Bria Jamison (BS ’18, MS ’19), AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Growing up in Bakersfield, California, Bria Jamison absorbed early classes in regards to the precarity of pure assets. In the Central Valley – probably the most productive agricultural areas on the earth – oil wells stood facet by facet with farmland, and indicators alongside the freeway warned “No Water, No Jobs.” Drought was a truth of on a regular basis life, shaping native livelihoods and regional politics. “I didn’t fully make the connections at the time,” Jamison displays, “But I could see how water and energy weren’t just environmental issues – they were economic and social ones.”
That sense of private funding in environmental points has led to her position as an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Based in DOE’s Industrial Technologies Office, Jamison works on the Water-Energy Team, which directs federal funding towards analysis and growth of superior water and wastewater therapy applied sciences. The purpose? To make techniques extra vitality-environment friendly, value-efficient, and resilient within the face of local weather and useful resource pressures. “We help identify and support technologies that can move from concept to impact,” she explains. “It’s about laying the groundwork for the next generation of infrastructure.”
Jamison on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado
Jamison’s path to federal service started at CEE, the place she studied environmental engineering as an undergraduate and went on to pursue the grasp’s in Green Technologies Engineering led by Associate Professor Kelly Sanders. An vital mentor for Jamison, in 2024 Sanders was appointed as an advisor to the previous administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
On graduating, Jamison knew she needed to work at a nationwide – even world – scale. Internships throughout her time at USC had enabled her to achieve confidence throughout totally different areas of apply: building, wastewater utilities, and environmental consulting. These experiences not solely constructed her technical fluency but in addition emphasised the significance of communication and teamwork. “You can have the right technical answer, but if you can’t persuade stakeholders or build consensus, the solution won’t go anywhere,” she notes.
That perception proved crucial in her early profession at Ramboll, an environmental consulting agency. Jamison labored on contaminated web site remediation, managing tasks that usually concerned polluted groundwater or soil. The technical challenges have been important, however so have been the dynamics of aligning shoppers, regulators, contractors, and group considerations. “I realized how much environmental engineering is about being a translator,” she remembers. “You’re balancing public health, business timelines, regulatory standards, and the practicalities of implementation.”
Her transition to DOE marked a pivot from remediation – cleansing up the previous – to innovation – shaping the applied sciences of the long run. The water-vitality nexus has change into a defining problem of the twenty first century, and Jamison is keenly conscious of its complexity. Data facilities, for example, are indispensable to fashionable life however devour huge quantities of each vitality and water for cooling. Agriculture stays the inspiration of meals safety however requires massive water inputs in areas already going through shortage. “There is a finite amount of water on this planet,” Jamison says. “We need to decide how to allocate it intelligently, in ways that support both human needs and technological progress.” Despite the enormity of those points, she stays optimistic. On finishing her two-12 months fellowship on the DOE, Jamison will likely be taking over a job as a crucial infrastructure water engineer at Amazon Web Services, supporting their information heart fleet.
Moreover, she sees promise in potable water reuse – wastewater into ingesting water – and in rethinking how present infrastructure, akin to idle oil wells, may very well be repurposed for vitality storage. These sorts of improvements (akin to these superior by the USC ReWater Center) can bridge divides between environmental imperatives and financial realities. “Solutions that work for multiple stakeholders – farmers, industry, policymakers, and communities – are the ones that last.”
Though her work at the moment spans governmental and company coverage, Jamison nonetheless thinks about Bakersfield. The identical challenges she grew up observing – drought, water demand, reliance on finite assets – are the very points her workplace addresses. “I’d love to see technologies like water reuse implemented in the Central Valley, where they could directly support farmers and communities,” she says. “In many ways, I feel like I’ve come full circle.”
Listen to Jamison share her story on the Viterbi Voices podcast
Published on September third, 2025
Last up to date on September third, 2025