Leah Stokes

Education

PhD, Public Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MS, Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MPA in Environmental Science & Policy, Columbia University
BSc, Psychology and East Asian Studies, University of Toronto

Bio

Leah Stokes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and affiliated with theBren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Environmental Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). She works on energy, climate and environmental politics. Within American Politics, her work focuses on representation and public opinion; voting behavior; and public policy, particularly at the state level. Within environmental politics, Stokes researches climate change, renewable energy, water and chemicals policy. Her research has been published in top journals including the American Political Science Review,American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Nature Energy, Energy Policy, and Environmental Science & Technology. She has also published articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Vox, The Guardian, CNN and elsewhere. She is frequently quoted in national media. 

Stokes completed her PhD in Public Policy in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning’s Environmental Policy & Planning group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She also received a masters from MIT's Political Science Department and, before that, completed an MPA in Environmental Science & Policy at the School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. She earned a BSc in Psychology and East Asian Studies from the University of Toronto. Prior to academia, she worked at the Parliament of Canada and Resources for the Future.