Serena Kim

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Bio

Serena Kim’s research focuses on the intersection of data science and collective action, particularly in the areas of energy and infrastructure policy. She develops software, tools, and models that leverage diverse data sources and artificial intelligence to address real-world challenges. Her published work has appeared in the Journal of Computational Social Science, Energy Policy, Applied Energy, SSM – Population Health, EPJ Data Science and Policy Studies Journal among other peer-reviewed journals. Her research has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, and other media outlets. Prior to her current position, she was a research associate in the College of Engineering, Design, and Computing and a scholar in residence in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver for four years. During this time, she taught graduate courses on evidence-based decision-making, public policy analysis, and research and analytic methods.

Projects

• Strengthening American Infrastructure (SAI): Integration of Electric Vehicles and the Electric Grid (E-VIBES) ($750,000 funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Co-PI) – https://evibes.us
• Public Perception of Renewable Energy – https://solarsentiment.org
• Spatial Distribution of Rooftop Solar Systems
• Global Diffusion of Renewable Energy Policies

Website

https://serenakim.org

Selected Publications

“Sentiment analysis of solar energy in U.S. cities: A 10-year analysis using Transformer-based deep learning.” JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE (2025).

“Spatial distribution of solar PV deployment: an application of the region-based convolutional neural network,” EPJ DATA SCIENCE (2023).

“Electricity peak shaving for commercial buildings using machine learning and vehicle to building (V2B) system,” APPLIED ENERGY (2023).

“Public sentiment toward solar energy—opinion mining of twitter using a transformer-based language model,” SUSTAINABILITY (2021).

“Institutional arrangements and airport solar PV,” ENERGY POLICY (2020).

“Updating the institutional collective action framework,” POLICY STUDIES JOURNAL (2020).

Teaching

• PA 515 Research Methods and Analysis – Course Website (Spring 2025)
• PA 541 Geographic Information Systems for Public Administration – Course Website (Spring 2025)
• PA 766 Advanced Quantitative Research in Public Administration – Course Website (Fall 2024)
• PA 765 Quantitative Research in Public Administration

Office Hours

By Appointment

Area(s) of Expertise

Research Methods, Data Science, Energy Policy, Public Health and Environment