{"id":77386,"date":"2021-06-17T15:26:35","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T19:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=77386"},"modified":"2025-10-17T17:08:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:08:56","slug":"lauren-johnson-tackle-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/lauren-johnson-tackle-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Grads 2021: Lauren Johnson Sets Out to Tackle Climate Change Armed with Sustainable Energy Program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n\n \n \n \n \n
\n\n
<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n\n

\n Great Grads 2021: Lauren Johnson Sets Out to Tackle Climate Change Armed with Sustainable Energy Program\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Lauren Johnson was looking for a program that would give her an immediate technical knowledge of sustainable energy, but one largely focused on policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Master of Arts in Sustainable Energy<\/a> (SE) at Carleton is exactly that,\u201d says the new graduate.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cThe interdisciplinary nature of the program means I now have a solid understanding of economics, engineering and policy analysis. My numeracy is much improved, so I feel much more confident working in Excel and running quantitative analysis. Sustainable energy is such a multifaceted field, and the program built my confidence in many of those facets.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Johnson says one of the key highlights of the program was the Sustainable Energy Lecture Series<\/a> organized by the Carleton Sustainable Energy Research Centre<\/em> (CSERC). The series covers diverse topics, including Indigenous energy projects and action on climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lauren
Lauren Johnson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery single speaker is just fascinating,\u201d says Johnson. \u201cWe learned about cutting-edge technologies and heard many different perspectives on the sustainable energy transition. Now as an alumna, the events will continue to broaden my horizons and keep me up-to-date on the newest technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fall 2020, Johnson also had the opportunity to speak to the next cohort of students in the first-term core course Sustainable Energy Policy. The course explores the institutions and processes that drive and regulate investments in energy technologies and systems. She returned to the course as a second-year student to discuss the impact of justice movements and climate change action on the clean energy transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A research paper Johnson wrote for this course in 2019, Stealing the Genie from the Lamp: The Politics of Energy and Justice<\/a>, was expanded on and published in May 2021 in Princeton University\u2019s Journal of Public & International Affairs<\/em>. The paper explores the politics of equity and justice in Canada\u2019s sustainable energy transition and argues that the transition should directly benefit marginalized Canadians by endowing them with ownership of energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Lightbulb<\/figure>\n\n\n

Addressing Real World Issues<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April, Johnson presented her capstone project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was able to apply the knowledge and skills I\u2019ve learned throughout the program to a real-world topic,\u201d says Johnson. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cEnergy is fundamentally interdisciplinary. The capstone gives students the chance to bring all of those perspectives together and examine a single topic through many lenses.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

While Johnson has gained knowledge and experience over the two-year degree that will help in her career, she has also expanded her personal contacts. She says one of her favourite experiences at Carleton was working with classmates and becoming friends with them outside of class, despite the program moving to an online format due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur cohort will have spent the longest time online\u2014nearly three semesters,\u201d she says. \u201cWe still managed to become very close and support each other academically and emotionally through these really trying times. I learned so much from them and I feel so lucky to have met such a great group of friends who have a common interest in fighting climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—
\nMore Stories<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lauren Johnson was looking for a program that would give her an immediate technical knowledge of sustainable energy, but one largely focused on policy. \u201cThe Master of Arts in Sustainable Energy (SE) at Carleton is exactly that,\u201d says the new graduate. \u201cThe interdisciplinary nature of the program means I now have a solid understanding of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[25],"cu_story_tag":[1920,1921,1923],"class_list":["post-77386","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","hentry","cu_story_type-student-experience","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-arts-and-social-sciences","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-public-and-global-affairs","cu_story_tag-graduate-studies"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/77386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/77386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97732,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/77386\/revisions\/97732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=77386"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=77386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}