Lisa Margonelli directs the energy policy initiative at the New America Foundation, a non-partisan think tank based in Washington DC and Califorinia. Her book about the oil supply chain, Oil on the Brain: Petroleum’s Long Strange Trip to Your Tank, was published by Nan Talese/Doubleday in 2007. Recognized as one of the 25 Notable Books of 2007 by the American Library Association, Oil on the Brain also won a 2008 Northern California Book Award for general nonfiction.

She has been published in The Atlantic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, Discover, the Nation, and many other publications.