Rachael Nealer

Dr. Rachael Nealer is Deputy Director for the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. In her role, she coordinates and leverages expertise between the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Transportation to further progress on zero-emission transportation infrastructure, including implementation of a national network of electric vehicle chargers. She also chairs the Transportation Research Board’s Alternative Fuels and Technologies Committee.

Throughout her career, Dr. Nealer has focused on researching transportation as a system of systems and developing strategies around how to decarbonize transportation through technology development in concert with supporting policies. Her previous positions include Deputy Director of Transportation Technology and Policy for the White House Council on Environmental Quality and Senior Advisor, and Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell, and Vehicle Technologies Offices. She has also worked in the nonprofit sector, at the Union of Concerned Scientists, researching the lifetime environmental impacts of electric vehicles compared to gasoline vehicles. Before that, she worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuels Standard Office.

As adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Nealer lectures as part of the Master of Science in Energy Policy and Climate program. She received her joint doctorate in civil and environmental engineering and engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon University, where she specialized in the lifecycle environmental impacts of transportation.