Meiyan Chen

Hometown: Yanbian, Jilin, China Degree: MS EER – Year 2 Thesis Title: Optimal electrification planning in sub-Saharan African countries Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Bridget Scanlon Links: LinkedIn  Research Page  Resume

A Little About Me

I am Meiyan from China. The pronunciation of “Mei” in Chinese is “May”, which means beautiful. “Yan” means lasting, so this name is just a wish from my parents. My hometown is in northeastern China, a place with 5 months winter each year and next to North Korea and Russia. My grandparents are Korean and moved to China during the war. Therefore, my family speak a mix of Chinese and Korean, while I only speak Chinese and English.

I like travelling and taking photos (I have over 25,000 photos in my phone!) I like trying new food. Since the quarantine, cooking has become my new hobby. Because my boyfriend is Korean and I am Chinese, we have cooked a variety of dishes together.

Research Interests

I transitioned from a geology background to EER because I have been concerned about energy and environmental issues. Currently I am interested in energy access and energy transition. I am doing my thesis on electrification planning in Africa by combining geospatial and economic analysis. This is a case study under the project Access to Water & Energy at BEG.

Career Interests

I am currently an analyst intern at RBAC Inc., a gas market forecast company. During the summer, I worked on global gas demand modeling in the power sector, considering policies like generation targets, emission goals, carbon prices, etc. I am looking for an entry-level analyst position in energy industry, with a focus on electricity market.

Key Words

Electricity market, data analysis, GIS, renewable energy, foodie