Paasha Mahdavi

Specialization:

Education:

Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 2015

Bio:

Paasha Mahdavi is Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Political Science [Acting Chair as of Mar 2026], Affiliated Professor of Environmental Science & Management, Director of the Energy Governance and Political Economy (EGAPE) Lab, and Co-Founder of The 2035 Initiative at UC Santa Barbara. His research focuses on the impact of oil and gas resources on governance and environmental politics. He is the author of Power Grab (Cambridge 2020) and numerous articles in leading academic journals such as the Journal of Politics, Nature Climate Change, Nature Energy, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and World Politics. His research is regularly featured in major media outlets, and he has written op-eds for Foreign Policy, Global Policy, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. Mahdavi is a non-resident fellow at the Initiative for Sustainable Energy Policy and at the Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines, a former fellow at the World Economic Forum, and a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations. Mahdavi serves as a consultant for energy and environmental non-profit organizations and as an adviser for oil and gas policy in the U.S. and internationally. 

Office Hours: Mondays 9–10am or by appointment.