The Muskie School of Public Service is pleased to announce that graduate student Timothy Atkinson from the Policy, Planning and Management (MPPM) program has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Avangrid-Flanagan Memorial Scholarship. This award made possible through the generosity of Avangrid and in memory of David Flanagan, former President of the University of Southern Maine, recognizes Tim’s exceptional academic performance and innovative capstone research in energy policy and management.
Tim’s current capstone research studies Maine’s approach to clean energy interconnections. He is documenting and analyzing ways in which the public and actors representing various interests communicate about issues of energy policy, as well as energy justice implications related to issue framing.
Tim’s capstone advisor, Dr. Brenda Zollitsch shares, “Tim is one of the most dedicated and analytically skilled students we have had in the MPPM program. He is committed to serving the public with evidence-based information and doing the deep exploration and analysis necessary to inform complex policy and management issues.”
Prior to matriculating into the MPPM program at the Muskie School, Tim worked in private industry in the fields of information technology and renewable energy. He also served as an elected member of Portland’s Board of Public Education. While completing the MPPM program, Tim has been working as a research analyst for the Catherine Cutler Institute, developing best practice models for issue areas including community-based youth justice, migrant education and public health. He is also a volunteer for Hope Squad Maine, a new nonprofit working to help address the needs of Portland’s unhoused population. Tim will graduate with his Master of Policy, Planning and Management in May 2025.
Tim plans to continue his research into technology and policy solutions that advance the interest of Maine electricity ratepayers and the transition to clean energy solutions.