Today we spoke with Will Phelan, a graduate of Rice University working in Corporate Development at Electric Hydrogen Co. Will begins the episode by telling us how he got his start in energy, and more specifically, green hydrogen. He shares a useful exercise to help students pick their vertical, and gives advice on how to approach this process of finding your niche. Will then explains why he took an interest in green hydrogen and how he used cold-outreach to find experiences and opportunities in the space. We then discussed how students can use a similar strategy to find companies they want to work for and show the team that they will be a valuable asset. Finally, the episode concludes with a discussion around misconceptions about entrepreneurship, advice on finding your passions in energy, and what’s next for Will!

Keynotes:

- Green hydrogen’s role in the energy transition

- Finding your passion and vertical within energy

- Utilizing cold outreach and LinkedIn to get a job

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Hazel Horvath is the Founder and CEO of Ecolytics, a business management tool that streamlines sustainability work for companies so that impact is easily trackable and better business decisions can be made using these metrics. Her environmental work began in high school during a formative experience where she learned about droughts, and then she went to Duke University and studied Environmental Science & Policy and Global Health. She tells us about her diverse array of experiences throughout college, from working internationally to in the nonprofit sector, and how she eventually decided to pursue entrepreneurship. Hazel explains the process of finding the gap for Ecolytics to fill, iterating the company to create the biggest value add, and the steps she took to overcome the challenges of being a young solo-founder. She ends the episode by leaving her biggest pieces of advice for students interested in energy and climate, and sharing what is next for her!

Keynotes:

- The value of getting a diverse range of experiences

- The importance of metrics in sustainability work

- Challenges of being a young startup founder

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oday, we got to speak with the Co-Founder of Energy Terminal, Hope Pratt! Hope is a senior at Duke University studying Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science, but her passions lie within sustainability and energy. Hope tells us about how she first got her start in energy working for Aspire Power Solutions, a Nigerian energy company, and how this led her to realizing the amount of potential within the industry. She then went on to intern at Ford Motor Company and Everbright, a NextEra subsidiary, and she’ll be continuing at Everbright post-grad as a Software Engineer. Aside from talking about Hope’s work experiences, we also discuss the founding of Energy Terminal and how she and Michael grew it from a podcast with 0 episodes to the community, career, and media organization that it is today. We finish the episode by hearing the advice Hope has for other students about forging your own path, talking to people, and more!

Keynotes:

- Value of a technical background to solve sustainability problems

- Using energy as a vehicle to tackle climate issues

- Starting and growing youth led organizations

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Charles Hua is a recent Harvard graduate now working as a Senior Policy Advisor for the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office (LPO). At a young age, the importance of addressing climate change and taking initiative were instilled in him, and these values have guided Charles ever since. In this episode, he tells us about some of the work experiences he has had at organizations like Rewiring America, Generate, and AVANGRID, in addition to how he has leveraged his diverse skillset and his reasoning for focusing on policy right now. We also discussed his new role at the LPO, including what he is working on and why this is such a pivotal/unique time in energy policy. Charles concludes the episode by reminding the listeners how important it is to simply believe in yourself and telling us what’s next for him!

Keynotes:

- The value of getting a wide range of work experiences when you’re young

- How Charles has leveraged a diverse skill set in the non-profit, private, and public sectors

- The LPO’s unique opportunity for impact during this pivotal time

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What do Miss America 2023 and a nuclear engineer have in common? Well…they’re both Grace Stanke!

A recent nuclear engineering graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Grace’s journey has been all but ordinary. At the age of 14, she began competing in pageants to improve her performance skills and found a passion in the Miss America Organization. She won Miss Wisconsin in 2022 then Miss America in 2023.

Over her year of Miss America, she’s advocated for nuclear energy and STEM education on the global stage across 27 states and 7 countries, including at COP28. She hopes to use her platform to motivate young people with diverse backgrounds to pursue energy careers.

After her time as Miss America, Grace will join Constellation Energy, where she will work as a nuclear engineer while continuing her advocacy efforts.

