Kit Batten
As part of the Corporate Sustainability team at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Dr. Kit Batten leads a company-wide initiative to increase the climate resilience of PG&E’s operations and infrastructure, as well as the resilience of the communities PG&E serves.
Dr. Batten is a recognized expert in climate change policy with more than a decade of sustainability leadership.
Prior to her role at PG&E, Dr. Batten served as Executive Director at the University of California, Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment, and the Economy, where she leveraged the university’s expertise to inform California’s energy, climate and transportation policies―bringing together scientific researchers and policy-makers. Dr. Batten also served as the Global Climate Change Coordinator at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where she led the agency’s efforts to implement climate-resilient, low-carbon sustainable development programs in more than 40 countries.
Dr. Batten has also served as senior science and policy fellow and program director at the H. John Heinz III center for Science, Economics and the Environment; as science advisor to the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior; and as senior fellow/managing director for energy and environmental policy at the Center for American Progress. She has also held positions in the offices of Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Joe Lieberman. Dr. Batten earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Oberlin College and master’s and doctoral degrees in ecology from U.C. Davis.