Laurie is a Senior Writer/Editor for Rocky Mountain Institute.
Laurie has over 20 years of experience in renewable energy technologies. Prior to joining RMI, Laurie was the International Program Manager for Solar Energy International (SEI), where she organized renewable energy trainings around the world. She also wrote articles for environmental magazines and was green building editor for Home Power magazine.
Laurie has extensive experience working on and documenting rural electrification renewable energy projects throughout Latin America. She spent a year installing solar rural electrification systems in repatriated refugee communities in El Salvador with an organization she cofounded called Solar Community Projects, and spent a year working on solar water distillation at the Engineering University in Managua, Nicaragua. Laurie has also led renewable energy and energy efficiency tours of Cuba with Eco-Cuba Network since 1996. Laurie currently serves as an advisory board member to Remote Energy, a nonprofit organization serving as a technical/teaching arm for organizations that are working on international clean energy programs.
M.Sc., Energy Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder
BA, Mathematics, Colorado College
Awards: Phi Beta Kappa, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow
Basalt, CO
“The best thing about working at RMI is knowing that I am part of transforming the energy system and creating a better future for not only my son but all the children on the planet.”
Twenty-eight Democratic Senators recently pulled an all-nighter in Congress to bring awareness to climate change issues. The effort, led by Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, had hoped to “wake up” Congress and get them serious about addressing the issue.
Forty years ago Sabana Grande, a small community in northern Nicaragua, was ravaged by war. Now you will find people sitting under solar-powered lights, eating solar-cooked chicken, and drinking smoothies made by a bicycle-powered blender.
Many islands are blessed with large amounts of sun, wind, and water, making renewable energy a promising solution. One small island off the coast of Africa has embraced these resources, most notably through an innovative hybrid hydro-wind system.
2013 brought remarkable clean energy developments that are helping to bring us closer to a clean, prosperous, and secure energy future. Here we list our top ten.
Varese Ligure, Italy, a charming town of pastel-colored houses which reinvented itself into a sustainable tourist destination with renewable energy and organic farming.
Ten years ago many Americans couldn’t afford to buy a solar electric system for their home. Today, many consumers still can’t stomach the steep sticker price, even if it offers the promise of low-cost, clean renewable energy in the long term.
The plains of eastern Colombia are a tough land—the haunt of drug trafficking, guerilla warfare, and paramilitary groups; a place where the soil is so poor everyone said nothing could grow. Paolo Lugari, the founder of the 200-person community of Gaviotas, believed otherwise. In the face of adversity, he built a thriving, self-sustaining community.
We tend to think of colleges, and especially their students, as our future. We’re not only talking about the students themselves, who will become the next generation of leaders, but the actual campuses, and what we can learn from them about our electricity future.
When deployed as a system, smart parking reduces car emissions in urban centers and permits cities to carefully manage their parking supply.
On a small island off the coast of Denmark, a group of potato farmers have turned into power brokers, owning the wind turbines that have made their island a net energy producer.
Join us to answer the global call for a brighter energy future