NREL Women in Energy (Text Version)

This is the text version for the "NREL Women in Energy" video.

Women in energy are motivated, passionate, dynamic, visionary, driven, intelligent, resourceful, fierce, super-talented, pioneering new energy technologies.

At NREL, I lead our Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Systems Engineering Research Team.

I love the fact that we can make positive changes in our lives every day through energy.

I'm a researcher here at NREL on distribution grid and integration of emerging technologies.

I love the fact that here at NREL, we have a very clear connection between the vision and the mission.

I love feeling like I can make a difference.

I work in the Residential Buildings Group at NREL.

I was an Air Force officer at Kirtland Air Force Base, and I just became really fascinated with this idea of sustainable buildings.

I manage the Modeling and Analysis Group.

We're trying to find ways to make energy more affordable, more resilient, and cleaner.

In our Energy Systems Integration Facility, we have a megawatt-scale grid simulator, real-time digital simulator, photovoltaic and battery energy system simulator, and all of these advanced capabilities enable us to work with utilities to address the challenges they're facing now or maybe in the near future.

My job has changed a lot over the years. When I started, the bigger picture was: how do we make buildings use less energy? And now, the question is: how can they use less energy while also helping green the grid?

I am focused on: how do we create systems in our houses that can respond to the grid?

We're working to utilize hydrogen to handle the intermittency and variability of renewables.

That will allow us to add more renewables to our grid and still capture that valuable, low-cost renewable energy as hydrogen.

I get to work on a lot of emerging technologies like rooftop solar, battery energy storage system, electric vehicles, and how we can seamlessly integrate these technologies in the grid operation and make the grid a better, more reliable, more resilient one for future use.

We need to work with utilities, understanding their specific challenges.

We work with utilities to help them understand how their rate structures impact the affordability of energy, particularly around renewable energy and storage.

We are trying to take research from early-stage investigation and accelerate that into the marketplace and if we don't have partners like utilities, that doesn't happen.

I'm really excited to see how many states and cities and countries are focused on working together to find solutions.

I love it. I'm really excited to dedicate my life's work to this mission.

My advice to all my future female colleagues would be: the world is your oyster. Just be out there and be your passionate and dedicated self. If you want to make a contribution to the energy space, you're always welcome.

Women are changing energy and energy technologies, and we have an opportunity here to positively change how we use, make, and move energy around in the U.S.