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"It feels a lot better to be working a job that you can go home and feel good about at the end of the day. That’s what I’ve learned. When I’m working on solutions, I can tell people, ‘My job aligns with my values.’ And that’s so important." Elif, previous Energize Colleges Intern at Sonoma State University |
Energy Storage Unit
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
MORE INFO
Ramiro Galicia, M.S. and Jon Caffery, M.Ed
College of the Desert
Curriculum includes: lecture presentations and outlines and lab activities
Click here to request curriculum.
College of the Desert
- Learn the benefits of energy storage for the electrical grid and society
- Learn how various forms of energy storage function
- Learn how to install and operate energy storage technology
Curriculum includes: lecture presentations and outlines and lab activities
Click here to request curriculum.
Energize Colleges Wins Best Practice Award
at California Higher Education Sustainability Conference in Santa Barbara
8 Career Pathways
- Energy Engineering
- Environmental Controls Technology
- Solar
- Installation & Maintenance
- Energy Auditing
- Energy Storage
- Energy & Environmental Management
- Building Construction & Architecture
Join us for a Virtual Training
Secondary Education
Energy and Climate Trainings Recommended for: Pre-service teachers and faculty When: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 (Earth Day) 4:00 - 6:00pm PST or Wednesday, April 29, 2020 9:30 to 11:30am PST Presenters: Jessica Redden, Strategic Energy Innovations (SEI) & Petrut Ababei, SEI Additional Information
Celebrate Earth Day this year by joining SEI experts for a no-cost, project-based training that will prepare you to bring climate science, energy auditing, and career skills curriculum to your classroom. This training focuses on a series of hands-on (remote) activities so you are prepared to teach your students about climate science, energy systems and energy auditing - a career skills activity. All curriculum used in the demos will be provided to you for adaptation and use in your own instruction.
MEET THE PRESENTERS Jessica Redden is an Associate Project Coordinator at SEI. She has a background in zero waste and local government. Jessica supports K-12 sustainability and zero waste education programming at SEI. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. Petrut Ababei is a Project Coordinator at SEI. Petrut has a background in engineering, education, and architecture. Petrut assists with K-12 sustainability education at SEI and provides support for workforce development programs. Petrut has a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Arizona State University and a Master of Science in Resource Efficiency in Architecture and Planning from HafenCity Universität Hamburg, Germany. |
The Future of Energy Training
Recommended for: College students, faculty and emerging professionals When: Friday, May 1, 2020 from 9:30am - 12:00pm PST Presenters: Dr Jose Torre-Bueno, Center for Community Energy; Lane Sharman, San Diego Energy District; Liz Fitzpatrick, SEI; Emily Usaha, SEI Additional Information
Join this webinar to learn about the opportunities and jobs arising from San Diego’s transition to 100% renewable energy!
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Empowering higher education to meet
current and future sustainability challenges
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2017 - What a Year!
Energize Colleges received the Best Practice Award from the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference (CHESC)! Click here to read more.
Energize Colleges Fellows
Angelique Fuentes
Angelique Fuentes is currently the Project Coordinator for Energize Colleges at Skyline College in San Bruno, CA. She is also currently a member of the Sustainability and Social Justice Communities of Practice (COP) which is a team of faculty and staff that aims to educate the campus community of the often overlooked connection between both disciplines. She is also a member of the Sustainability Ambassador Network (SAN) which is comprised of faculty, staff, facilities and students that work on increasing sustainability in the curriculum, campus culture and facilities operations. As a psychology major and environmentalist, Alex conducted a pilot study on Skyline College Student’s commuting behaviors in which the data collected was used to help inform the campus of the importance of free transportation as a means to help students gain access to an education at Skyline. This and one other transportation study resulted in an institutionalized free shuttle service for Skyline College students. Currently, her work involves connecting students to a variety of internships like fog catching, increasing sustainability and social justice in curriculum and service learning opportunities, green building standards, environmental engineering and public health to name a few.
Carol Martinez
Carol Martinez is a current student at Mount San Antonio College. There she began an internship for the Climate Commitment Implementation Committee, assisting with the development of the school’s inaugural Climate Action Plan. Her successful internship led to her current position as the Energize Colleges Program Coordinator at Mt. SAC, all while continuing participation in the Sustainability Committee and being the acting Secretary of EAGLE club. Most notably, Carol is the founder of The Campus Sustainability Tours at Mt. SAC. As an Honors Program student, Carol was on both the Dean’s and President’s List for academic excellence. Current coordinator duties include supervision and management of sustainability interns, and continue to assist the development of the CAP alongside the faculty committee and the consultants hired by Mt. SAC to develop the greenhouse gas mitigation portions of its CAP. Carol aspires to earn a Juris Doctor in Environmental Law.
