Shahzeen Attari, 38, is an associate professor at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. She’s particularly focused on the way people perceive their personal energy use and the decisions they make in their daily lives, and how that impacts greenhouse gas emissions linked to a warming planet.

She published a paper earlier this year that examined how people understand the energy system in the United States and what they hoped it would look like in 2050. She and her team of researchers found that both liberals and conservatives expect the energy system of the future will be dominated by renewable sources, such as solar and wind. This Q&A with Attari has been edited for brevity and clarity.

One of the things you found is that people really don’t understand a lot about energy in their lives or in society. Tell us about that work.

Read Interview here.