Caldeira Lab

Michael Dioha (Postdoctoral Fellow)

Michael Dioha is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Carnegie Institution for Science Department of Global Ecology, located at the Stanford University campus. His main research areas include energy system analysis & modelling and socioeconomic development for a sustainable energy transition. Michael develops integrated energy system models to examine the techno-economic implications of alternative energy strategies, and how they might be shaped for a coherent and sustainable energy future.

Before joining the Carnegie Institution for Science, Michael was a Research Analyst at the TERI School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi, where he did research on net-zero emission pathways for India. Beyond academic research, Michael also advocates for innovative approaches that promote just socioeconomic development especially, in Africa. Michael holds an interdisciplinary PhD in Energy & Environment and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering. Outside of work, Michael enjoys playing soccer, running and art.

David Farnham (Postdoctoral Fellow)

David Farnham is an environmental engineer and hydroclimatologist interested in how climate affects our engineered water and energy systems. David’s work can broadly be described as the development of statistical models to estimate and/or predict climate risks at time scales ranging from daily to seasonal to multi-decadal.

With regard to water systems, David has authored papers on topics ranging from the prediction of urban water contamination, to the estimation of future regional riverine flooding hazard, to the climate drivers of seasonal precipitation variability in water scarce regions such as the Southwestern, United States.

Within energy systems, David has been focusing on weather/climate dependent renewable energy technologies; namely solar, wind, and hydro power. For example, David has recently been investigating the implications of yearly to decadal fluctuations in potential wind and solar energy supply for energy system planning.

Bill Hayes (Scientific Programmer)

Bill creates programs to analyze data from climate models for Ken Caldeira and others in his lab.
After receiving his BSEE and MSEE from the University of Cincinnati in his home town he did his first professional work developing hardware and software for a Pediatric Cardiology research lab at Duke University. After working for many small companies in California he became a Systems Engineer at Siemens Oncology in Concord before joining Carnegie
He currently resides in Las Vegas tutoring Python online in his spare time.

Tyler Ruggles (Research Associate)

I am a scientist studying low carbon energy transitions. How do we create a low carbon energy system? What could that system look like? What technological breakthroughs are necessary? These are some of the questions which motivate my research.

My current work focuses on studying the interannual variability of renewable energy resources and potential consequences for a highly-renewable grid. I also model the conversion of electric power to liquid fuels or hydrogen to study the benefits these technologies can bring to the grid including increased flexibility.

Before starting on energy systems research, I completed a PhD in particle physics while based at CERN working for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.