From Drought to DOE: Alumna Bria Jamison is Shaping National Environmental Policy - USC Viterbi | School of EngineeringGrowing up in Bakersfield...
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network
Growing up in Bakersfield, California, Bria Jamison absorbed early lessons about the precarity of natural resources. In the Central Valley – one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world – oil wells stood side by side with farmland, and signs along the highway warned “No Water, No Jobs.” Drought was a fact of everyday life, shaping local livelihoods and regional politics. “I didn’t fully make the connections at the time,” Jamison reflects, “But I could see how water and energy weren’t just environmental issues – they were economic and social ones.”
That sense of personal investment in environmental issues has led to her role as an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Based in DOE’s Industrial Technologies Office, Jamison works on the Water-Energy Team, which directs federal funding toward research and development of advanced water and wastewater treatment technologies. The goal? To make systems more energy-efficient, cost-effective, and resilient in the face of climate and resource pressures. “We help identify and support technologies that can move from concept to impact,” she explains. “It’s about laying the groundwork for the next generation of infrastructure.”
Jamison at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado
Jamison at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado
Jamison’s path to federal service began at CEE, where she studied environmental engineering as an undergraduate and went on to pursue the master’s in Green Technologies Engineering led by Associate Professor Kelly Sanders. An important mentor for Jamison, in 2024 Sanders was appointed as an advisor to the former administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
On graduating, Jamison knew she wanted to work at a national – even global – scale. Internships during her time at USC had enabled her to gain confidence across different areas of practice: construction, wastewater utilities, and environmental consulting. These experiences not only built her technical fluency but also emphasized the importance of communication and teamwork. “You can have the right technical answer, but if you can’t persuade stakeholders or build consensus, the solution won’t go anywhere,” she notes.
That insight proved critical in her early career at Ramboll, an environmental consulting firm. Jamison worked on contaminated site remediation, managing projects that often involved polluted groundwater or soil. The technical challenges were significant, but so were the dynamics of aligning clients, regulators, contractors, and community concerns. “I realized how much environmental engineering is about being a translator,” she recalls. “You’re balancing public health, business timelines, regulatory standards, and the practicalities of implementation.”
Her transition to DOE marked a pivot from remediation – cleaning up the past – to innovation – shaping the technologies of the future. The water-energy nexus has become a defining challenge of the 21st century, and Jamison is keenly aware of its complexity. Data centers, for instance, are indispensable to modern life but consume vast amounts of both energy and water for cooling. Agriculture remains the foundation of food security but requires large water inputs in regions already facing scarcity. “There is a finite amount of water on this planet,” Jamison says. “We need to decide how to allocate it intelligently, in ways that support both human needs and technological progress.” Despite the enormity of these issues, she remains optimistic. On completing her two-year fellowship at the DOE, Jamison will be taking on a role as a critical infrastructure water engineer at Amazon Web Services, supporting their data center fleet.
Moreover, she sees promise in potable water reuse – wastewater into drinking water – and in rethinking how existing infrastructure, such as idle oil wells, could be repurposed for energy storage. These kinds of innovations (such as those advanced by the USC ReWater Center) can bridge divides between environmental imperatives and economic realities. “Solutions that work for multiple stakeholders – farmers, industry, policymakers, and communities – are the ones that last.”
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https://viterbischool.usc.edu/news/2025/09/from-drought-to-doe-alumna-bria-jamison-is-shaping-national-environmental-policyTaxonomy
- Policy
- Environmental Policy
- Drought
- Energy
- Water-Energy Nexus
- Colorado, United States
- Environmental Engineers & Consultants