Clarissa Bhargava

Clarissa works at the intersection of energy, science, and innovation policy as the Lab's Assistant Director of Federal Relations. Prior to her current role with Berkeley Lab, Clarissa served as a AAAS Congressional Fellow on Senator Ben Ray Luján's energy and environment team, where she worked on several issue areas including emissions reduction strategies, advanced energy technologies, a just energy transition, environmental protection and cleanup, and wildfire science. 

Previously, she studied 2D semiconducting materials for next-generation electronics at Berkeley Lab, where she also worked in science communication as a Marketing and Communications Specialist for the Molecular Foundry. 

She holds a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. in the same field from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Clarissa is based at the Berkeley Lab site and lives in San Francisco with her husband Rishabh and their cat Faraday.

Email:  clarissa@lbl.gov