Within the Latin America and the Caribbean regional team, she leads GEAPP’s work in Haiti which focuses on accelerating electrification and promoting local economic development through decentralized energy resources. She is also actively involved in GEAPP’s work with the Community Energy Resilience Initiative in Puerto Rico.

Outside of her work at GEAPP, Jess is a PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley, where she focuses on technical, policy, and spatial dimensions of climate-conscious and equitable electrification. She has research appointments at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Reiner Lemoine Institut in Berlin. Currently Jess leads the Spotlight Kampala initiative, which is a collaboration of academic, utility, government, and NGO partners focused on understanding the energy access challenges of informal urban communities in Kampala and beyond.

Jess has dual bachelors degrees in Chemical Engineering and International Studies from Virginia Tech and a masters in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley. She previously worked as an energy engineer with AECOM providing technical, project management, and business development support for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and construction projects. She has a diverse engineering background with experience in developing, remote, post-disaster, and/or post-conflict regions including Haiti, the US Virgin Islands, Iraq, and El Salvador. Jess speaks fluent Spanish and conversational French, and enjoys applying her energy and engineering expertise to development and humanitarian efforts.