Erin Whitney
Research Full Professor
UAF Associate Vice Chancellor for Research
Email: erin.whitney@alaska.edu
Expertise
- Alternative Fuel
- Critical Minerals
- Hydrogen
- Microgrids
- Policy and Global Applications,
- Railbelt
- Research Coordination
- Solar
BIO
Erin Whitney holds a joint position as UAF associate vice chancellor for research as well as research full professor at the Alaska Center for Energy and Power.
Whitney started as research faculty at ACEP in 2014, leading ACEP’s Data Collection and Management program and developing the Solar Technologies program and a hydrogen research initiative. She was a Fulbright U.S. Scholar to Germany at the Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy in Freiburg im Breisgau in 2022. From 2023 to 2026, she directed the U.S. Department of Energy’s Arctic Energy Office, connecting the department with the Arctic through the launch of community, innovation, research and outreach programs.
Originally from Alaska, Whitney earned her B.A. from Williams College and, in 2006, her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder. She then served as a scientist at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly the National Renewable Energy Laboratory). Her research and projects have focused on a wide variety of energy applications in the Arctic and beyond, and her policy work has prioritized a holistic community approach.
Current Projects