Tony Reames
About
As a multidisciplinary scholar, with degrees in engineering and social science, Associate Professor Reames' research agenda seeks to connect the areas of technological advancement, the policy process, and social equity. His research extends the environmental justice scholarship to focus on energy justice. He is currently exploring disparities in residential energy generation, consumption, and affordability—centering on the production and persistence of inequality by race, class, and place.
Dr. Reames recently took a leave of absence from his responsibilities at SEAS to serve as Principal Deputy Director for State and Community Energy Programs, and Deputy Director for Energy Justice at the U.S. Department of Energy. He led the Office of Energy Justice Policy and Analysis in the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity. In this role, he spearheaded the agency’s plan to implement President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, and was responsible for energy justice policy and analysis to ensure energy investments and benefits reached frontline communities and Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color. He deployed $16 billion in support of energy efficiency measures and clean energy planning, aiding communities that bear the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
Dr. Reames returns to SEAS in January 2024 as the new director of the SEAS Detroit Sustainability Clinic, and will resume teaching and advising in September.
Publications
- Reames, T. G., Reiner, M. A., and Stacey, M. B. 2018. “An incandescent truth: Disparities in energy-efficient lighting availability and prices in an urban U.S. county.” Applied Energy, 218:95-103.
- Stacey, M.B. and Reames, T.G. 2017. “Social Equity in State Energy Policy: Indicators for Michigan’s Energy Efficiency Programs.” Urban Energy Justice Lab: Ann Arbor, MI.
- Bednar, D.J., Reames, T.G., and Keoleian, G. 2017. “The Intersection of Energy and Justice: Modeling the Spatial, Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Patterns of Urban Residential Heating Consumption and Efficiency in Detroit, Michigan.” Energy and Buildings, 143:25-34.
- Reames, T. G. (2016). Targeting energy justice: Exploring spatial, racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in urban residential heating energy efficiency. Energy Policy, 97, 549-558.
- Reames, T.G. 2016. A Community-based approach to low-income residential energy efficiency participation barriers. Local Environment. DOI: 10.1080/13549839.2015.1136995.
- Daley, D. and Reames, T. 2015. Public participation and environmental justice: Access to federal decision-making. In editor Konisky, David, Failed Promises: Evaluating the Federal Government’s Response to Environmental Justice. MIT Press.
- Pierce, J.; Lovrich, N.; Johnson, B.; Reames, T.; Budd, W. 2014. "Social capital and longitudinal change in sustainability plans and policies: U.S. cities from 2000 to 2010." Sustainability 6, no. 1: 136-157.
- Eckerd, A. and Reames, T. 2012. Urban renaissance or invasion: Planning the development of a simulation model of gentrification. In editor Desai, Anand, Simulations for Policy Inquiry. New York: Springer. 83-100.
- Read more publications here.
PhD, University of Kansas (public administration)
MS, Kansas State University (engineering management)
BS, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (civil engineering)