Danielle Baxter
Danielle Baxter, Bachelor’s in Natural Resource Management, CSU, Chico has been involved in local environmentalism and community connection in her hometown Chico, CA for the past 5 years. Prior to completing her degree, she worked as a youth counselor at the Boys and Girls Club of the North Valley integrating nature connection and sustainability programs. Upon graduation, she began work with local non-profit, Butte Environmental Council, coordinating grant funded projects including the Native Oak Restoration Project and Recycling and Rubbish Education, teaching recycling and vermicomposting in Butte County classrooms. Currently in her fellowship at Butte College, she is working on an internship program involving on and off campus partners, hiring students to explore passions and career options in clean energy and sustainability. She is working with core faculty members to further efforts in climate change and sustainability related curriculum and framework for a Sustainability Degree. Danielle hopes to maintain involvement in furthering community growth in the way of connection and resilience to climate change effects. This fellowship is helping her on this career path by growing her project management skills, community and youth connections, and tangibly completing goals that further awareness and preparation for a changing future.
Danielle Robinson
Danielle is the Energize Colleges Fellow at College of Marin, working to expand the capacity of the school to give experiential learning opportunities in the field of energy and sustainability. As the college moves to offer more degrees and certificates in sustainability, increasing awareness in the internal college community and surrounding towns is imperative to the success of the programs and for supporting the needs of non-traditional students and underemployed residents. Goals for this cycle include institutionalizing the Energize Colleges program within a department and with designated faculty and financial resources.
The Fellowship supports skill building in project management, stakeholder engagement, outreach to youth in local schools, and providing resources for learning about sustainability across disciplines. The Fellowship provides a platform for building credibility within the community of sustainability professionals by implementing innovative projects in local institutions.
This experience builds on her former work with developing graduate student internships in Ethiopia, and contribution to building sustainability-related curriculum at Parson’s School of Design. Danielle completed her Master's degree in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from The New School in New York City, and hopes to apply this knowledge to issues in the Bay Area concerning regional energy policy, developing equitable workforce solutions in green jobs, and promoting resilient communities and institutions.
The Fellowship supports skill building in project management, stakeholder engagement, outreach to youth in local schools, and providing resources for learning about sustainability across disciplines. The Fellowship provides a platform for building credibility within the community of sustainability professionals by implementing innovative projects in local institutions.
This experience builds on her former work with developing graduate student internships in Ethiopia, and contribution to building sustainability-related curriculum at Parson’s School of Design. Danielle completed her Master's degree in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from The New School in New York City, and hopes to apply this knowledge to issues in the Bay Area concerning regional energy policy, developing equitable workforce solutions in green jobs, and promoting resilient communities and institutions.
Hannah Campi
Hannah graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Science from UC Riverside in 2016, after which she joined Climate Corps as an Energize Colleges fellow at UC San Diego. While a Fellow, Hannah has worked with interns on cross-border zero net energy and community sustainability projects. Hannah has also had the chance to work with UCSD Center on Global Justice faculty who inspired her to apply to graduate school with the Center on Global Justice. Hannah is currently in the second year of her Climate Corps fellowship, and her first year of her master's degree in International Affairs. Her work with SEI at UCSD helped shape her decision to pursue her masters, and will continue to shape future career plans.
Jennifer Sanchez
Bio coming soon.
Jonathan Chan
Jonathan began his journey into environmentalism conducting basic research at NC State University to better understand the molecular and electronic processes occurring within solar panels. In college, he saw a gap in knowledge transmission between academics and in the real world, and thus started doing environmental education and outreach work in several student organizations. As an Energize Colleges Fellow at College of the Desert, Jonathan manages an internship program to prepare students to go into careers that will support California’s Zero-Net Energy mandates through technical skills and work experience in green architecture, renewable energy, and HVAC. Through Climate Corps, Jonathan has had the opportunity attend conferences and workshops where technical professionals, businesses, government, and academia are all working to figure out how to meet California’s ambitious zero-net energy building mandates and GHG reductions goals. What stands out in his fellowship is how much coordination and collaboration is required from all of these sectors to help California reach its goals, and how collaboration has empowered Californians to embrace change and move forward together. Jonathan hopes to pursue a career in urban/land-use planning to help communities address climate change and develop in environmentally and socially equity ways.
