Alumni Profile: Lauren Faber O’Connor
Lauren Faber O’Connor, a first-time graduate of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences’ Climate and Society Program, was recently awarded the 2023 GSAS Dean’s Award for Outstanding Achievement. The award recognizes the recipient’s profound impact on academia and the world at large. After graduating, Lauren went on to work at the British Embassy, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Environmental Defense Fund and most recently as the Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Los Angeles.
What first drew you to Columbia’s Climate and Society Program?
I considered graduate school during my senior year at Stanford. I majored in Earth Systems and minored in Economics, and I wanted to continue the interdisciplinary study of climate change so that I could understand the science, gather the expertise behind the scientific explanation of climate change, and at the same time really immerse myself in the solution. In 2004, it was difficult to find a university that studied climate change comprehensively and taught it in an interdisciplinary way. My sense is that academia is grappling with the question, “What does interdisciplinary research look like?”
I don’t even know how I came across the book Climate and Society, but it really got me. I was impressed by how Columbia broke away from multiple disciplines and gave students a holistic view of the issue. I’m also excited that the class will be divided between domestic and international students.
I probably wouldn’t have pursued some rigorous fields if I didn’t have to, but I’m glad I did – such as atmospheric and ocean dynamics and modeling. Even though they’re not something I’d use every day, they gave me the confidence to be authentically involved.
How has the program shaped your career path?
When I started my policy-related courses, my focus was on energy and emissions reduction. My professor was a cadet who had worked in Washington and had also worked in Congress. I submit the required research papers which focus on EU (especially UK) policy. She said, “Oh, you must be interested in British policy.” I never really thought about it that way. At that time, the EU was the leader, and within the EU, the UK was the real leader. So I found myself focusing more and more on the UK. My professor said I should meet someone from the British embassy in Washington. “There’s a whole policy team out there working on energy issues and climate issues, and I’m going to introduce you to them,” she told me. I worked there for almost five years after grad school and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Just because my professor noticed what I was doing in her class and thought, how can I help?
Equally valuable was the curation by the class and my fellow students, and growing this network. I still keep in touch and socialize with many of the climate and society students in my small class. We are in similar or similar fields and we seek out each other for help and help.
what is What are your key responsibilities as Chief Sustainability Officer for the Mayor’s Office?
Developing and implementing a sustainability plan for a city is definitely the most important step. My role was to develop a comprehensive sustainability plan for the country’s second largest city, not just as a traditionally rigorous climate action plan, but with an eye toward improving people’s everyday experiences. This touches everything we touch—energy, water, transportation, the built environment, the layout of cities, the way people move around, housing, food, waste, economic development, environmental justice. I had to come up with a plan that really brings all these things together and engages the stakeholders. And then actually deploying the tools for all of our sector and community partners, while also serving as leaders in our urban communities across the country and around the world.
Lauren with California Energy Commission Chairman David Hochschild and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
I’m lucky enough to work for a Columbia alumnus, the mayor of Los Angeles [Eric Garcetti]. He himself believes that his professors at Columbia University influenced his enthusiasm for climate change issues. There is something so unique and special about working with a leader who sees the city the way I do.
What is one of your proudest accomplishments in Los Angeles?
One area where we’re really looking to create a template is the transition to renewable energy. We operate the nation’s largest municipal electric and water utility. I set out to identify our pathway to a fully decarbonized grid.
We’re not part of the California grid, and that’s important to figuring out how to run on a zero-emissions source. I work with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, one of the Department of Energy’s foremost national laboratories. Together with the city’s Department of Water and Power, we have put together a proposal to conduct a detailed, comprehensive study of the transition to full zero emissions, with a grid as unique and complex as Los Angeles’. The Energy Department said no such study had been done before. It was done in collaboration with an advisory group of two dozen stakeholders across the city, so it’s really a user-led study. Three and a half years of research has shown that we can run our grid on a completely zero-emissions system that is reliable and affordable. We can do this 10 years earlier than we thought. This has prompted the Mayor and City Council to bring forward our zero carbon goal by 10 years to 2035, which is unprecedented in the nation.The study has served as a template for many DOE efforts [labs] Work is underway to expand this approach to other cities and countries.
What are your next steps?
As I look at the ecosystem around climate action now, I feel like this is the moment for the private sector. I see investors trying to become more strategic and creative and start to understand the economic opportunity in front of them. Now is the time for the private sector to change the way it deploys dollars — away from fossil fuel operations and infrastructure, away from technologies and businesses that harm public health, and toward sustainable development. I feel like my skills can really help in allocating money effectively. Financing can come from private equity, project development and infrastructure, or venture capital for new climate technologies. Is it an investment project, an investment company, or an investment in entrepreneurship and innovation? I think there are some really exciting opportunities ahead.
For probably the first time in my career I didn’t have to pull teeth or convince people that it was time. It’s implementation, it’s deployment, it’s execution. So when I think about the next step, it’s all about getting the actual work done — getting results.
