Sanya Carley, an O’Neill Professor at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, has earned the Tracy M. Sonneborn Award from Indiana University.
The Sonneborn Award, one of the most prestigious honors bestowed by the university, recognizes faculty for accomplishments in the areas of teaching and research. The award is named in honor of late IU biology professor Tracy Sonneborn, who was known as an exemplary researcher and teacher during his 37-year career at IU. Carley, who also serves as the director of the top-ranked Master of Public Affairs program, is the first O’Neill School faculty member to earn the award.
“I’m incredibly honored to receive the Tracy M. Sonneborn Award,” Carley said. “This recognition goes to the heart of what being a faculty member at Indiana University and the O’Neill School is all about. Research is such a critical part of the legacy being built every day at IU, but just as important is the development of the next generation of leaders in the classroom. I’m humbled to receive this award.”
Carley’s research focuses on energy justice as well as on policies aimed at advancing the innovation of low-carbon and efficient energy technologies in both the electricity and transportation sectors. In her most recent projects, she and collaborators are studying the incidence of energy insecurity among U.S. households and the equity and justice dimensions of the U.S. energy transition.
During Carley’s time at IU, she has taught classes for undergraduates, master’s, and doctoral students. These courses focus on energy economics, markets, policy and justice, research design, and project-based capstones. As director of the MPA program, she directs both the online and residential programs, serving up to 500 students and working with over 70 teaching faculty. She is also leading the effort to revise the core MPA curriculum and working with the faculty to expand the represented diversity within their courses and add several more course options on topics of racial inequity and social justice.
Carley also created the Just Energy podcast, a collaboration with students that explores energy justice and injustice, its racial and social dimensions, and how to make future energy policy more inclusive by design
As part of the award, Carley will also be invited to give the university wide Sonneborn Lecture during the fall semester. The Sonneborn Award has been given annually since 1986, and award winners are nominated by members of the campus community.