CMI early career researcher Tessa Lee is a finishing her master’s degree at Yale University, where one of her advisers is CMI researcher Thomas Graedel. While at Yale, her research interests include the materials required for a clean energy transition and aggressive decarbonization, including material flow analysis models of the critical materials demands associated with reaching net zero by 2050 or 2035. Her current focus is on demand-side models for closed-loop recycling of solar and wind. Tessa recently organized a symposium on the material-energy-nexus with Dr. Graedel and Dr. Saleem Ali from the University of Delaware as keynotes, and an interdisciplinary panel moderated by Dr. Barbara Reck. The recording can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRB7SbOM0Hk/
While at Yale, she has worked as research assistant for two professors, Dr Yuan Yao and Reid Lifset. With them, she has co-authored LCA papers on biochar and contributed to papers on material efficiency and eco-modulation in EPR. While looking forward to graduating at the end of May, she’s also planning for what comes next, both professionally and personally. She’s applying for work, with the idea that she could work up to three years before starting a doctoral program. One of her hobbies is bike-packing, where she travels by bicycle with a tent. She’s looking forward to heading west to bike-pack along Highway 101 from Portland to San Francisco after she graduates.
Before Yale, she worked as an environmental consultant for Eunomia Research and Consulting Ltd., focusing on the recycling of municipal wastes, environmental and resource modelling, and EU waste policy. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Natural Science from the University of Cambridge.
