Thomas C. Hilde

Thomas C. Hilde is an Associate Research Professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, leading the environment/energy/climate/sustainability strategic focus area and co-directing the Indonesia research program at the Center for Global Sustainability (CGS). He also co-leads the university-wide Sustainability minor and advises the student-led Sustainability, Environment, and Energy Council (SEEC). As a Senior Fellow at CISSM and GoTech, he bridges policy, security, and technology governance.

His research integrates philosophical pragmatism with practical climate policy, focusing on land use, energy decarbonization in Indonesia, Amazon deforestation conflicts, and climate ethics. He directs field courses in Indonesia and Peru, studying socio-ecological systems and policy interfaces.

Key publications (2020–2025) analyze climate policy pathways, methane mitigation, EV infrastructure equity, and renewable energy investment in China. Recent work emphasizes the nexus between illegal gold mining, deforestation, and migration in the Amazon.

• Education: PhD in Philosophy (Pennsylvania State University)
• Awards: Fulbright Scholar (Venezuela, 2005), Edmond J. Safra Fellow (Harvard, 2014–2015)
• Grants/Consultancies: Worked with the Heinrich Böll Foundation, China’s Ministry of Ecology, and Indonesia’s National Development Planning Agency.

His field courses (since 2011) combine interdisciplinary methods to address complex challenges in sustainable development and climate adaptation, emphasizing local knowledge systems and global policy coherence.