The U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) works with researchers and experts across the country who are advancing two valuable clean energy resources: hydropower and marine energy.

Each person can spark small changes—or ripples. And together, those ripples can merge to help the United States achieve its clean energy goals.

WPTO’s Ripple Effect profile series features just a few of the individuals whose impactful work will help advance hydropower and marine energy technologies.

Who Is Making Ripples?

Ripple Effect: The Nature Aficionado Who Found a Passion in Clean Energy—Including Water Power
Jennifer Garson, the outgoing director of the Water Power Technologies Office, shares how saying “OK” to opportunities led her to working in clean energy and her thoughts on the important role water power plays in the clean energy transition.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: Why Chinmayee Subban Chose Water Power Over Mushrooms and Guinea Pigs
Chinmayee Subban, a researcher at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, shares what farmers taught her about water, how marine energy could power carbon capture, and how her daughter helps gauge how relevant her research is to broad audiences.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: Why Jen Trimble Thinks You Should Know All About Water Power
Jen Trimble's desire to protect people and serve a bigger picture has led her from the U.S. Army to public works in Texas to her current role: operations manager for the U.S. Department of Energy's Water Power Technologies Office.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: Chicken Coops and Magazines Nudged Two Hydropower Experts Into STEM; Now, They Hope to Bring in a New Generation
In honor of National STEM Day, Argonne National Laboratory’s Jonghwan Kwon and Quentin Ploussard share why they chose to pursue STEM careers and their work with high school students to encourage interest in hydropower.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: Sohom Datta Saw Wildfires Devastate His State—Now He’s Studying How Hydropower Can Help
Sohom Datta, a senior power systems engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, conducts research that could help identify communities that are most vulnerable to wildfires and how they could prepare to weather them with help from hydropower.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: Otters, TV Sets, and Water Power: The Many Worlds of Maxine Hillman
At the Water Power Technologies Office, Maxine Hillman helps people understand climate challenges and solutions with her work on large national events and explainer videos that translate complex science related to hydropower and marine energy.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: Mirko Musa Wants to Rescue Rivers—and the World—With Help From Water Power
Mirko Musa, an R&D associate staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was always fascinated by the power of rivers and how they sculpt landscapes. Now, he’s finding ways to harness that power and protect rivers at the same time.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: Patrick O’Byrne Has Seen (and Fixed!) Generators at Almost Every Kind of Power Plant but for Now Has a Home in Tidal Energy
As a water power intern at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Patrick O’Byrne constructs and studies tidal energy technologies, which are still relatively new but could help the country achieve its clean energy goals.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: Pennsylvania Skies Nudged Mark Glick into Clean Energy; Now He Sees Hydropower in Hawai'i's Future
Mark Glick was interested in public policy from an early age. Today, as chief energy officer for the Hawai'i State Energy Office, he supports the state’s clean energy transition with help from water power.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: How Emma Wendt, a Conscientious Consumer, Is Helping Maine Fight Climate Change with Marine Energy (and More)
Emma Wendt helps Maine's island communities transition to cleaner and more resilient and affordable energy sources often with assistance from the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: How the Lorax and the Hawaiian Bobtail Squid Led Nina Joffe to Water Power
All the skyscrapers, traffic, and factories used to remind Nina Joffe of warnings in Dr. Suess’ The Lorax. As an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow, she helps marine energy expand and coexist with marine wildlife and ecosystems.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: Why WPTO Fellow Sarah Moore Believes We Need More Than Math and Science to Solve Problems Like Climate Change
In 2015, Sarah Moore traveled to a rural Bolivian community to install solar-powered showers and latrines. Now a 2021 American Association for the Advancement of Science Science and Technology fellow, she works on other communities' water systems.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: How Jake Herb’s Rural Childhood Sparked a Career in Clean Energy
Jake Herb grew up where trucks belched next to horses and buggies. Recently, as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Science and Technology Policy fellow, he helped develop programs to advance water power technology.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: Claire Gonzales and Scuba Diving into Ocean-Powered Fisheries
At age 17, Claire Gonzales took her first deep ocean dive. Now, as a 2022 fellow in the Marine Energy Graduate Student Research Program, she works on co-locating marine energy with fisheries to help the world protect the ocean one ripple at a time.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: Christopher Ruhl and How Football Led to a Passion for Engineering Tidal Energy
It was summer football training that brought Christopher Ruhl to mechanical engineering. Now a Ph.D. candidate and fellow in the Marine Energy Graduate Student Research Program, he uses those skills to study turbulence and and how it affects tidal energy.
Learn More
Ripple Effect: From Milk-Can Cars to Underwater Vehicles, Habilou Ouro-Koura Is Harnessing Power
As a kid, Habilou Ouro-Koura liked to break stuff. Now, as a 2022 fellow with the Marine Energy Graduate Student Research Program, Ouro-Koura is helping make ocean thermal energy practical so the world can fix climate change one ripple at a time.
Learn More

Stay in the know with WPTO!

Receive the latest information on funding opportunities, events, and news, including the next Ripple Effect profile, by subscribing to the Hydro Headlines and Water Column newsletters, as well as the comprehensive Water Wire newsletter.

What’s Your Ripple Effect?

Eager to make a difference? Both hydropower and marine energy are critical to the United States’ transition to a clean energy economy. Today, these growing industries offer plenty of opportunities to pursue new jobs and career paths.

Whether you’re a K–12 student, finishing your graduate degree, or already on the job market, WPTO provides a huge number of ways to build a career in water power. Explore WPTO’s educational resources and get involved!

Are You Also a Clean Energy Champion?

Are you a clean energy champion?

At any scale, we need every American to champion decarbonization and the advantages of a clean energy revolution. Explore how you can be a Clean Energy Champion by using renewable energy, being a leader, and spreading the word. Plus meet the Clean Energy Champions at the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy! Learn more about Clean Energy Champions.