Dr. Chien-fei Chen
Environmental Sociologist & Research Associate Professor
UT Knoxville
Friday, April 14, 2023
2:15-3:15 Tickle 410
Abstract
Dr. Chen will present her framework on the multidimensionality of energy insecurity with her recent findings on the impacts of energy and internet burdens and insecurities among underserved communities. Methodologically, she will present the values of using a mixed-method approach focusing on the micro and macro-level analyses of the interconnected social-psychological, economic, behavioral, and policy factors that influence energy insecurities and burdens. At the micro-level, Dr. Chen will present her studies about energy burdens and insecurities collected in the U.S. and the U.K. during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021. Beyond the cost, she will demonstrate the finding of the energy burden related to residents’ experiences in keeping their dwellings at an unsafe temperature to save energy or making trade-off decisions between food and medicine and utility bills and experiencing a more severe water issue. In this presentation, Dr. Chen will also analyze utility hardships, including disconnection threats from utility providers and thermal discomfort and the relationship between energy and internet burdens on indoor environment quality, suggesting that energy and internet insecurity have bundled impacts on mental health. At the macro-level, Dr. Chen will present a multidimensional model that influences energy burdens across 3142 counties in the U.S. using non-spatial and spatial regression analysis. Finally, the study suggests policy recommendations through the multidimensionality of community vulnerability factors. At this presentation, Dr. Chen will also present her future work and how to conduct social-technical integration work with community partners.
Bio
Dr. Chien-fei Chen is an environmental sociologist and Research Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT). She is currently the Director of Energy and Environmental Justice at the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment (ISSE), the Education and Diversity at the Engineering Research Center for Ultra-wide-area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission Networks (CURENT), and the Co-director of the Center for the Study of Social Justice at UT. Dr. Chen’s research centers on environmental sociology, energy justice and policy, and renewable energy technology adoption and community engagement. Her main research goals are to conduct interdisciplinary research in integrating social-technological aspects in building efficiency and sustainability, EV and solar adoption, power grid resilience, and energy justice among underserved communities. Dr. Chen’s research provides practical knowledge to academics, communities, utilities, and policymakers. Dr. Chen’s publications appear in many interdisciplinary journals, including Building and Environment, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Environmental Sociology, Energy, Environmental Sociology, Energy and Buildings, Energy Policy, Energy Research, and Social Science, Energy and Buildings, Journal of Environmental Psychology, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, Electric Power Systems Research, and so on. In addition, Dr. Chen has been actively involved with several international and interdisciplinary networks. She has received several research awards from NSF and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. In 2022, she received two NSF-funded projects: Smart Connected Community “Advancing Human- Centered Sociotechnical Research for Enabling Independent Mobility in People with Physical Disabilities,” and “Strengthening American Infrastructure: Community- centered Decision-making Framework for Microgrid Deployment to Enhance Energy Justice and Power System Resilience.” In addition, her social-technological research: “A Community Co-Designed Weatherization and Microgrid Plan for Equitable Energy Security and Environmental Health,” is in the process of receiving a research award from the Wellcome Foundation. At the international level, Dr. Chen also received the 2019-2020 Fulbright U.S. and U.K. Global Scholar Awards for her energy justice work. With this award, she almost entered Wuhan, China, to conduct her research, but turned around at the Shanghai airport on Jan. 22, 2020, the day before Wuhan was shutting down.