Lori Bennear

A member of the Nicholas School faculty since 2004, Bennear is a professor of energy economics and policy in the Division of Environmental Social Systems and holds secondary appointments in the Department of Economics and the Sanford School of Public Policy. She has served as interim dean since 2023. She received her Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University (2004) and also earned an MA in Economics from Yale University (1996) and an AB in Economics and Environmental Studies from Occidental College (1995).

Her research evaluates the effectiveness of environmental policies including information disclosure laws, management-based regulations, liability regimes, and demand-side management programs. She has applied these assessments across many global environmental domains including in the energy, toxicology, and drinking water fields. Her work is interdisciplinary and has resulted in numerous scientific publications in journals ranging from economics to public policy, to law, to general interest science journals. She co-edited a book “Policy Shock: Recalibrating Risk and Regulation after Oil Spills, Nuclear Accidents, and Financial Crisis” with three other Duke faculty members in law and history. The book was published by Cambridge University Press in 2017.