Laura Edling, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont
laura.edling@uvm.edu
Laura Edling is a Ph.D. student in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. She specializes in renewable energy transitions and her most recent project looked at the transition from fossil fuel use to advanced wood pellet heating in northern New England. Edling used surveys and semi-structured interviews to better understand the factors that affect decisions to purchase advanced wood pellet heating in four New England States — New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and New York. She interviewed people in the Model Neighborhood Project, a program of the Northern Forest Center that offers different types of supports to try and accelerate the adoption of the advanced wood pellet heating in these four states. In her research, Edling studied both the Model Neighborhood Program and the statewide programs and is currently writing a paper comparing their approaches.
“I’m looking at the four states in northern New England…and studying the transition from fossil fuel use to advanced wood pellet heating. The research falls into categories of energy system transitions and diffusion of innovations.”