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Bio

Dr. David L. McCollum is a Distinguished R&D Staff in the Transportation Analytics and Decision Sciences (TADS) Group at 91����, where he is Director of DecisionScience@ORNL and the ARMADA Research Program. He also holds a Joint Faculty Appointment at the University of Tennessee's Baker School of Public Policy. David's expertise spans economics, engineering, policy analysis, and corporate advisory services, and his research attempts to inform state, national (developed and developing) and global energy and environmental issues on matters related to, among others, resilient future pathways, energy-transport-climate policies, electric sector planning, end-use sector electrification (transport, buildings, industry), Sustainable Development Goals (including inter-dependencies), financing needs for the energy system, and human dimensions of climate change. He employs energy-economic systems and integrated assessment models in support of this work (e.g., MESSAGEix-GLOBIOM, TIMES-MARKAL, REGEN, GCAM).

Before joining ORNL in September 2021, David was a Senior Research Scholar with the Energy Program at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, Austria, and a Principal Technical Leader at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Palo Alto, California. He currently holds a secondary appointment as Guest Senior Research Scholar at IIASA, and previously was Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Imperial College London. The latter was in his capacity with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Technical Support Unit (TSU - Working Group III) for the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). David previously led activities within the Global Energy Assessment; IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5 - WG III); IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C; and other international, multi-stakeholder initiatives, such as for the World Bank and International Science Council (ISC). He is listed by Reuters as one of the world’s 250 most influential climate scientists.

David received a PhD and MS in Transportation Technology & Policy from the University of California, Davis (USA), Institute of Transportation Studies; an MS in Agricultural & Resource Economics from the same institution; and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee (USA).

Examples of Current and Recently Completed Work

• ARMADA: Scalable Multi-Sector Analysis Platform for the Energy Transition
  • Director of an internal LDRD effort to build a powerful modeling and analysis platform operating at decision-relevant scales (sub-county) and taking a 360°, resilient view of new technology and infrastructure deployment.
• DecisionScience@ORNL
  • Director of an internal LDRD effort to build a diverse community of decision science and global change analysis experts across the laboratory
• Integrated Energy Futures
  • Cross-Laboratory Co-Lead on the Core Analysis Team (NREL, ANL, LBNL, ORNL, PNNL)
  • Sponsor: DOE-EERE Strategic Analysis Office
• • ORNL Lab Lead
  • Deputy Manager for Partnerships (formerly), NZW Action Center
  • Sponsor: DOE, State Department, other US government agencies, multiple philanthropic foundations
• • Member, Scientific Steering Group
  • Co-Chair, Working Group on ('R2O2R')
• Energy Modeling Forum 37 Exercise (EMF-37):
  • Transportation Study Team
  • Ancillary Impacts Study Team
  • Hydrogen Study Team
• EDITS Consortium ()
  • End-Use Energy Demand Data Working Group
  • Energy Security Working Group
• E3SM-GCAM Exploration of CDR
  • Exploring the effectiveness of land-based carbon dioxide removal in stringent mitigation pathways using world-leading earth systems and integrated assessment models

Expertise & Interests

• Integrated assessment and multi-sector dynamics of global change and its human drivers and impacts
• Analysis of energy, climate, and broader sustainability objectives, including assessing their inter-linkages
• Energy-economic systems modeling and scenario analysis to inform policy-making and corporate decision-making (global, national, and subnational)
• Transportation sector modeling and analysis (technology, policy, consumer behavior)
• Electricity sector modeling and analysis (end-use electrification, systems modeling, and markets and regulation)
• Sustainability finance (investment needs for achieving energy, climate, and other sustainability goals)

