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2003 DOE Office of Science Interns

Photograph of one woman and two men standing near the edge of a cliff with a desert vista behind them.

Pictured left to right at Navajo Monument Valley: Keith Candelaria, Velissa Sandoval, and Shaun Tsabetsaye.

"On our field visit to the Navajo land, [Larry Ahasteen, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority] mentioned that people refer to renewable energy as free energy. However, Native Americans believe that the sun, wind, and geothermal waters are all gifts from the Creator. As people use these resources today, they should always remember to give thanks for all that is provided. Nothing is essentially free from this land." — Keith Candelaria, 2003

The following intern papers are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.

  • Keith Candelaria (San Felipe/Jemez) — BS Environmental/Earth Science, Dartmouth College. For more, see his paper, Native American Renewable Energy Approaches: Navajo Tribal Utility Authority and NativeSun (PDF 47 KB).

  • Velissa Sandoval (Navajo/Zuni) — BS Electrical Engineering, University of Denver. For more, see her paper, Women Champions in Solar Energy (PDF 212 KB).

  • Shaun Tsabetsaye (Zuni) — Graduate student in electrical engineering, University of New Mexico; BS Electrical Engineering. For more, see his paper, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority: Electrification Demonstration Program — Developing a Sustainable Tribal and Rural Cooperative Solar Program (PDF 141 KB).