Rate My Professor Sarah Jordaan

Dr. Sarah Marie Jordaan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at McGill University, with an affiliation at the Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design. Her research quantifies the environmental and economic trade-offs related to energy decisions through her research group, Energy Technology and Policy Assessment. The group focuses on life cycle assessment, techno-economic analysis, and technology innovation to support decarbonization of the electric and transportation sectors while advancing other sustainable development goals. Her courses educate students across disciplines on energy and environmental challenges.

Prior to joining McGill in 2022, Dr. Jordaan held appointments at Johns Hopkins University from 2016 to 2022 in the School of Advanced International Studies and the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, where she was also an affiliate member of the Hopkins Institute for Data Intensive Science and Engineering. From 2013 to 2016, she served as Assistant Professor of Energy Policy and Politics at the University of Calgary, supervising graduate students in political science and sustainable energy programs. She conducted research at Harvard University from 2010 to 2012 with the Energy Technology Innovation Policy group at the Kennedy School of Government and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Additional positions include roles at the Electric Power Research Institute, Shell Canada, the Laboratory on International Law and Regulation at the University of California San Diego, and the Ocean Sciences Center at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dr. Jordaan earned her Ph.D. in 2010 from the University of Calgary in Environmental Design at the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Economy, and Environment, and her B.Sc. in Physics with a minor in Computer Science from Memorial University. She received the 2022 Education Leadership Award from the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment, where she has been an active member since 2008. Her publications include peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Nature Climate Change, Environmental Science & Technology, and Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, along with a book and numerous invited presentations.