Partner Profile: Dr. Nicole Mendoza

"Don't let others stand in your way or tell you what you can't do. Achieve what you want to achieve and what you believe in, even if no one else in the room looks or thinks like you."

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage month (September 15 - October 15), this issue features Dr. Nicole Mendoza, Senior Researcher in Wind Energy Systems at National Renewable Energy Laboratory & Chief Technology Officer at SkyBaron. 

Dr. Mendoza, who identifies as both Hispanic and Latina, works primarily in offshore floating and onshore wind energy systems and systems engineering. She is a 2020 Environmental Entrepreneurs 1 Hotels Fellow and Emerging Leader, and her fellowship project focused on supporting small businesses in carbon capture and utilization. She has also won multiple scholarships and awards while completing her PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M, including the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. For her dedication and extensive volunteering, she received the 2018 New Volunteer of the Year Award from Wildlands Restoration Volunteers. She is a passionate champion for women and minorities in STEM and renewable energy, diversity and inclusion, and saving the planet. 

In a previous interview, you said that you have been an environmentalist since third grade, when you won an environmental poster contest. What drives your interest in the environment?

I grew up with a strong appreciation for the incredible wonders and majesty of nature, and I highly value biodiversity and the complex web/fabric of life. It is worth protecting, preserving, and conserving because we share living space and resources with the vast variety of flora and fauna in this one world together. My 3rd grade poster was of a vibrant, diverse rainforest with the message "When we pollute, everyone suffers from it!". 

News in a Nutshell

Can carbon capture technology save the planet?

Hint: Direct Air Capture, and any type of CO₂ capture, has a much better chance of becoming a viable commercial industry if we treat the captured CO₂ as a valuable resource, from which we can make useful—and profitable—products.

How direct air capture can help countries tackle climate change

$3.6 million DOE grant to support direct air carbon capture research

Chart and FLSmidth to collaborate on carbon capture that targets over 90% removal of CO₂ emissions from cement production

Australia to become leader in carbon capture says CSIRO report

Carbon removal technology reaches early milestone

Australia's Calix snares backing for carbon capture technology

We need to remove emissions at a major scale: Is carbon capture the answer?

Geothermal energy could be generated from captured CO₂, study shows

Foundation for Climate Restoration’s Annual Global Climate Restoration Forum

Stop on the Road to Glasgow: COP26

October 1

GCI Director, Volker Sick, will join Kumi Naidoo and Kye Young for a fireside chat to discuss COP26. They will dig into why everyone is talking about it, the significance, the challenges and how this is different from previous years. For more information or to register, click here.

19th Peter M. Wege Lecture Featuring Gina McCarthy: Just and Sustainable Climate Solutions

October 14

This engaging conversation with Gina McCarthy, the country’s first National Climate Advisor, is organized by SEAS. It will be moderated by Tony Reames, Senior Advisor: Office of Economic Impact and Diversity U.S. Department of Energy, and it will be followed by a Q&A with Kyle Whyte, White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. For more information or to register for free tickets, click here.

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