Jonas Monast

Director, Energy Transition Initiative

Biography

On leave for the 2023-24 academic year.

Jonas Monast is the C. Boyden Gray Distinguished Fellow and directs the Center on Climate, Energy, Environment & Economics (CE3). He also direct the UNC Institute for the Environment’s Energy Transition Initiative. His work focuses on climate change mitigation, aligning energy and environmental policy goals, and the intersection between natural resources and emerging technologies. Monast is the author of numerous articles on energy policy, carbon market design, electricity sector competition, and biotechnology.

Prior to joining the Carolina Law faculty, Monast directed the Climate and Energy Program at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and taught courses on energy and environmental issues at Duke University’s School of Law and Nicholas School of the Environment. Monast has also worked as an attorney in the Corporate Social Responsibility Practice at Foley Hoag LLP, as a congressional fellow for the late Senator Paul Wellstone, and as legislative counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending. Monast received his BA from Appalachian State University in 1995 and his JD in 2002 from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he was an editor of the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review.