Daniel Sperling

Daniel Sperling is Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy, and founding Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis (ITS-Davis). The Institute is staffed by over 150 faculty, staff, and student researchers. He is also Associate Director of the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center.

Professor Sperling was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to the California Air Resources Board in February 2007, and serves as study co-director for California's low carbon fuel standard.

Dr. Sperling is recognized as a leading international expert on transportation technology assessment, energy and environmental aspects of transportation, and transportation policy. He has testified numerous times to the US Congress, California Legislature, and various government agencies, and provided keynote presentations and invited talks in recent years at international conferences in Asia, Europe, and North America. In the past 25 years, he has authored or co-authored over 200 technical papers and nine books. He is a recent member of ten National Academies committees on Gasoline Taxes, Hydrogen, Transport in China, Biomass Fuels R&D, Sustainable Transportation, and other related topics. He was founding chair of standing committees for the U.S. Transportation Research Board on Alternative Transportation Fuels (1989-'96), and Sustainability and Transportation (2006+). He serves on many advisory committees and advises senior executives of many automotive and energy companies, environmental groups, and national governments, including review committees at three DOE national laboratories.

He was selected a National Associate of the National Academies in 2004; awarded the 2002 Carl Moyer Memorial Award for Scientific Leadership and Technical Excellence by the Coalition for Clean Air; 1997 "Clean Air Award" by the American Lung Association of Sacramento; 1996 Distinguished Public Service Award by the University of California, Davis; and 1993 Gilbert F. White Fellowship by Resources for the Future (Washington, D.C.).

Prior to obtaining his Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley (with minors in Economics and Energy & Resources), Professor Sperling worked two years as an environmental planner for the US Environmental Protection Agency and two years as an urban planner in the Peace Corps in Honduras.