Priya Donti

Priya Donti knows that a problem as complex and pervasive as climate change won’t be solved by one discipline alone. That’s why she cofounded Climate Change AI, an interdisciplinary organization that brings together academics and industry experts to demonstrate how machine learning can help. 

Donti’s work combines computer science, engineering, and public policy, and her research focuses on how electric grids can more reliably integrate renewable energy. 

In 2019, Donti was also a lead author on an influential paper titled “Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning.”

“The tremendous response we received from that paper demonstrated just how many people felt a moral obligation to work on climate change but who also felt like they lacked the necessary community to do that work,” says Donti. 

Donti, a second-generation Indian American says she’s well aware of the immense burden already felt by some of the planet’s most vulnerable people and recognizes that climate change will only exacerbate those burdens. “We know that the world’s most disadvantaged populations are going to be disproportionately affected by climate change,” says Donti. “Climate Change AI wants to help mitigate that.”