Costa Samaras

Director, Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation
Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

Constantine (Costa) Samaras is the director of the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation and a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and affiliated faculty in the Energy Science, Technology and Policy Program at Carnegie Mellon University. His research focuses on the pathways to clean, climate-safe, equitable, and secure energy and infrastructure systems.

Samaras analyzes how technologies and policies affect energy use and national security, resilience to climate change impacts, economic and equity outcomes, and life cycle environmental emissions and other externalities. He directs the Center for Engineering and Resilience for Climate Adaptation and is the Director of the Power Sector Carbon Index. He is a fellow in Carnegie Mellon’s Scott Institute for Energy Innovation and by courtesy, a faculty member in both the Department of Engineering and Public Policy and CMU’s H. John Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy.

Samaras served on three National Academies Committee evaluating emerging energy technologies and earth systems research, served as the chair of the ASCE Committee on Adaptation to a Changing Climate, and served on the Alternative Transportation Fuels and Technologies Committee and currently serves on the Energy Committee of the Transportation Research Board.