Keynotes:

How Grace hopes to leverage the Miss America platform to motivate young people to pursue energy careers

Grace’s hopes for the future of the nuclear energy industry

The most common misconceptions about nuclear energy and what you need to know

The value of cross-functional skill-building

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Rostam Reifschneider is a 776 Fellow and the Co-Founder of Hydrova, a startup turning waste byproducts of aluminum recycling into valuable products and clean energy. He started Hydrova while studying Mechanical Engineering at MIT, and since graduating, has taken on the company full-time as CTO. Rostam knew upon arrival at MIT that he wanted to make an impact in the climate space, and his chosen vehicle to do this has been technology and entrepreneurship. In this episode, he explains why he chose this path of impact, and through this he emphasizes the importance of following your skills and strengths. Furthermore, Rostam discusses what Hydrova does, the process of validating and piloting the technology, fundraising, and challenges he has faced along the way. He concludes the episode by telling us about the benefits of being a young founder and making the most of opportunities given to students, and he shares his thoughtful advice for young aspiring founders.

Keynotes:

- Using entrepreneurship and technology as a vehicle for climate impact

- Fundraising as a student founder

- Advice for young aspiring climate tech founders

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On today’s episode, we spoke to Edward Chiang, Co-Founder & CEO at Moment Energy. Moment is a Vancouver-based company that repurposes end of life electric vehicle batteries to provide clean, affordable, and reliable battery energy storage systems. Eddy walks us through the process of starting Moment, from the realization he had after experiencing a power outage in rural Canada to starting the company in a garage and growing it to over 40 employees. He also shares the value of his technical background, the main challenges he has faced throughout Moment’s journey, and advice he has for aspiring young startup founders. Read more about Moment here: https://www.momentenergy.com/.

Keynotes:

- The value of a technical background in the startup space

- The gap in the field of battery energy storage systems

- Advice for young startup founders

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Lisa Wang recently graduated from Harvard with a degree in Environmental Science & Engineering. During her undergrad, she started the Harvard Undergraduate Clean Energy group, conducted a lot of research on decarbonization and other related topics, and had numerous internships, such as with CTVC, Prime Impact Fund, and other venture backed startups. In addition to this, she Co-Founded a startup called Coolant which aims to protect and restore nature through carbon monitoring. In this episode, Lisa goes into detail about some of her experiences, while also providing students with advice on balancing commitments, prioritizing experiences, and more generally just getting involved in energy! For more information on Lisa’s projects, you can check out her website: https://shorturl.at/gouz8.

Keynotes:

- Using energy as a vehicle to address the climate crisis

- How to prioritize different types of experiences in college

- Resources and tips to get involved in climate/energy work

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Today we spoke with Corey Donovan, a recent graduate from Rice University now working as a Financial Analyst at Cemvita, a biotech startup creating nature-inspired solutions to empower the energy transition. Corey told us all about how he got to where he is now, from the process of picking his unique major to getting real world experience as an undergrad. We also discuss the value of experiential learning and finding mentors to look up to, in addition to the most important hard and soft skills for success in the startup world. Finally, we spoke about Corey’s next steps and all of the exciting things in his future!

Keynotes:

- Hard and soft skills necessary for startup work

- Why startups instead of larger companies

- Getting real world experience as a student

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Samir Chowdhury is a junior at Stanford University studying Management Science & Engineering. In 2020, he founded the Youth Climate Action Team, a global 501c4 climate justice advocacy nonprofit that focuses on community organizing and the power of young people. He initially dedicated himself to climate policy, but soon realized that this didn’t align with his personality and working style, which is how he found his way to energy and investment. More recently, he's completed various energy investment internships and is now starting a fund at Stanford. Samir emphasizes the importance of utilizing your strengths and values to dictate your path, and also encourages students to not be afraid to pivot. He finishes the episode by telling us how students can make a climate impact through energy and the best ways to get involved.

Keynotes:

- Making a climate impact through energy

- Following your strengths and values

- Getting involved in the sustainable and transition investing spaces

Arina Khotimsky recently finished her undergraduate degree at MIT, where she studied Material Science & Engineering with a focus on climate and energy. She served as the Co-President of the MIT Energy and Climate Club, the organization which runs MIT’s EnergyHack, Energy Conference, and many other notable events. We spoke to Arina about her involvement in this club and the lessons she learned, such as the importance of overcoming the fear of reaching out to get involved in extracurriculars. She also gives students advice for making the most of on and off campus opportunities. We conclude the episode by talking about what’s next for her, which includes pursuing a Masters in International Energy at Sciences Po in France!

