WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm issued the following statement today on President Biden’s intent to nominate Shalanda Baker for Director of the Office of Minority Economic Impact, Dr. Asmeret Berhe for Director of the Office of Science, and Frank Rose for Principal Deputy Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration:

“The Department of Energy needs the sharpest minds guiding our core nuclear, science, and equity missions that protect our planet and lift up our people—and Shalanda, Asmeret, and Frank are the best of the best. These three rockstar nominees bring unparalleled expertise in their respective fields, and share my hair-on-fire sense of urgency about tackling the challenges we face. I am thrilled that President Biden has put their hats in the ring, and I urge the Senate to confirm them quickly so that we can get to work.”

About Shalanda Baker

Shalanda H. Baker is the Deputy Director for Energy Justice in the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity at the U.S. Department of Energy. Prior to her appointment, she was a Professor of Law, Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. She has spent over a decade conducting research on the equity dimensions of the global transition away from fossil fuel energy to cleaner energy resources. She is the author of over a dozen articles, book chapters, and essays on renewable energy law, energy justice, energy policy, and renewable energy development. In 2016, she received a Fulbright-Garcia-Robles research fellowship to study climate change, energy policy, and indigenous rights in Mexico. She is the Co-Founder and former Co-Director of the Initiative for Energy Justice, an organization committed to providing technical law and policy support to communities on the frontlines of climate change. Her book, Revolutionary Power: An Activist’s Guide to the Energy Transition (Island Press 2021), argues that the technical terrain of energy policy should be the next domain to advance civil rights. She received her B.S. from the United States Air Force Academy and J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law. She obtained her LLM while serving as a William H. Hastie Fellow at the University of Wisconsin School of Law.

About Dr. Asmeret Berhe

Asmeret Asefaw Berhe is a Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry; the Ted and Jan Falasco Chair in Earth Sciences and Geology; and Interim Associate Dean for Graduate Education at the University of California, Merced. Her research is at the intersection of soil science, global change science, and political ecology with an emphasis on how the soil system regulates the earth’s climate and the dynamic two-way relationship between the natural environment and human communities. She previously served as the Chair of the US National Committee on Soil Science at the National Academies; was a Leadership board member for the Earth Science Women’s Network; and is currently a co-principal investigator in the ADVANCEGeo Partnership – a National Science Foundation funded effort to empower (geo)scientists to respond to and prevent harassment, discrimination, bullying and other exclusionary behaviors in research environments. Her scholarship on how physical processes such as erosion, fire, and changes in climate affect the biogeochemical cycling of essential elements in the earth system and her efforts to ensure equity and inclusion of people from all walks of life in the scientific enterprise have received numerous awards and honors. She is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the Geological Society of America, and a member of the inaugural class of the US National Academies New Voices in Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

Asmeret was born and raised in Asmara, Eritrea. She received a B.Sc. in Soil and Water Conservation from the University of Asmara, an M.Sc. in Political Ecology from Michigan State University, and a Ph.D. in Biogeochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. In 2020 she was named a Great Immigrant, Great American by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

About Frank Rose

Frank A. Rose is a senior fellow and co-director of the Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution.  Prior to joining Brookings, Rose served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance from 2014-17. From 2009-14, Rose served as the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Space and Defense Policy. He has also held positions at the U.S. Department of Defense, in the U.S. Congress, and the private sector. Rose received his B.A. in History from American University in 1994 and a M.A. in War Studies from King’s College, University of London in 1999.