Valerie Thomas
Valerie
Thomas is the Anderson
Interface Associate Professor in the School of Industrial and Systems
Engineering at Georgia Tech, with a joint appointment in the School of
Public Policy, and an adjunct appointment in the School of Earth and
Atmospheric Sciences. Her research is in Industrial Ecology, with
emphasis on the environmental impacts of materials and products.
Current research includes environmental impacts of biofuels, the potential for renewable energy
in Georgia, sustainability in Atlanta,
environmental implications of second-hand
markets, use of barcodes,
RFID, and electronics for lifecycle tracking
of products and wastes, and energy
efficiency in freight
transportation. Past research includes development of a
research
agenda for reinventing the use of materials,
one of the eight Grand Challenges of Environmental Science identifed by
the US National Research Council.
Thomas has a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Cornell University
and a B.A. in physics from Swarthmore College. She is a Member of the US EPA Science Advisory Board, a
Member of the Panel on Public Affairs of the American Physical
Society, and was Chair of the 2006 Gordon
Research Conference on Industrial Ecology, which was held at Queens
College, Oxford UK, from August 6-11, 2006.
In 2004-2005 she was the American Physical Society Congressional
Science Fellow, during which time she worked in the legislative office
of Representative Rush Holt on science policy issues including energy
policy legislation and legislation to re-establish a technology
assessment capacity in the U.S. Congress. She also managed the Congressional R&D Caucus
and the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus for Rep. Holt.
From 1989 to 2004, Thomas was a Research Scientist and Lecturer at
Princeton University. From 1987 to 1999 she was a Research Fellow in
the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon
University.
Press
Environmentally-Friendly
Laptops - inteview on ABC's Money
Matters, July 25, 2007. (And here's the EPEAT web site I
mention: www.epeat.net)
Blueprint
for a Green Laptop - article in Popular
Science, July 2007.
Courses 
Energy Technology and Policy class at the
solar power arrays on the roof of the Campus Recreation Center.
- Industrial Ecology and Natural Systems (Graduate course in ISYE)
Fall
2007 (syllabus)
- Energy Technology and Policy (graduate course cross listed in
ISYE and PUBP) Spring 2008 (syllabus)
- Energy Policy and Technology (undergraduate course cross listed
in ISYE and PUBP
Office: Groseclose, Room 415
Phone: (404) 385-7254
Fax: 404-894-0390
E-mail: valerie.thomas
at
isye.gatech.edu
ISyE Profile: http://www.isye.gatech.edu/faculty-staff/profile.php?entry=vt34