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Justin Schott

Justin Schott
Lecturer
Appointment at SEAS averages 25%; 75% as Director of Energy Equity Project (a fiscally sponsored project of Tides Center)
Environmental Justice
Climate + Energy
[email protected]
(914) 261-1907
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Energy Equity Project
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Leadership in Equity: A Longterm Commitment
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About

Justin Schott serves as Director of the Energy Equity Project since February 2021, where he led am interdisciplinary team of 40 researchers, community advocates, regulators and utilities to develop and implement a standardized framework for measuring and advancing equity in the energy system. 

Schott has been quoted by more than a dozen public media sources, published opinion pieces, and published work on energy equity in academic journals. He has served as an expert witness in ~10 utility rate cases and integrated resource plan proceedings. In recognition of the success of the Energy Equity Project, Schott received an appointment as a lecturer in the School for Environment and Sustainability in 2022, where he teaches an interdisciplinary graduate level course on energy justice, advises masters projects focused on community-led energy equity, and is expanding applied, lab-based courses on inclusive history and energy justice. 

Prior to U of M, Schott served as Executive Director of EcoWorks, a Detroit non-profit, a position I held from June 2015 to November 2020. He was responsible for overseeing all aspects of financial management, development, communications and public relations, staff recruitment, administrative operations, and risk management. Schott managed a team of 30 staff members with an annual budget of $2.8 Million. Schott was a project manager for Detroit’s Climate Action Strategy and Sustainability Action Agenda, leading efforts to engage more than 7,000 Detroiters in the design of each. Schott coordinated efforts to create a Climate Equity Advisory Board of community members, designed and led a sustainability ambassadors program, conducted large scale surveys, co-facilitated town halls and focus groups, and worked closely with city staff to secure and analyze data and develop measurable action steps. In Detroit, Schott also collaborated with  Dr. Tony Reames, U of M’s Urban Energy Justice Lab, and other U of M faculty to study connections between weatherization, health, and affordability. Schott oversaw an effort to coordinate a ground-level heat mapping project and was selected by the Federation of American Scientists for Extreme Heat Policy Spring in 2024.  From 2019-2020, Schott was an intervenor in DTE Energy’s Energy Waste Reduction bi-annual plans and successfully made the case to increase the budget for single family and multi-family low-income programs, by $10 million.

Publications

Here's a small sampling of the kinds of work I do; I write more creative pieces (e.g. satire, poetry, advocacy) on the Energy Equity Project's blog (https://energyequityproject.org/blog/). 

4/11/24        Biden's environmental justice scorecard raises questions (Grist; https://www.google.com/urlq=https://grist.org/equity/biden-environmental-justicescorecard/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1740607070839294&usg=AOvVaw1n3VzSR1XINLPFwPGXLMXk) 

Schott, J., & Whyte, K. (2023). Setting Justice40 in motion: the hourglass problem of infrastructure justice. Environmental Justice, 16(5), 329-339.

9/29/22        Can energy justice be measured? A new research project aims to do just that (Energy News; https://www.google.com/url?q=https://energynews.us/2022/09/29/can-energy-justice-be-measured-a-new-research-project-aims-to-do-just-that/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1740607102703224&usg=AOvVaw3xQpg0OO5POw_yEdE5x7Ix)

Research
  • How to end utility shutoffs
  • Utility regulation and transformation of public utilities commissions (PUCs)
  • Community-driven energy justice approaches
  • Data transparency
  • Tools and datasets to measure and analyze energy equity and environmental justice
Education
  • M.S. Resource Policy and Behavior, SEAS (2006)
  • B.S. Natural Resources, Cornell University (2002)
Affiliations

Director, Energy Equity Project

In the News
Catalyst Grant banner
April 17, 2025

Four of five Sustainability Catalyst Grants include SEAS faculty

Five research projects tackling key sustainability issues have received funding through the Sustainability Catalyst Grant program, and four of them include University of...

Andrew van Baal: A passion for systems thinking and energy
April 2, 2025

Andrew van Baal: A passion for systems thinking and energy

Growing up along Lake Michigan’s coastline, Andrew van Baal (BA ’25, MS ’26) developed a deep appreciation for the region’s natural beauty, which played a significant...

Energy Equity Project helps disadvantaged communities benefit from the energy transition
January 29, 2024

Energy Equity Project helps disadvantaged communities benefit from the energy transition

The Energy Equity Project (EEP) at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) is focusing on multiple projects to bolster a just...

Supporting green rental housing plans as a Catalyst Leadership Circle Fellow
November 29, 2023

Supporting green rental housing plans as a Catalyst Leadership Circle Fellow

Natalie Britton, a second-year master’s student at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), spent last summer working for the City of...

Testimony highlights inequitable energy practices in Illinois gas-rate cases
July 18, 2023

Testimony highlights inequitable energy practices in Illinois gas-rate cases

Justin Schott (MS ’06), a University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) lecturer and project manager of the Energy Equity Project, recently...

Energy equity project report cover
November 1, 2022

SEAS Releases First National Framework Designed to Measure and Advance Energy Equity

To bolster a just transition to cleaner, more resilient energy systems, the Energy Equity Project (EEP)—housed at SEAS—released the first standardized national framework for comprehensively measuring and advancing energy equity.

EEP report cover 2
August 31, 2022

U-M releases first national framework designed to measure and advance energy equity

Contact: Justin Schott Carole Love Jim Erickson ANN ARBOR—To bolster a just transition to cleaner, more resilient energy systems, the Energy Equity Project (EEP) today...

New environmental justice hires
July 12, 2022

SEAS continues to grow the Environmental Justice program with new expertise, community organizers

The U-M School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) is growing its Environmental Justice (EJ) program with some exciting hires, bringing new expertise and courses...

In the Media
04/11/2024
Justin Schott
Biden’s environmental justice scorecard offers more questions than answers (Grist)
07/06/2023
Justin Schott
Citing racial disparities and rising gas rates, Illinois groups call for building electrification (Energy News Network)
02/27/2023
Justin Schott
Why the White House’s environmental justice tool is still disappointing advocates (Grist)
10/27/2022
Justin Schott
Equity framework online tool to help guide investments in line with Justice40, UM researchers say (Utility Dive)
09/06/2022
Justin Schott
Unplugged: Why utilities are more likely to disconnect Black, Latino, and Indigenous households (Grist)
08/31/2022
Justin Schott
Kyle Whyte
U-M releases national framework to measure energy equity (University Record)
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