Reaching for the sun: DNV and REACH Memphis introduce students to careers in renewable energy
DNV leads a field trip to one of the southeast United States' largest solar farms
Despite enthusiasm, many young people have never encountered a solar panel in person, let alone an entire solar farm.
By Gian-Gabriel Masoni Dobles
A project nested in our DEI initiatives, DNV’s scholarship and mentorship program offers a heavy community engagement component spearheaded by Gomathi Sadhasivan, Cristen Mathews, David Jones and Camila Simons, and Timehin Sonubi. Oriented towards high school students from all over the United States, it has been scaled to serve seven organizations, and currently awards two scholarships per organization with the intention to grow. Having awarded twelve scholarships in 2020 upon launch, it grew to award fourteen last year. One of the beneficiary organizations is REACH Memphis which is of tremendous personal meaning to Project Biologist Cristen Mathews who benefited from their mentorship in high school. As just one student who’s had her life course altered by the organization, Cristen aims to shed light on many career pathways DNV offers, including those in renewable energy.
The Scholarship
While not an earth-shattering sum of money, the scholarship serves to boost students as they embark on their first year of college. The students can use it as needed, whether funding their housing or paying for often prohibitively expensive textbooks.
Scholarship impact aside, the broader magic happens when asking students whether they’ve ever had a chance to engage career mentorship. These students often have minimal exposure to STEM and are intrigued as they hear career options they hadn’t conceived of. While DNV mentors like Cristen can speak to the benefits of career pathways in energy, field trips are extended more broadly than simply to REACH Memphis' STEM-focused students.
REACH Memphis has a number of scholar groups from business, finance, health care, journalism and engineering. The latter is a fledgling outpost, which is where DNV can move the needle in interest from future engineers. But Cristen insists to students that renewables go beyond engineering, as there are many ways to tap into the energy transition early in your career. In career panels, she and the team outline the many roles that will need to be filled to advance the energy transition. A career panel following a recent field trip to a massive solar farm was no exception.
Getting some sun
Recently REACH students were invited to the West Tennessee Solar Farm which offers educational activities in addition to serving as a solar facility. It’s a strong example of what can be done with the technology and is a great way to get students excited about renewables. Starting operations in 2012, the farm is owned and managed by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a premier research university. They’ve been great stewards of federal funding, creating an emblematic project in what were formerly cotton fields. Terrain like this in agricultural areas is often an ideal fit for staging solar due to topography and conditions, particularly in the case of the southeast.
There hasn’t historically been a lot of solar development in the southeast region, which is why this facility is so important in painting a picture of solar potential across the region. Outliers like Georgia and North Carolina are well on their way in solar development. But many states like Arkansas and Tennessee are emerging forces which makes Cristen proud as a Tennessee native. Cristen is optimistic about sparking passion in renewables for these students as many of them had never even seen a solar panel in person.
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