Keynotes:

- Getting involved in energy and climate on a college campus

- Overcoming the fear of failure when it comes to new opportunities

- Why energy is such an exciting field

Today we spoke to Mudit Agrawal. Aside from being Energy Terminal’s Director of Programs, Mudit’s experience in startups and clean energy is extensive. His energy journey began in climate advocacy, but then when he got to Duke he began getting involved in energy startups like Joules Accelerator, Ribbit Network, and Nextera. Mudit explains how he got these jobs, what it’s like to work at startups, and how important it is to network/build relationships. He also outlines the value of gaining startup experience, such as learning how to be a flexible and versatile individual. Finally, we conclude the episode by discussing his work at Energy Terminal, so give this episode a listen to learn more about our Emerging Leaders Program and Community Hub!

Resources Mentioned:

Ribbit Network

Climate Base

Emerging Leaders Program

ET Community Hub

Keynotes:

- The benefits of getting startup experience as an undergrad

- Networking and relationship building is critical in today’s job market

- How to find jobs at startups

What would you do if your power went out for 3 months? Or if you had to time your studying to when the electricity grid was most reliable?

These real-life experiences inspired Promise Nwogu to found African Youths in Energy Network, an organization with the mission to put young people at the heart of energy conversations and to end energy poverty for all. Promise graduated from university in 2021 with a degree in petroleum engineering and joined a solar-powered appliance company. Through AYEN, he now helps other young people access careers and avenues to make their impact in energy.

In the episode, we discuss how Promise’s upbringing influenced his perspective on energy, the difficulties approaching energy conversations in developing countries, his goal for AYEN, and his future plans.

Keynotes:

-How youth perspectives on the energy transition differ between Africa and the U.S.

-The biggest obstacles to youth in developing nations accessing opportunities in the energy industry–and the solutions to address them

-Balancing energy transition with energy poverty and fossil fuels with renewables

-How international partnerships and funding can make energy opportunities more accessible

McKenna Dunbar is a recent college graduate, founder of MOCOKONO and the Ecological Justice Initiative, and Building Electrification Lead at the Sierra Club. When they were young, they had a passion for robotics and technology, which then grew into a desire to be involved in energy. We begin by delving into their long list of environmental experiences then dive into topics including energy burden, building electrification, and the importance of empathy in the energy space. The episode concludes with a conversation on climate mental health and supporting yourself while working towards such an urgent issue, in addition to McKenna’s post-grad plans.

Keynotes:

- More young people are needed in energy for the dialogue to truly be intergenerational

- Fostering open conversation and empathy in the energy space

- Climate mental health and energy burden

Shikhar Verma is a student and the Founder and Chief Investment Officer at the Rice New Energy Fund (RNEF), a $200K energy fund managed by students. They focus on exposing students to investment management, involving students in the energy transition, and building and leveraging an industry network. Shikhar begins by outlining how he got his start in energy and made his way to Rice University, and then goes into detail about RNEF, from building the team and raising capital to his hopes for the fund moving forward. Finally, he shares his biggest lessons from his experiences so far, such as having clear goals and finding a balance between looking good and actually being good at what you are doing.

Keynotes:

- How to identify a niche and fill the gap

- The process of raising capital and building a team

- Balancing looking good and being good at what you do

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In the first episode of Energy Terminal’s SPARK series where we highlight Gen Zers working in energy, we talk to William Reynolds, a recent college graduate with extensive experience in clean tech startups and environmental work. Will took a non-traditional path to get to where he is today, moving away from his home in New Zealand at age 17 to work for startups in San Francisco, London, and China. His desire to work in technology began with a fear that the trajectory of biotech and AI could lead to a dystopian future for society, but he soon realized that climate underpinned our success in just about everything. He then decided to pursue his degree at Duke University, but is now back to his startup work with Cemvita, a Houston-based biotech company. Will tells us about his unique work experiences, but also shares his thoughts on individual action, gives tips for how to get involved in startups, and explains the importance of everyone linking their careers to the environment.

Resources mentioned:

Third Derivative

Greentown Labs

Climate Base

Keynotes:

-Taking a non-traditional career path

-Effect of individual vs. systemic action on climate change

-How and why you should tie your passions/career to energy and climate

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