Students and mentors seated around a table brainstorming a project.

Student Engagement

Career-Based Mentorship

Student engagement is a vital part of INEF’s mission to investigate and deliver resilient energy solutions for our region and the world at large. Our Energy Ambassadors Network (EAN) sits at the forefront of that educational effort by empowering Washington State University students who contribute directly to INEF projects, initiatives, and operations.

By working together with INEF leadership and local energy experts, our EAN students are providing hands-on research assistance, building workforce skills, and leveraging both the academic and industry resources of the Tri-Cities energy hub to advance new ideas.

These are the students, alumni, and industry mentors who make up our growing network.

Energy Ambassadors Network

Rachel Holland.

Aliyana Avalos

Civil Engineering Major

INEF Student Intern

Summer, Fall 2025
Spring 2026

Rachel Holland.

Hasan Cruz

Civil Engineering Major

INEF Student Intern

Fall 2025
Spring 2026

Rachel Holland.

Evalena Dalsbo

Environmental & Ecosystem Sciences Major

INEF Student Intern

Spring, Summer, Fall 2025
Spring 2026

Rachel Holland.

Anas Mohamed

Mechanical Engineering Major

INEF Student Intern

Fall 2025
Spring 2026

Rachel Holland.

Parjot Pawar

Biology, Business Administration, Psychology Major

INEF Student Intern

Fall 2025
Spring 2026

ASWSUTC President

Rachel Holland.

Zoe Pfeifer

Biology Major

INEF Student Intern

Spring, Summer, Fall 2025
Spring 2026

ASWSUTC Director of Legislative Affairs

Rachel Holland.

Timothy Poole

Civil Engineering Major

INEF Student Intern

Spring 2026

Navy Veteran

Rachel Holland.

Angel Romero

Civil Engineering Major

INEF Student Intern

Fall 2025
Spring 2026

Energy Ambassadors Network Alumni

Rachel Holland.

Rachel Holland

Environmental & Ecosystem Sciences Major

Working as a WSU Tri-Cities Bio Sciences Lab Tech.

Rachel Holland.

Roy Leal

Civil Engineering Major

INEF Student Intern

Spring, Summer, Fall 2025

Rachel Holland.

Quinn Norton

Mechanical Engineering Graduate

Working as an Amazon Data Center Staff Engineer.

Rachel Holland.

Ruqaya Talib

Biology Major

Radiology Program, CBC

INEF Industry Mentors

Rachel Holland.

Chris Ajemian

Chris Ajemian LLC

Fusion Technology and Commercialization: Chris Ajemian is a fusion energy entrepreneur. He works with fusion companies, national laboratories, federal and state government and power utilities. He has practiced corporate law, been a foreign policy planner and was an owner in CTFusion, a fusion company that spun out of the University of Washington. He started Seattle Fusion Week in partnership with the CleanTech Alliance and works on building regional, multi-state fusion commercialization hubs. Chris enjoys mentoring students with science, engineering, business and policy planning interests.

Rachel Holland.

Theresa Howell

Energy Northwest Nuclear Development

Resolution of environmental regulatory issues; cleanup, permitting, and analysis of complex sites for both environmental cleanup and project siting; Tribal relations and stakeholder/governmental agency policy

Rachel Holland.

Andrew Porter

First American Nuclear Company

Nuclear Technology and Systems: Committed to the next generation of nuclear technology, Andrew has focused his career on advanced nuclear systems and the development of first-of-a-kind energy systems. Bridging the gap between our nuclear power history to modern advancements and goals. Andrew is very involved at WSU Tri-Cities through student clubs, project sponsorships, and volunteering as an industry mentor to help the next generation of technical persons.

Rachel Holland.

Allie Higginbotham

WSU’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, WSU’s Energy Program

Dr. Higginbotham works at the intersection between climate, agriculture, and energy. She works on projects related to understanding the climate footprint of dairies and of other Pacific Northwest agricultural systems. Allie enjoys digging into data and scientific research to help support practical, climate-smart agricultural solutions.

Rachel Holland.

Danielle Young

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Dani’s career is characterized by dual portfolios: one with the Department of Defense, U.S. Army and the other with the Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO). Since 2019, Dani has been involved with the U.S. Army as a project manager, task lead, and technical authority in areas including water and energy security, installation energy and water plans, stormwater management, water rights, and cybersecurity for facility-related control systems.
   
Since 2023, Dani has served WPTO by managing hydropower projects, offering technical assistance to utilities and engaging in areas such as pump-storage hydropower and environmentally acceptable lubricants. Her work also includes promoting awareness of cybersecurity within workforce development efforts and exploring hybrid applications involving hydropower with other renewable energy technologies.

INEF Student Projects

EAN students contribute to vital research projects examining real-world problems and challenges impacting the food, energy, and water (F.E.W.) nexus. Students explore these topics from an integrated-systems perspective to gain a fuller understanding of how changes to one part of a system affect the rest. These projects go beyond classroom theory, examining how effective policy and real-time industry innovation play a key role in shaping our energy future.

Agrivoltaics

Agrivoltaics are lands that are used for agricultural purposes and solar power production.
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