Hal T. Nelson, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Administration at Portland State University. His teaching interests include quantitative methods and research design, policy analysis, the policy process, energy policy, energy efficiency, policy and program evaluation, as well as social sustainability.
Research Interests
Dr. Nelson’s researches environmental, social and economic sustainability, primarily in the energy sector. His social sustainability research focuses on governance, stakeholder participation, as well as the development of decision support software. He is currently working on a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Civil Infrastructure System program to apply an agent-based model of socio-political conflict to the permitting of energy infrastructure projects. The NSF research builds on a grant from the John Randolph Haynes Foundation to study energy project permitting conflicts in Southern California. He has also received several grants from the California Energy Commission to improve the energy efficiency of existing residential buildings. More information on the NSF grant can be found here.
Background
Dr. Nelson worked as a professor at Claremont Graduate University for 10 years prior to his appointment to PSU. Dr. Nelson received a B.S. in Finance from the University of Idaho and a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy from Portland State University. He has over 15 years as a renewable energy and energy efficiency consultant. He is a former member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and has been a Chartered Financial Analyst for nearly 20 years. Dr. Nelson’s pedagogical strategies include student skill development that they need to be successful as public managers, consultants, and analysts.
Publications and Honors
For his work on land use and energy infrastructure project siting, Dr. Nelson was honored as a Lincoln Land Fellow at Claremont Graduate University. Given the diversity of his interests, Dr. Nelson has published in a wide range of journals and books. His Ph.D. dissertation on UK climate and energy policy was published in Power at the Crossroads (2009). Dr. Nelson has publications appearing in the Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, the Journal of Environment and Development, Environment and Behavior, Ecology and Society, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Energy Policy, the Journal of Public Policy, Social Science and Medicine, and other top energy and environment journals.