Lily Bermel is a Research Associate working with MIT Innovation Fellow Brian Deese. She works on a range of climate change and industrial policy projects, including the Clean Investment Monitor.
Before joining MIT, Lily served as a policy advisor for three years on the U.S. State Department climate team, led by Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. There, she negotiated on behalf of the United States under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement, and other multilateral fora; led diplomatic and private sector engagement on nitrous oxide; strengthened capacity literacy in the Foreign Service, including by developing data tools; advanced implementation of the Global Methane Pledge; shaped the first public-private “green trade mission” to Egypt; and coordinated many other efforts to raise global climate ambition.
Previously, Lily wrote a series of policy proposals for the Kingdom of Tonga, developed the sustainability department at Cornell Dining, and contributed to climate policy in Massachusetts at the state and local levels. Lily received a B.S. in Environment and Sustainability from Cornell University.