Appalachian Energy Center

Dr. Jamie Russell serves as Director of the Appalachian Energy Center and is an associate professor of Building Science at Appalachian State University. He holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Clemson University and received his doctor of philosophy degree in mechanical engineering from the University of South Carolina in 2004. Dr. Russell carried out his post-doctoral research as a Faraday Research Fellow at Ulster University in Belfast focusing on renewable energy in buildings.
Russell joined the faculty at Appalachian State University in 2008. During his tenure as Appalachian, he served for two years (2014-2016) as a visiting professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland.
Dr. Russell has managed three Solar Decathlon Competition projects including the Solar Homestead (US Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Decathlon 2011), Solar Decathlon Europe 2014, and US DOE Solar Decathlon 2017. His current research focuses on energy in buildings, energy efficiency and harmonizing building energy consumption and renewable energy sources with the local utility grid.

Hei-young Kim is a research assistant at the Appalachian energy Center. Her focus area is “waste to energy” and currently works for the Nexus project: Biomass energy to heat a greenhouse. Cooperating with local farmers, she takes efforts to adopt the developed biomass heating system to the community. She earned her Master of Science in Renewable Energy Engineering from Appalachian State University in 2014. She conducted a feasibility study of food waste diversion system in the region for her graduate thesis and seeks funding opportunities for the pilot project of locally derived food waste to energy system.

Grace handles a variety of program and research development activities including funding opportunity identification, research team building, concept and program development and related workshops and events. She also supports the directors of the Appalachian Energy Center and the RIEEE to develop and cultivate partnerships and external collaborations. Her general interests lie at the food/energy nexus and include sustainability education and the role of human agency in environmental exploitation. She holds an undergraduate degree in International Business and Asian Studies from the College of Charleston and a Master of Arts in Human Geography from Appalachian State.

Rodrigo Mercado Fernandez is a Postdoctoral Research Scholar at the Appalachian Energy Center. His research interests are in the field of energy planning and modeling, energy policy, sustainability and equity. Rodrigo is from Guadalajara, Mexico where he studied Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at the University of Guadalajara. After which he worked for 3 years in the aerospace industry at GE Aviation in Queretaro, Mexico. In 2014 Rodrigo was awarded the Fulbright scholarship for his Ph.D. studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he obtained his doctoral degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. His doctoral research focused on how Mexico’s national climate change goals affect the development of the electricity grid, complementing high level top down studies with a bottom up approach using a detailed model of the grid and incorporating multi criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to evaluate the sustainability of various development options.

James Sharp serves the Appalachian Energy Center’s mission by facilitating partnerships to co-create clean energy strategies and policies supporting economic growth, environmental protection, and resilience for North Carolina communities. He manages the Center’s workshops program and other extension initiatives. James has nearly 20 years of experience serving organizations and communities with a focus on strategic planning, business development, project management, and stakeholder engagement programs. Certified by the American Institute of Community Planners, James is a doctoral student in urban planning and public affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington, where his areas of research focus include location behavior and urban spatial structure, rural community planning, and the economic and social benefits of public space.

As Program Specialist for the Appalachian Energy Center and the Research Institute for Environment, Energy and Economics (RIEEE), Caitlin is primarily responsible for providing financial management on post-award grant activities and administrative management of funded projects. Caitlin earned her Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) from Appalachian State in 2016, and has most recently worked at UNC Asheville.