Mines grad student wins U.S. Clean Energy Education & Empowerment Award 

A Colorado School of Mines graduate student has been honored with a U.S. Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E) Award from the U.S. Department of Energy. 

Kate Anderson, a PhD student in the Advanced Energy Systems program, was this year's winner of the C3E Social, Economic, and Policy Innovation Award. 

Led by DOE in collaboration with the MIT Energy Initiative, Stanford University’s Precourt Institute for Energy and the Texas A&M Energy Institute, the C3E program was created to help close the gender gap and increase participation, leadership and success of women in clean energy fields. The eight annual awards recognize mid-career women who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and accomplishments in clean energy, while also mentoring other women in the field. 

Anderson is chief of staff for Energy Systems Integration at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where she supports activities focused on power systems, systems analysis, decision science, energy security and resilience, and energy justice. In addition to her work, she is also pursuing her PhD through the joint Mines-NREL Advanced Energy Systems Program. 

"I am very honored to have been chosen for this C3E Award," Anderson said. "It is especially meaningful to see my work at NREL recognized in such a significant way in this critical time as we work toward an equitable global clean energy transition that benefits everyone.” 

C3E’s Social, Economic, and Policy Innovation Award specifically recognizes scientists, researchers and practitioners working at universities, national laboratories or in industry who are researching and analyzing how technologies, economics, public policy, equity and decision-making interact to affect the adoption of clean energy systems. In order to be chosen for this award, nominees must demonstrate outstanding leadership and extraordinary achievement in their fields.