2012 College Student Interns

A photo of five Native American student interns with their advisor.

Pictured from left to right on Agua Caliente tribal land: Tribal Energy Program intern Colleen Cooley, Student Intern Program Supervisor Sandra Begay-Campbell of Sandia National Laboratories, Tribal Energy Program Intern Chelsea Chee, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy (DOE-IE) intern Nikki Tulley, Tribal Energy Program intern Nora Cata, and DOE-IE intern Jessica Rodriguez.

Learn more about the Tribal Energy Program's 2012 college student interns, including their educational backgrounds, research papers, testimonials, and photos.

Nora Cata (Seneca-Cayuga)

Degrees:

  • M.S. Environmental Studies, San Jose State
  • B.A. Environmental Studies, University of California—Santa Barbara

Research paper: Sustainable Rural Electrification on the Navajo Nation: What Makes a Successful Off-grid Photovoltaic Installation?

Chelsea Chee (Navajo)

Degrees:

  • M.S. Community and Regional Planning and Public Administration, University of New Mexico
  • B.S. Environmental Studies, University of Arizona

Colleen Cooley (Navajo)

Degrees:

  • M.S. Climate Science and Solutions, Northern Arizona University
  • B.S. Environmental Studies, Northern Arizona University

Research paper: Mitigating Climate Change on a Tribal Level

Intern Testimonial

"I came to realize that renewable energy adoption is a learning process for everyone involved….Each tribe had its own motivations and perspectives with implementation as unique as the individual cultures themselves."
— Nora Cata