Selena Gerace

Selena Gerace is a Senior Research Professional in the Energy Education, Leadership, and Careers (Energy ELC) program and the Center for Economic Geology (CEGR) at the School of Energy Resources (SER). 

Joining SER in 2020, she has worked on collaborative research in multiple SER Centers of Excellence, providing a social science perspective to important energy topics.

Gerace has been instrumental in providing a baseline of understanding in what Wyoming residents value and their perspectives on energy development through multiple surveys conducted between 2019 and 2023. Work in the Energy ELC program builds on her findings and aims to inform decision-making for energy communities.

Gerace earned her undergraduate degree in Politics from Whitman College. She completed her MS at the University of Wyoming (UW) in 2016, where she double majored in Agricultural and Applied Economics and Environment and Natural Resources. As a graduate student, she also worked with the UW Haub School’s Ruckelshaus Institute, assisting facilitators to lead county-level committees of the Wyoming Public Lands Initiative.

Prior to joining SER, Gerace worked for UW Extension as the Outreach Coordinator on a National Science Foundation EPSCoR funded project called the Water Agriculture Food Energy Research Nexus (WAFERx). She led the inter-jurisdictional team (including Montana State University, University of South Dakota, and University of Wyoming) in producing outreach products to communicate research findings with regional stakeholders.

In 2025, she was recognized by the University of Wyoming's Research and Economic Development Division for her contributions to UW’s research and innovation landscape, particularly her for work in understanding Wyoming energy communities' views and needs regarding energy development in the state.