Benjamin F. Hobbs

Benjamin F. Hobbs serves as the Theodore M. and Kay W. Schad Professor of Environmental Management at Johns Hopkins University, holding a primary appointment in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering and a joint appointment in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics. He is co-director of the USEPA Yale-JHU SEARCH Center and director of the NSF-funded Electric Power Innovation for a Carbon-free Society (EPICS) Center, focusing on interdisciplinary research at the intersection of energy systems, environmental management, and public health.

Hobbs' educational background includes a BS from South Dakota State University (1976), an MS in Resources Management and Policy from SUNY-Syracuse (1978), and a PhD in Environmental Systems Engineering from Cornell University (1983). Prior to joining Johns Hopkins in 1995, he worked at Brookhaven and Oak Ridge National Laboratories and served as a professor at Case Western Reserve University, with additional visiting appointments at institutions including Cambridge University.

His research integrates systems analysis, economics, and optimization to address critical challenges in electric utility planning, renewable energy integration, and environmental resource management. Key focus areas include solar forecasting using AI, green infrastructure for urban water management, health impacts of energy transitions, and grid reliability under high renewable penetration. His work emphasizes practical applications through engineering-economic modeling with rich technological and environmental detail.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong trend toward addressing grid reliability in decarbonizing systems, with increasing emphasis on market design innovations, resource adequacy under uncertainty, and storage-transmission tradeoffs. His research consistently bridges theoretical optimization with real-world policy implementation, particularly evident in his leadership of the EPICS Center's 100% renewable grid initiatives.

• Lifetime Achievement Award by Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG), 2024
• Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS)

Hobbs advises graduate students through Johns Hopkins' interdisciplinary programs, with alumni employed as energy consultants, policy analysts, and researchers. His current grants include leadership of the NSF Global Center EPICS and co-direction of the USEPA SEARCH Center, focusing on energy-air-climate-health interactions. He chairs the Market Surveillance Committee for the California Independent System Operator and serves on editorial boards for Energy Economics and other leading energy journals.

He leads the Hobbs Energy & Environment Decisions Research Group, which collaborates with institutions including IBM, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and University of Texas at Dallas. The group participates in the Global Power Systems Transformation Consortium and Columbia-JHU Future Power Markets Forum, conducting fieldwork initially in California and the central United States.