Robyn Meeks is an Assistant Professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, a faculty affiliate of the Duke University Energy Initiative and the Duke Center for International Development, and a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee of Duke University’s Energy Access Project. 

Robyn Meeks is the principal investigator of the EEG project on The role of metering and infrastructure improvements in power system resilience during COVID-19

Her research is at the intersection of environmental and development economics with much of her work focusing on understanding individual, household and firm responses to the introduction of various water and energy technologies, policies, and types of infrastructure in developing countries. Much of this work relates to and informs climate and development policies.

Professor Meeks has implemented research in a number of countries, including India, Kyrgyzstan, Kenya,  Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, and United States. Her prior and on-going energy-related research addresses topics such as: the impacts of off-grid renewable energy versus grid electrification on enterprise development, barriers to adoption of solar energy in developing countries, the demand for and impacts of energy efficient technologies on household electricity consumption and local electricity reliability, smart meters and electricity losses, consumer response to non-linear electricity pricing,  and the impacts of alternative cooking fuels (such as biogas) on indicators of sustainable development.

Professor Meeks has a Ph.D. from Harvard University, a master’s degree from Yale University, and a bachelor’s degree from Brown University.

She co-authored the Duke Global Working Paper Electrification to Grow Manufacturing? Evidence from Nepal.