Leah Stokes

Leah Stokes is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). She completed her PhD in public policy in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning Environmental Policy & Planning group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She also received a masters from MIT’s political science department.

Primarily, her research examines public policy, with a focus on energy politics in North America. Her dissertation examined retrenchment and expansion of renewable energy policies in the United States, drawing on interest group and policy feedback theories. This works builds on her research on the politics surrounding Ontario, Canada’s green energy laws.

Leah’s other research focuses on political behaviour, including the ramifications of local resistance to wind power, as well as public opinion on energy and the environment. She also studies international environmental negotiations, with a focus on mercury and climate policy.