Leah Stokes’ research examines public policy, public opinion and political behavior, with a focus on energy and environment. Her current book project studies interest groups’ role in changing US states’ energy policy, with a focus policy feedback theory, renewable portfolio standards and net-metering laws. Other ongoing projects include examining protests against energy infrastructure, political staff in Congress, environmentalists’ electoral participation, violence against environmental activists, and effective water conservation policy in California. To date, her research has been published in journals including American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, British Journal of Political Science, Energy Policy, Nature Energy, Global Environmental Politics, and Environmental Science & Technology.

She has published articles in the The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. Her work has been cited in popular media including The New York Times, Vox, The Toronto Star and CBC. Prior to academia, Leah worked at the Parliament of Canada and Resources for the Future. Leah is also the co-Chair of the Scholars Strategy Network’s Working Group on Energy & Climate. She is affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Environmental Studies Department at UCSB. She is also a Fellow at the Initiative for Sustainable Energy Policy at John Hopkins SAIS and the University of Calgary School of Public Policy.