Kelly Sanders

Dr. Kelly T. Sanders is the Dr. Teh Fu Yen Early Career Chair and Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Spatial Sciences in the University of Southern California’s Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Her research aims to ease tensions between human and natural systems through technical, regulatory and market intervention, with particular emphasis on reducing the environmental impacts of providing energy and water services. Her research thrusts consist of system-level analyses that seek to resolve issues with technical, political, and societal significance to inform better decision making in regards to energy and water resource management. Current projects include using power grid modeling simulation tools to quantify the environmental impacts (i.e. water, air and land) of electricity generation for various climate, policy, and technological scenarios. The environmental impacts of primary fuel extraction and water management are also explored. In 2019, she was granted an NSF Early CAREER award.

She has authored more than two dozen publications and has given dozens of invited talks on topics at the intersection of engineering, science and policy.

Sanders has been recognized in Forbes’ 30 under 30 in Energy and MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35 for her contributions to the energy field. Her research and commentary have been featured in media outlets such as Forbes, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and Scientific American.

In 2019, she received the USC Women in Science and Engineering Hanna Reisler Mentorship Award.

She teaches classes related to energy and the environment.