Lauren holds a Bachelor of Science in Earth Systems and a minor in Economics from Stanford University, and a Masters in Climate and Society from Columbia University. During her time at Stanford she received a Stanford Professional Women of Los Angeles award to work at the US EPA in San Francisco, a Stanford in Government Fellowship in the California Assembly, and a MAP Fellowship with NRDC. While at Columbia she served with the first team of students on the Earth Institute's Climate Change Task Force, a group of highly technical experts working with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection on integrating climate change projections into their long term plans, and using these projections to design adaptation strategies in the near term. She was also selected to be the School of International and Public Affairs' first Energy Research Fellow. In August of 2005, after carrying out a study with Environmental Defense on the potential for ethanol to fulfill a "climate stabilization wedge," she joined the British Embassy in Washington, DC, where she now serves as their Senior Policy Advisor on Climate Change and Energy.

Lauren researched the status of new planned coal projects in the West and the transmission that would be needed to connect them to load centers. Lauren co-wrote a detailed advocacy memo that provided the key technical and legal information NRDC staff need to build the argument to dissuade a power company from investing in a new coal plant. The memo also identified opportunities that NRDC and the public will have to intervene in the decision-making process.

Lauren also contributed to NRDC's testimony at the California Public Utilities Commission on the California utilities' long-term investment plans. Lauren's research helped bolster the argument that the Commission should adopt a global warming policy and should specifically require the utilities to account for the financial risk associated with carbon emissions in making long-term investment decisions.  Lauren co-authored one of the key sections of the testimony on global warming, and provided substantial background research on the policies being enacted around the country to reduce global warming pollution emissions, the emission rates of various generating technologies, and the likely cost of carbon emissions under a future regulatory regime.

“Lauren was fabulous to work with!  She was an enormous help and made a substantial contribution. We generally do not have funding to hire summer interns to work on sustainable energy issues, so this Fellowship program was a great asset.”

—Devra Bachrach

“The MAP Fellowship at NRDC was a perfect match for me.  The people in the office served as inspiring mentors, and I am utilizing so much of what I learned about policy and the electricity sector in graduate school.”

—Lauren Faber