Amardeep Dhanju

Amardeep Dhanju is a Senior Project Manager at AECOM where he supports permitting and development of utility-scale offshore wind projects and other renewable energy resources. Prior to joining AECOM, he was a senior policy analyst supporting ocean science and policy initiatives at BOEM. He has facilitated BOEM’s offshore oil & gas leasing program, helped streamline offshore wind regulations, coordinated the nation’s first National Ocean Policy, and supported environmental permitting of offshore wind projects. Amardeep co-chaired an interagency group in the National Ocean Council (NOC) to coordinate Federal engagement in National Ocean Policy and marine spatial planning. This engagement resulted in two certified regional ocean plans (Northeast & Mid-Atlantic) to inform development of new ocean uses such as offshore wind power.

Amardeep was awarded the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) Partners in Conservation Award for leading this initiative. Amardeep was the lead author for a chapter on offshore renewable energy for the first United Nations (UN) World Ocean Assessment and served as a U.S. government reviewer for the draft report. Subsequently, Amardeep was designated as the convenor and lead author for a chapter on offshore hydrocarbons for the second UN World Ocean Assessment. For his contribution, Amardeep was awarded the U.S. Department of State Certificate of Appreciation award. Amardeep was a Knauss Sea Grant fellow with BOEM and subsequently continued as a contractor with the bureau. Amardeep has co-authored several journal articles on offshore energy and marine spatial planning published in Ocean and Coastal Management, Energy Policy, Renewable Energy, Coastal Management, Geophysical Research Letters and the U.S. Coastal Guard Proceedings journal. Since 2014, he is an associate editor for the Energy for Sustainable Development journal. Amardeep holds a Ph.D. from University of Delaware, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment where his research focused on offshore wind power. He also holds a master’s degree in public policy.