Katherine Hamilton ('83) will speak about transitions, highlighting where progress has been made in clean energy and where it now has the most promise. Her talk will touch on her southern background, her experience at Cornell, her move into energy technology, then shift into policy. Katherine will discuss what she has seen over time as the throughlines in the energy transition and the most salient policy issues (and the importance of policy itself). Her talk aims to be relevant and informative, no matter the student's field of study or career path.
 

Bio: Katherine Hamilton '83 is Chair of 38 North and has for the third time been named one of the 500 most influential people in Washington, DC, by Washingtonian magazine. As an international policy expert, Katherine was an original and longtime host of The Energy Gang podcast, was a regular contributor to The Carbon Copy podcast, and has now joined the original Gang to launch Open Circuit. Katherine has led several councils of the World Economic Forum as a global policy and technology thought leader and is currently a Senior Executive in Clean Power and Electrification. She served as Vice Chair of the board of Greentown Labs, with start-up hubs in Somerville, MA and Houston, TX and currently serves as a Non-Executive Director at Smarter Grid Solutions, as an Independent Director at Peak Power, and as an Advisor to MKB, a growth equity fund. Katherine served as President of the GridWise Alliance, advocating for smart grid funding in the Obama Administration’s Recovery Act. Prior to that role, Katherine was a policy advisor for Good Energies, Inc., a private investment company with a portfolio in clean energy technologies of nearly $6 billion. She co-directed the American Bioenergy Association, working with the states of Maryland and New Jersey to develop renewable portfolio standards. At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Katherine led buildings research and then managed government relations in Washington, DC. Katherine spent a decade at Virginia Power, designing grids and managing commercial customer projects. Katherine studied electrical engineering at Northern Virginia Community College and holds degrees from Cornell University and the Sorbonne. Katherine was previously profiled and listed on the #Solar100 board by kWh Analytics and received a Cleanie Award as Entrepreneur of the Year.

Registration is required, as seating is limited.

This event is hosted by the Cornell Climate Impact Speaker Series & Energy Engineering Seminar Series. Event sponsors include the R.F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, and The 2030 Project: A Cornell Climate Initiative.