Jennifer Daw is a water power group manager and senior researcher with over 20 years of domestic and international experience in the water and energy sector. Jennifer works with organizations to develop strategies, programs, and operational improvements to achieve their workforce and sustainability goals. Jennifer develops tools and resources to support the growth of the domestic hydropower and marine energy industries and provides technology and policy guidance to support the integration of energy, water and food systems.

Jennifer leads the Strategy, Policy & Implementation group in the Integrated Applications Center. She and her team lead complex energy projects that empower decision makers with the knowledge to adopt renewable energy and energy efficiency strategies by providing solutions to accelerate clean energy transitions. 

Jennifer is a Professional Engineer, Certified Energy Manager, and LEED AP O+M. She has worked domestically and internationally with water and wastewater utilities to perform system modeling and analysis, design, construction, asset management, and capital planning. Jennifer leverages this technical background to serve as one of NREL’s energy-water-food nexus experts, performing research that informs system optimization and integration through analysis, policy, and project development that supports sustainable, resilient, low-carbon pathways.

Research Interests

Energy-water-food nexus

Systems integration

Sustainable design and operation

Clean energy policy and project development

Resilience planning and strategy

Island, off-grid and developing country contexts

Education

M.S. Civil Engineering/Sustainable Development, University of Colorado

B.S. Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University

Featured Work

"Energy-Water Microgrid Opportunity Analysis at the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2 Facility," NREL Technical Report (2018)

"The Nexus: Gaps and Solutions for Sustainable Development," Presenter, Nexus 2018: Water, Food, Energy and Climate poster session, April 16-18, 2018, Chapel Hill, NC

Clean Energy Solutions Center Energy-Water-Food Nexus Web Portal, Technical Lead