UMN Energy Club
Alumni
Megan Walkenhorst
Active 2018 - 2021 I joined UMN Energy Club my freshman year of college in order to learn more about renewable energy with a group of like minded individuals. I enjoyed getting to know so many different people from many different disciplines throughout my years at the U. By attending several MIT Energy Hacks I was able to gain valuable skills that helped me obtain several internships. The speakers and opportunities that UMN Energy Club provided helped me determine my future plans. I actually learned about the graduate program that I am currently enrolled in through this organization! Throughout my time in UMN Energy Club, I was Co-Communications Director, Co-Vice President, and Co-President. These roles enabled me to continue to grow as a leader and also deepen my knowledge of sustainability. Overall, UMNEC greatly contributed to my success and I am thankful for my time spent with the organization.
I graduated with a degree in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management in Spring 2022. In the future, I plan to work on climate change policy. I am currently enrolled in the STEP (Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy) Master’s Program at the Humphrey School and I am expected to graduate in 2023. |
Courtney Hruska
Active 2016 - 2020 As a freshman walking around all of the events where the clubs got to showcase what they were all about, UMN Energy Club stood out as one that was making a difference in the community. I spent the first year volunteering with the group and learning a lot from all of the speakers they kept bringing in, and wanted to get more involved if possible. I did one year as the Public Relations officer for the club before becoming one of the Treasurers for my final two years. As someone working towards a major in Neuroscience, I still felt very welcome in this club and felt I could still bring things to the table even if I wasn’t an engineering major. Getting to travel out to Boston and be part of the MIT Energy Hackathon and working the Energy and Sustainability Expo were some of my favorite big events we did, but I also enjoyed all of the connections I got to make with people on campus and in the community that also had a passion for sustainability. This club not only educated me so much on what sustainability actually is, but it showed me ways that I personally could make a difference and feel like I was contributing to the bigger cause of keeping our planet green.
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Kat Graff
Active 2018 - 2021 As a chemistry major at the University of Minnesota, I have felt there was a lack of discussion about sustainability and science's future role in the climate crisis. When I joined the UMN Energy Club, I discovered a wonderful community where people of all majors joined together to learn about modern energy programs and make a difference on our campus. I spent two years as a general member, and in my final year I was the Events Director. Through this, I organized volunteering events and tours on campus, and I helped other students learn more about sustainability on our campus. This experience with our wonderful organization exposed me to a greater breadth of energy science, and it has prepared me well for studying sustainable chemistry at Berkeley for my Ph.D.
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Sam Syberg
Active 2017 - 2020 What brought me to first join UMN Energy Club was of course my interest in sustainability. During my freshman year I tried out a number of student groups that served this interest in different ways, but what kept with Energy Club was its smaller size and more intimate meetings, the opportunity to learn about a wide range of sustainability issues and solutions and meet other students, staff/faculty and community members involved in sustainability, but most of all the ability to quickly get involved and feel like a part of the team. My sophomore year I became one of the Events Directors, where I helped plan minor events outside of general meetings. My junior and senior years I served as Vice President, where my main duty was planning all of the meetings for the year, inviting guest speakers and scheduling Sustainability Chats, in addition to leading meetings when the President was unable to attend. My experience in Energy Club leadership was an extremely valuable experience in that it put me out of my comfort zone since I had to serve as a leader instead of a follower, made me more confident speaking in front of a group, and made me feel a sense of accomplishment when events and meetings I planned were successful. I graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering, I am working for a year as a Research Associate in a chemistry lab here at the U, and I will be attending graduate school for a PhD in chemistry in Fall 2021.
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Megan Ball
Active 2017 - 2020 I’ve always been interested in sustainability and renewable energy and after taking a class freshman year where we discussed the effects of climate change, I realized I wanted to learn more about sustainability. Energy Club was a great place for me to do that, during our weekly meetings we had subject matter experts speak to us and I learned a lot about the different aspects of sustainability and climate change. My senior year, I wanted to have more responsibility, so I took on the role of Communications Director. Throughout my time in Energy Club I participated in many events, most notably the Energy Expo and the MIT Energy Hackathon. I had a great time in Energy Club, I met many great people and was able to further my interest in sustainability!
