Sharyn Barata is the Senior Vice President of Industry Engagement for Opinion Dynamics. Sharyn has 30-plus years of experience in the energy research industry and is considered one of the nation’s foremost process and market assessment energy evaluators. Focusing on behavior-based research and evaluation efforts, Sharyn has led or provided strategic advice in the evaluation of education and training programs, marketing campaigns, non-energy benefit studies, behavior-based energy efficiency, demand response and renewable programs across the country. She was also author of California’s Electric Utility Industry Evaluation Framework and Protocols, where she concentrated her efforts on devising the protocols for process evaluations and information and education program research. Before starting her consulting career, Sharyn worked for Florida Power & Light, where she was responsible for setting up the initial impact and process evaluations for their residential and commercial energy efficiency and renewable portfolios.
Sharyn takes a strong leadership role in professional organizations across the energy industry. She is the president of IEPEC (International Energy Program Evaluation Conference). She is also on the board and the current treasurer of the California Efficiency + Demand Management Council (CEDMC) where she chairs the events committee. Sharyn has spent many years on the national planning committee for AESP, was a board member and Interest Group Chair for the Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA) and helped organize ten successful EMACS (Energy Marketing and Customer Service) events. She was also a founding advisor to the BECC (Behavior, Energy and Climate Change) conference, where she also chaired the research and evaluation track. For ACEEE Ms. Barata was the 2020 and current 2022 co-panel lead for the Commercial Buildings: Program Design, Implementation and Evaluation panel.