The core team driving Terawatt Times Institute’s research and editorial direction—an interdisciplinary group exploring climate, energy, technology, and societal transitions. Their expertise spans policy, AI, economics, and systems analysis, focused on how emerging technologies and shifting power structures reshape modern civilization.
Leadership
Alex Yang Liu
Founder & Editorial Director
Alex leads the intellectual direction of TTI, developing cognitive-structural frameworks for understanding AI, energy transitions, political realignment, and civilizational change. His work focuses on connecting macro-patterns across technology, power systems, and society to create unified explanatory models for the 2020s–2030s.
Senior & Research Fellows
Ethan K. Marlow
Principal Research Fellow, AI & Power Systems
Ethan is a U.S. energy strategist focused on the intersection of clean power, AI-driven load growth, and future grid economics. He writes on emerging electricity demand, system modeling, and the convergence of digital and physical infrastructure.
Preston Hayes
Senior Research Fellow, Energy Policy & Equity
Preston focuses on the policy and social-structural dimensions of the energy transition, with emphasis on urban electrification, energy equity, and the distributional impacts of emerging technologies. His work examines how the transition affects middle- and working-class communities.
Caroline M. Whitaker
Senior Research Fellow, Oil & Gulf Coast Energy
Caroline is a Houston-born analyst specializing in Gulf Coast oil, LNG, and industrial electrification. She studies how legacy energy infrastructure and new clean-power systems interact across the Southern U.S., linking engineering realities to macro-level transition dynamics.
Hiroto Nakamura
Research Fellow, Climate Intelligence & MRV Systems
Hiroto Nakamura is a research fellow focused on climate intelligence, satellite-based MRV, and AI-driven environmental monitoring. He analyzes geospatial data and verification systems to improve global carbon transparency and emissions accountability.
Senior Editor
Maya Robinson
Senior Editor, Narrative & Insight
Maya is a communications strategist focused on bridging the gap between technical energy modeling and public policy. She oversees the synthesis of complex research, ensuring that data-driven insights on grid modernization and decarbonization effectively reach legislators and industry stakeholders.