Kanami Otani
The Claremont McKenna College (CMC) and Harvey Mudd College (HMC) are two private liberal arts institutions housed in a college consortium of five undergraduate institutions and two graduate institutions. Claremont McKenna and Harvey Mudd entered into the Energize Colleges program jointly to provide energy-based internships for students due to the high demand of sustainability-related internships. These internships give students a chance to have an interactive learning experience within the energy sector to enhance their skills, resume, and passions for sustainability related careers. As the Energize Colleges Fellow, Kanami Otani works to provide meaningful, measurable internships to students while developing relationships with various community partners. During her time as a Fellow, Kanami is enhancing her project management skills while further developing various workshops and presentations for professional development for young professionals.
Mark Bachofer
In the past, Mark has worked primarily in the classroom setting with grade school children. In his positions, he encouraged and fostered interest in science and exploration. Now as an Energize Colleges Fellow, he is managing a collection of interns who are all working on different sustainability projects, encouraging students to pursue the internships that share their interests, and inspiring them to continue in the environmental field. This Fellowship has helped Mark adjust to a work and office environment, also opening windows into how to better interact and communicate with individuals possessing differing opinions. In the future, Mark hopes to examine teaching a little more, or explore environmental policy.
Nathalie Romero
Nathalie is the Energize Colleges Fellow at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, CA. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, San Diego. During her Fellowship, Nathalie has participated in solar systems installations and LEED and energy audits trainings. Along with SWC interns, they have reached more than 100 high school students in order to promote sustainable practices and education. The Energize Colleges program at Southwestern College has provided an opportunity to encourage sustainability on campus and help students develop hands-on experience with invaluable knowledge. Nathalie is currently pursuing Environmental Management and Occupation Health and Safety certificates at Southwestern College and will be working full time as an environmental engineer at Brown and Caldwell when her Fellowship ends. The Fellowship has provided Nathalie tremendous management skills, great knowledge about sustainability and green careers as well as a strong confidence in her professional skills.
Rachel Pennington
Rachel graduated from UC Irvine in 2016 with a degree in Environmental Science and Global Sustainability. While studying at UCI, she worked part time as an education specialist at Crystal Cove Conservancy, a nonprofit focused on informal science education. In her fellowship, she aims to providing meaningful internships and academic programs that connect students to careers in renewable energy. Beyond this, she works to forward campus sustainability operations through an environmental justice lens. Rachel’s fellowship has allowed her to learn more about renewable energy technology and climate action planning while developing valuable professional and leadership skills. After her fellowship, Rachel hopes to attend graduate school to study global environmental policy, climate adaptation, and resiliency. In her free time, Rachel can be found working on research out of UCI’s Department of Earth System Science, or scoping out the best vegan food in Orange County.
Tristian Trevino
Tristian is a graduate of Arizona State University with a degree in Sustainability and minor in Sociology. He has done conservation work in Dixie National Forest in Utah and Coconino National Forest in Arizona. He also served as a teaching assistant for the School of Engineering at ASU and has worked in promoting social change in the local Arizona community. In his role as the Orange Coast College Fellow, he is spearheading the internship program and working on academic vocational programs focused on sustainable energy. Tristian will be heading back to Arizona to get his MBA and will use the knowledge gained from obtaining a masters degree with his experience as a fellow to work with companies on becoming more sustainable. Specifically, he hopes to take the program management and leadership experience gained as a fellow to work in Corporate Social Responsibility.
Intern Testimonials
Want to know more about the internship experince? Hear first hand how our internships benefit college students and learn more about their projects, site placements, and professional development goals in their profiles.
Ulysses & Jake - College of the Desert
Intern Profiles
Includes host site information, intern's learning objectives, and testimonials.
Includes host site information, intern's learning objectives, and testimonials.
Campus Overviews
College of Marin
This brief powerpoint provides background on the campus, describes their planning process to becoming an Energize College campus, and provides detail about their partners and Fellow.
College of Marin
This brief powerpoint provides background on the campus, describes their planning process to becoming an Energize College campus, and provides detail about their partners and Fellow.