Illustrative Publications

• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2025). "," Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
• Zhou, R., M. Jin, Z. Li, Y. Xiao, D. McCollum, and A. Li (2025). “,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 210.
• Loughlin, D.H., A.R. Barron, C.B. Chettri, A. O'Meara, L. Sarmiento, D. Dong, D.L. McCollum, S. Showalter, R.H. Beach, J. Bistline, G.J. Kim, C.G. Nolte, J. Emmerling, P. Ozge Kaplan (2024). “,” Energy and Climate Change, Vol. 5.
• Melaina, M.W., C.S. Lenox, M. Browning, D.L. McCollum, O. Bahn, and S. Ou (2024). "," Energy and Climate Change, Vol. 5.
• Mach, K.J., K. Jagannathan, L., Shi, L.L. Turek-Hankins, J.R. Arnold, C. Brelsford, A.N. Flores, J. Gao, C.E. Martin, D.L. McCollum, R. Moss, J. Niemann, B. Rashleigh, and P.M. Reed (2024). “,” Earth’s Future, 12 (6).
• Bento, N., A. Grubler, B. Boza-Kiss, S. De Stercke, V. Krey, D.L. McCollum, C. Zimm, and T. Alves (2024). "," Science, 383 (6686), 946-949.
• Brown, M. A., P. E. Thornton, R. L. Gruber, S. Hubbard, M. Lapsa, E. Lara-Curzio, T. C. Lieuwen, D. McCollum, M. Oxman, D. Stanton, M. Twardy, and R. Wagner (2024). "," 91����. ORNL/TM-2024/3470.
• Bistline, J.E.T. G. Blanford, J. Grant, E. Knipping, D.L McCollum, U. Nopmongcol, H. Scarth, T. Shah, and G. Yarwood (2022). "," Nature Communications (13:1), 1-12.
• Zakeri, B., K. Paulavets, L. Barreto-Gomez, L. Gomez Echeverri, S. Pachauri, B. Boza-Kiss, C. Zimm, J. Rogelj, F. Creutzig, D. Ürge-Vorsatz, D.G. Victor, M.D. Bazilian, S. Fritz, D. Gielen, D.L. McCollum, L. Srivastava, J.D. Hunt, and S. Pouya (2022). “,” Energies, 15 (17).
• - Lead Author for Summary for Policymakers and Technical Summary; and Contributing Author for Chapter 3 (Mitigation Pathways Compatible with Long-term Goals), Chapter 6 (Energy Systems), and Annex III (Scenarios and Modelling Methods)
• Yeh, S., J. Gil, P. Kyle, P. Kishimoto, P. Cazzola, M. Craglia, O. Edelenbosch, P. Fragkos, L. Fulton, Y. Liao, L. Martinez, D.L. McCollum, J. Miller, R. Pereira, and J. Teter (2022). “,” Progress in Energy.
• Bhardwaj, C., J. Axsen, and D. McCollum (2022). “,” Resource and Energy Economics, 101319.
• Bhardwaj, C., J. Axsen, and D. McCollum (2022). “,” Transport Policy (117).
• McCollum, D.L. (2021). “,” Nature Energy.
• McCollum, D.L. and A. Al Khourdajie (2021), "". Joule, Vol. 5, Issue 10, pp. 2542-2545.
• Skea, J., P. Shukla, A. Al Khourdajie, and D. McCollum (2021), "". Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, Vol. 12, Issue 5.
• Bistline, J.E.T., C.W. Roney, D.L. McCollum, and G.J. Blanford (2021). "". Environmental Research Letters.
• Bhardwaj, C., J. Axsen, and D. McCollum (2021). "". Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Vol. 94, 102789.
• Knighton, L.T. et al. (2021). “,” Technical Report INL/EXT-21-62563-Rev001. US-DOE Office of Nuclear Energy.
• Andrijevic, M., C.F. Schleussner, M.J. Gidden, D.L. McCollum, and J. Rogelj (2020). "". Science, Vol. 370, Issue 6514, 298-300.
• Bhardwaj, C., J. Axsen, F. Kern, and D. McCollum (2020). "". Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 135, 309-326.
• McCollum, D., A. Gambhir, J. Rogelj, and C. Wilson (2020). “”. Nature Energy.
• Parkinson, S., V. Krey, D. Huppmann, T. Kahil, D. McCollum et al. (2019). "". Environmental Research Letters 14 (1), 014009.
• Grubler, A., C. Wilson, N. Bento, B. Boza-Kiss, V. Krey, D.L. McCollum et al. (2018). "". Nature Energy, Vol. 3, Issue 6, 515-527.
• McCollum, D.L., C. Wilson, M. Bevione, S. Carrara, O.Y. Edelenbosch, J. Emmerling, C. Guivarch, P. Karkatsoulis, I. Keppo, V. Krey, Z. Lin, E. Ó Broin, L. Paroussos, H. Pettifor, K. Ramea, K. Riahi, F. Sano, B.S. Rodriguez, and D.P. van Vuuren (2018). “”.&�Բ�����;Nature Energy, Vol. 3, 664–673.
• McCollum, D.L., W. Zhou, C. Bertram, H.-S. de Boer, V. Bosetti, S. Busch, J. Després, L. Drouet, J. Emmerling, M. Fay, O. Fricko, S. Fujimori, M. Gidden, M. Harmsen, D. Huppmann, G. Iyer, V. Krey, E. Kriegler, C. Nicolas, S. Pachauri, S. Parkinson, M. Poblete-Cazenave, P. Rafaj, N. Rao, J. Rozenberg, A. Schmitz, W. Schoepp, D. van Vuuren, and K. Riahi (2018). “”.&�Բ�����;Nature Energy, Vol. 3, 589-599.
• McCollum, D.L., L. Gomez Echeverri, S. Busch, S. Pachauri, S. Parkinson, J. Rogelj, V. Krey, J. Minx, M. Nilsson, A.S. Stevance, and K. Riahi (2018). “”.&�Բ�����;Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 1, Number 3.
• McCollum, D.L., C. Wilson, H. Pettifor, K. Ramea, V. Krey, K. Riahi, C. Bertram, Z. Lin, O.Y. Edelenbosch, and S. Fujisawa (2017). "". Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Vol. 55, pp. 322-342.
• McCollum, D.L., J. Jewell, V. Krey, M. Bazilian, M. Fay, and K. Riahi (2016), “”.&�Բ�����;Nature Energy, Vol. 1, Issue 6, Article number: 16077.
• Cameron, C., S. Pachauri, N. Rao, D. McCollum, J. Rogelj, and K. Riahi (2016). “”.&�Բ�����;Nature Energy, Vol. 1, Issue 1, Article number: 15010.

