Michael J. Walsh, Ph.D.

Dr. Michael J. Walsh is an experienced energy and sustainability expert with a strong background in research, technical analysis, stakeholder engagement, and project leadership. As Managing Partner of Groundwork Data, he supports the transition to cleaner energy systems through research, stakeholder engagement, and expert testimony.

Through research conducted in New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts, Dr. Walsh identified three challenges facing utility gas service: rising infrastructure costs, climate initiatives, and increased competition from alternative gas technologies — the throughline of Groundwork Data's research program. He has since filed expert testimony before the Maryland Public Service Commission, Illinois Commerce Commission, Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, Michigan Public Service Commission, Colorado Public Utilities Commission, and Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, serving public interest organizations including the Conservation Law Foundation, Sierra Club, Rewiring America, and the Illinois Public Interest Research Group.

He led the Massachusetts 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap, coordinating 40 professionals across 10 organizations in a study that shaped state climate policy, and continues to support the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs on the 2035 Clean Energy and Climate Plan. He was technical lead for Carbon Free Boston (2019) at the BU Institute for Sustainable Energy and led the Boston Climate Progress Report (2022) for the Boston Foundation.

In 2022, he authored the LEAP framework (Local Energy Asset Planning), a methodology for using spatial data to design targeted electrification and non-pipeline-alternative strategies, since applied in a series of technical studies demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of avoiding pipeline replacement. He has supported the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in working groups on non-pipeline alternatives, integrated energy planning, and the future of the Everett Marine Terminal LNG facility.

His work has been featured in the Boston Globe, Canary Media, WCVB, WBUR, CBS Boston, and NBC Boston, and he has written opinion pieces for the Boston Globe, Commonwealth Magazine, and Commonwealth Beacon. He was named to the Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40 in 2022 and received the Bishop Brady High School Distinguished Alumni Award in 2024.

Before founding Groundwork Data in 2021, he served as Senior Associate at the Cadmus Group, Senior Research Scientist at Boston University, and Research Fellow at Bentley University, where he conducted techno-economic and lifecycle assessments of advanced bioenergy pathways.