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Meet Claire Wayner
Iceland 2024 – TGP Scholarship
Princeton University
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Graduation Year: 2022
“I would enthusiastically recommend TGP to anyone considering attending – it will blow your mind in the most positive of ways!”
About Claire
I am a young professional working at RMI, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing the clean energy transition and solving the climate crisis. I have worked at RMI for a little over two years now since graduating from Princeton University in 2022 with a degree in civil & environmental engineering with a focus on sustainable energy.
I first heard about TGP from a colleague, Avery McEvoy, and became excited about the Iceland program as a way to learn more about clean energy deployment on the ground in a different country. I thought the Iceland program would be a unique opportunity for me to witness how a country can build a 100% clean energy system. This serves as inspiration for my work, which is focused on enabling clean energy deployment in the US.
The TGP Process and Expectations
I was elated when I learned I had received a scholarship, as it made my participation in TGP possible. Without the generosity of TGP’s scholarship program, I would not have been able to participate and travel abroad to learn more about sustainable energy. I was excited that I would get to see the clean energy transition in action in another country and broaden my cultural horizons.
The enrollment process was smooth, and TGP staff worked with me to ensure that my professional development funds from my job could be applied to my program tuition. The scholarship eased any initial challenges that I may have faced.
The program significantly exceeded my expectations. Before the program, I thought we would get a chance to go on a few tours, but I was uncertain how much we would be able to see given that it would be winter in Iceland. However, our tour guides were experts at navigating Iceland’s wintry roads, and every day had a thoroughly filled agenda with enough spare time, too, for rest and relaxation.
I did not know that we would get a chance to see so many cool places, from the geothermal-powered tomato greenhouse to the largest waterfall in Iceland – and that’s not including the cool places I knew we would visit, like a geothermal power plant and hydroelectric power plant. All the tours were seamlessly organized and executed. I had a phenomenal time.
I also enjoyed the university course components of the trip, as those taught me a lot about Iceland and its energy system and also made me feel like I was still learning via a classroom setting (and I enjoyed seeing Reykjavík University). Overall, I would enthusiastically recommend TGP to anyone considering attending – it will blow your mind in the most positive of ways!
Takeaways and Capstone Project
I learned so much about how Iceland has prioritized sustainability and green energy as part of their culture. From the plentiful geothermal heating systems to locally sourced food, Iceland truly centers sustainability at the heart of its society. This is inspirational for me as someone living and working in the US, as it has given me more ideas for how the US can prioritize and center sustainability in our society.
I also learned a lot about the successes and challenges that Iceland has faced as part of its clean energy transition. For instance, Iceland has plentiful geothermal and hydroelectric power, which was neat to see through tours of actual power plants. They also have favorable geologic sites for underground carbon dioxide sequestration, which was neat to see when we visited the Climeworks facility.
However, Iceland is also struggling to boost electric vehicle adoption after the passage of a recent policy that imposes a fee on EV ownership. It was neat to see policy in action in Iceland and the repercussions of changing EV policy.
My capstone project was about increasing wind turbine blade recycling in the US. We came up with the idea after one of the participants, who is from Germany, proposed the idea (he has a history of working in the wind industry in Germany). He shared how turbine blade recycling is becoming more and more common in Europe, and those of us from the US shared how it is much less common in the US.
We came up with the idea to scale up blade recycling in the US. During the project, we worked well together as a team and talked through some difficult concepts, like our business model and policy barriers, as a group. This enabled us to come up with a stronger end project that is more resilient in the US today. The group photo above is of my capstone project group while we did our glacier hike!
Importance of Global Experiences
Global experiences are particularly important for underrepresented students because it enables more rich cross-cultural sharing across boundaries. This sort of knowledge sharing goes both ways. Underrepresented students deserve a chance to learn more about other cultures, especially since we may not have the budget or resources to see these countries on our personal time. And, it is valuable for Icelanders to get to meet a diverse range of students, rather than students from a uniform cultural background. Global experiences also enable us underrepresented students to bring back and integrate cultural learnings into our day-to-day lives and work.
Claire’s Advice for Future GREENies
I would advise students to check with their university, including their study abroad office, to see if there are any additional funding opportunities available. Even if you are able to get only a partial scholarship from TGP, you can likely find other sources of funds at your university or even through a local nonprofit or social organization (e.g., Elks Lodge).
GoFundMe pages are also a great way to raise the remaining money. Many colleges and universities have money available – all you need to do is ask and make a compelling pitch for why this opportunity is important to you. When in doubt, just ask! A polite question never hurt anyone.
Final Thanks
I cannot thank you all enough for the scholarship that you provided me. Participating in TGP was a dream come true for me as a woman in engineering, and going to Iceland was the opportunity of a lifetime. The scholarship is the reason why I was able to participate. Without it, I would not have been able to afford enrolling. Thank you, thank you, thank you!