Shawn is interested in the relationship between energy and development, particularly in China. He completed his Fellowship at NRDC's Beijing office, where he contributed to a manual on international best practices for energy efficiency. He also analyzed the prospective application of "green" credits and securities in the country, initiatives promoted by China's Ministry of Environmental Protection. Finally, he organized and led Stanford University's 2008 China Energy Systems field trip that explored diverse parts of the country's energy infrastructure.

His interest in energy and the environment stems from coursework at Stanford; immediately before the Fellowship he served as a teaching assistant for a popular course on energy resources. His development and China experience comes from previous work to promote equitable growth at the Hewlett Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic institutions in the U.S. with assets of approximately $8 billion and the U.S. Treasury Department, where he focused on Chinese financial sector reform. While a student, Shawn was a research assistant at the Hoover Institute, an independent research institution at Stanford, where he researched improving U.S. and California health care and tax policy and edited a book on applying the median voter theory to the U.S. Congress.

"The Fellowship changed my life in clear ways. The good things I learned about China convinced me that I want to stay involved in the environmental effort in the country for the rest of my life."

"Shawn made himself an indispensable part of our team from the very first day. The down side of this is that it's hard to let him go."