Dover Sikes

Watching her high school classmates testify in a landmark lawsuit over their constitutional right to a clean climate led Dover down a rabbit hole trying to understand how environmental data is used to inform policy and make legal decisions. Wrestling with that question in the years since has taken her across continents and academic subjects. As Third Way’s Climate and Energy Fellow, she harnesses her interdisciplinary background to develop data-driven policy relating to U.S. energy security and clean energy technology deployment. Originally from Eugene, Oregon, Dover attended Williams College, where she studied history and environmental studies. Dover worked as a litigation paralegal at an international law firm in New York City, where she witnessed enforcement’s outsized role in shaping policy outcomes, before continuing her education through a master’s degree in environmental policy at the University of Cambridge. Dover’s brings varied experience in building practical, stakeholder-informed energy and climate policy. She’s worked with residents to expand a municipal energy benchmarking ordinance and supported the drafting of federal policy priorities for investment in civil Earth observation. Across her professional and academic experiences, Dover has remained a firm believer in the utility of mixed methods research. Her most recent research uses satellite data to evaluate the effectiveness of state-level methane policies. Outside of the office, Dover enjoys hiking, trying new New York Times Cooking recipes, and curating the perfect playlist.