Sam’s (he/him) research sits at the intersection of electricity and international development. His PhD project (UC Berkeley 2020-2025) adopted an implementation research approach, piloting novel methodologies for quantifying power quality and reliability in hospitals in Fragile, Conflict, and Violence affected African geographies using telemetry and the internet-of-things, innovative survey tools, and geospatial analysis. He currently directs a number of workstreams at the intersection of power and health, including partnerships with Congolese health and electricity government ministries as well as a pilot installation of rugged power systems protection ICUs and other wards on ‘critical circuits’ at 20 hospitals and health facilities in the DRC.
Select Publications:
2025 — Miles, S., Mughuma, J., Moner-Girona, M., Kammen, D., Kwong, L. “The Power of Health in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Electricity Quality and Reliability in Medical Facilities of North Kivu Province.” Applied Energy
2025 — Kersey, J., Miles, S., Sakhrani, V., Koo, B., and Pelz, S. “A Geospatial Perspective on Electrification Strategy in Urbanizing Africa.” Applied Geography
2022 — Miles, S., Kersey, J., Cecchini, E & Kammen D. “Productive uses of electricity at the energy-health nexus: Financial technical and social insights from a containerized power system in Rwanda.” Journal of Development Engineering
2022 — Gill-Wiehl, A., Miles, S., Wu, J., & Kammen, D. “Beyond customer acquisition: A comprehensive review of community participation in mini grid projects.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
Email: Smiles20@jh.edu
Areas of Interest: Health Facility Electrification; Solarization; Mini-grids; Internet-of-Things (IOT); Geospatial analysis; Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); African Great Lakes (AGL) region
