An international expert on solar energy and forestry, John Perlin has lectured extensively on these topics in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He mentors those involved in realizing photovoltaic, solar-hot-water, and energy-efficiency technologies at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and coordinates the California Space Grant Consortium as a member of UCSB’s Department of Physics. Perlin is the author of A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization as well as From Space to Earth: The Story of Solar Electricity. A Forest Journey was chosen by Harvard University Press as a Classic in Science and World History and as one of the press’s “100 Great Books.” Time magazine chose the book as “a must read” for Earth Day. Perlin and Nobel Laureate Walter Kohn created the documentary film The Power of the Sun, narrated by John Cleese. He has also done multiple exhibits for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory that have traveled throughout the world. Perlin lives in Santa Barbara, California.
