Construction of Revolution Wind has been allowed to resume by a court, at least for now. But federal funding for renewables remains uncertain, perhaps signaling more trouble ahead for large infrastructure projects. What is the path forward to ensure Rhode Island, and New England more broadly, stay on track with the energy transition despite federal backtracking?
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Climate Solutions Lab
Mircea Gherghina
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Research Interests
Environmental policy, energy transitions, economic sociology, science and technology studies, social stratification, sociology of organizations, computational social science
Biography
Mircea Gherghina is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Climate Solution Lab at the Watson School of International and Public Affairs. His research focuses on energy policy, environmental governance, and the diffusion of climate-related technologies. He has published in Nature Energy, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Energy Research & Social Science.
Research
Gherghina's research examines the emergence and diffusion of climate-related technologies, along with the policies designed to support them. His dissertation focused on how technologies like carbon capture gain political support despite uncertain outcomes, and how stakeholder representation in U.S. Senate energy policy hearings has evolved over the past two decades. He has also studied the social determinants of residential solar adoption in the context of state-level incentive programs in New York and Connecticut. His recent Nature Energy publication found significant disparities in solar system performance across neighborhoods, with income and race shaping unequal outcomes. At Watson, he is investigating how community-based organizations, including small businesses, neighborhood associations, and nonprofits, respond to growing climate risks and contribute to community resilience, including shifts in energy behaviors.
Publications
Gherghina, Mircea, Dokshin, Fedor A., Leffel, Benjamin. "Unequal solar photovoltaic performance by race and income partly reflects financing models and installer choices." Nature Energy, vol. 10, no. 6, 2025, pp. 697-706.
Dokshin, Fedor A., Gherghina, Mircea, Thiede, Brian C. "Closing the green gap? Changing disparities in residential solar installation and the importance of regional heterogeneity." Energy Research & Social Science, vol. 107, 2024, pp. 103338.
Dokshin, Fedor A., Gherghina, Mircea. "Party affiliation predicts homeowners’ decisions to install solar PV, but partisan gap wanes with improved economics of solar." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 121, no. 29, 2024.