Stokes, Leah

Associate Professor

stokes@polsci.ucsb.edu

3716 Ellison Hall

Leah Stokes is the Anton Vonk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics in the Department of Political Science. She is also affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Environmental Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). For the 2023-2024 academic year, she was on leave at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Fellowship, working on a new book about federal climate policy.

Her academic research has been published in top journals including the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Nature Energy, Energy Policy, and Environmental Science & Technology. I have also published articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, CNN and elsewhere.


Research

Stokes works on energy, climate and environmental politics. Within American Politics, my work focuses on representation and public opinion; voting behavior; and public policy, particularly at the state level. Within environmental politics, she researches climate change, renewable energy, water and chemicals policy.


Education

  • Ph.D., Public Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Courses Taught

  • ENV S 176: Energy Politics and Policy

Website/CV

Leah Stokes

Specialization

American Politics, Energy and Environmental Politics, Public Policy, Methodology