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Grant Coleman
Active 2016 - 2019 With a passion in sustainable energy and looking to join a group that was actively participating in events around campus, I found UMN Energy Club during my sophomore year. I spent the first year volunteering at different events and wanted to do more for the group. I decided to become a fundraising officer for the final two years with the club. Throughout the three years with UMN Energy Club I participated in multiple events and projects. The biggest events included the annual Energy Expo, and the MIT Energy Hackathon where I was able to use skills I had developed through my Industrial and Systems Engineering classwork. The weekly meetings that would include professors, activists, or sustainable company representatives always were able to teach me new things. Energy Club was a great experience for me as it furthered my passion in sustainability and showed me ways to make a difference within the community.
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Thu Nguyen
Active 2015 - 2018 Struggling to find something that combined my mechanical engineering degree with my desire to address climate change, I made the great decision of joining UMN Energy Club in its inaugural year. In addition to being fundraising officer my sophomore and junior year and president my senior year, I was able to lead on projects such as the Climate Action Plan, Wind and Solar City, and Power Bike, applying technical skills learned in the classroom to a real life problem that needs to be addressed: education and action on climate change. My experiences in UMN Energy Club have helped me become an engineer at a software company and on a wind farm, a grad student, and a climate activist. I believe UMN Energy Club serves a crucial role of helping develop people who will take on some of the world's most important problems.
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MK Anderson
Active 2015 - 2017 Being a part of UMN Energy Club helped me land my dream internship at Ever-Green Energy. It showed the company that I had a good grasp on energy concepts, could handle technical work, and had a good base of student to reach out to. Energy club exposed me to many opportunities as a student such as being a part of the Sustainability Leaders Network on campus and attending the AASHE conference. Being a part of energy club helped me gain confidence speaking in front of crowds and helped me to improve my leadership and project management skills. It also deepened my understanding of energy systems and the expansive career opportunities in the energy field. Most importantly I made a lot of amazing lifelong friends and had a lot of fun during my time in the club.
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Maaz Ahmed
Active 2015 - 2017 The renewable energy revolution has come to Minnesota and its important we all realize and work towards bringing it into action. One important thing to keep in mind when we talk about environmental action and renewable energy is its intersection with other issues (environmental racism etc). At the university level there are very few clubs/platforms that work towards bringing these issues together. It was great to see the energy club was an exception to this. Always striving for inclusion in terms of trying to get people from different orientations, educational backgrounds and experiences to come together and talk about sustainability, renewable energy and issues surrounding them.
Personally i got to experience a very welcoming environment that allowed me to explore and learn at the same time. The club provided me a platform to speak (practice my presentation skills), lead projects (improve project management) among other things. Networking was one big outcome of being involved with the club. Exposure to the sustainability and renewable energy community and events meant connections that have resulted in more learning and great experiences. |
Aaron Hanson
Active 2015 - 2017 Coming to the Energy Club, it was great to see so many students from different backgrounds and disciplines interested in clean energy. It was inspiring to be a part of a group who were making extra time in already hectic schedules to pursue higher ambitions for themselves and the betterment of our shared world. That may sound cheesy, but it is that kind of peer support that can keep you motivated to keep pushing in a sometimes frustrating field.
I came to the Energy Club in 2015, and in short time I knew I wanted to be more involved. It was a very welcoming group of students who were all working on such interesting projects. I learned about new technologies from fellow students, and had a chance to practice presenting my own research. I learned about career paths I hadn’t thought of before from energy industry guest speakers, and we toured several energy facilities here in the area. In 2016, I served as Energy Club Co-President. In 2017, I graduated with a Master’s in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy. And in 2018, I started working with the Energy Transition Lab here at the Institute on the Environment, where I now get to work on emerging technology and policy projects to advance clean energy adoption. |