Leadership Positions, Advisory Boards & Committees (past and present)

• Member, International Science Council's
• Review Editor, , Chapter on Staying on the path we are on – global implications
• Review Editor, , Chapter 18 on Sector Interactions, Multiple Stressors, and Complex Systems
• Review Editor, , Chapter 3 on Settlements, Mobility and Spatial Planning
• Co-Chair, Working Group on Connecting MSD Research to Operations and Planning,
• Leadership Team, ORNL Climate Change Science Institute (CCSI)
• Member, Expert Group on Energy’s Interlinkages with Other SDGs in the framework of the SDG7 Technical Advisory Group (SDG7 TAG), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)
• Associate Editor, (a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by Elsevier)
• Member, ; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM); Board on International Scientific Organizations
• Member, Planning Committee for the ; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), Policy and Global Affairs Division
• External Advisory Council, National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship Program, The Ohio State University
• Scientific Advisory Board,
• Scientific Advisory Board,
• Advisory Team, TEMOA modeling for the project ; North Carolina State University and Carnegie Mellon University
• Steering Committee, ; National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• Scientific Advisory Group,
• Steering Committee Member, (iTEM),
• Advisory Board Member, International Transport Forum (of the OECD),
• Member, Permanent Committee on Diversity Management and Building a Positive Work Environment at IIASA
• Reviewer for Science, Nature, Nature Climate Change, Nature Energy, Nature Sustainability, Nature Communications, Environmental Research Letters, Climatic Change, Joule, Energy and Climate Change, Energy Economics, and others
• Supervisor and mentor to dozens of junior and mid-career staff (including students) since 2011

Publications