solar radiation management; her portfolio expanded to include microelectronics and quantum information science in 2023. A physical chemist by training, Dr. Carter began her independent academic career at UCLA in 1988, rising through the chemistry and biochemistry faculty ranks before moving to Princeton University in 2004, where she spent the next 15 years as a jointly appointed faculty member in mechanical and aerospace engineering, and applied and computational mathematics. She was the Founding Director of Princeton’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment from 2010 to 2016 and then became Princeton’s Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science (2016-19) before being recruited back to UCLA in 2019 as its Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, and as Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.  Dr. Carter maintains an active research presence, developing and applying quantum mechanical simulation techniques to enable discovery and design of materials for sustainable production of fuels, chemicals, and materials. Her research is supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, as well as Princeton University. The author of over 450 publications and patents, Dr. Carter has delivered nearly 600 invited and plenary lectures worldwide and serves on advisory boards spanning a wide range of disciplines. She is the recipient of numerous honors, including election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, U.S. National Academy of Inventors, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and the European Academy of Sciences. Dr. Carter earned a B.S. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley in 1982 and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Caltech in 1987, followed by a brief postdoc at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Host: Todd Martinez