Christine Risch is the Director of Research for the CBER. Prior to joining CBER in 2004, she worked as a contractor for the Department of Energy's Office of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies in Washington, DC. Before that, she worked in other private and public sector jobs in the Washington area, including a dot-com in the financial industry (it has since been bought by a British firm) and other contractor organizations providing electric power modeling services to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Christine’s work for the CBER focuses on regional and local economic impact analysis, and energy and environmental policy analysis. Studies she has co-authored at the Center include:

• Innovative Energy Opportunities in West Virginia
• Assessment of Alternative Funding Mechanisms to Encourage Environmental Compliance and to Maintain Solvency of the Special Reclamation Fund
• Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Appalachia: Policy and Potential
• West Virginia Water Resources Protection Act Project 3: Potential Growth Areas
• West Virginia’s Natural Gas Producers: An Update and
• Regional Markets for FutureGen Products.

Christine also designed the West Virginia Stock Index, which tracks by performance and number of employees the top 20 publicly traded firms that do business in West Virginia.

Risch received a Master's degree in Energy Economics from the Pennsylvania State University in College Park, PA in 1997 and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Marshall University in 1994. Her education continues to this day.

When not working inside the halls of Marshall University and the CBER, Christine spends time with her husband and two sons exploring the streets, parks and pools of Huntington and the surrounding hills of Cabell County and Wayne County. When weather does not permit she enjoys cooking and puttering around the house.