ARCTIC Fellow Maps out Education Initiatives in Kotzebue

ACEP’s Annalise Klein, an Alaska Regional Collaboration for Technology Innovation and Commercialization fellow, recently returned from a follow-up trip to Kotzebue. She continued energy activities with local high school partners, building on a larger goal of identifying stakeholders and mapping out education initiatives in Kotzebue.

During Klein’s first trip to Kotzebue in March 2022 with ACEP research fellow Kate Robb, she worked with organizers of the Northwest Arctic Borough Energy Steering Committee to develop an energy design workshop for Kotzebue High School students, where they explored how heat pumps work and completed an insulation design challenge. 

With an established partnership developed during her first visit, Klein returned in April to build upon her outreach and stakeholder engagement efforts. Klein visited a solar installation training at an Alaska Training Cooperative Center for nearby community high school students where they were identifying strengths and needs for localized energy literacy programming. These two trips allowed Klein to talk with community members, meet with local organizations and come up with concrete next steps for workforce development and secondary education initiatives with the ARCTIC 2 Energy Innovation Network.

As a STEM educator, Klein feels strongly that it is important to build relationships with local partners and introduce opportunities for research with local education investment. 

Klein sees a lot of potential for further collaboration efforts on the horizon.

“Through the ongoing energy conversations and projects in Kotzebue, we have an exciting opportunity to collaborate with other stakeholders to create meaningful opportunities for youth in the Northwest Arctic Borough to activate their role in creating their own energy future,” she said. 

These efforts were made possible by funding from the Office of Naval Research and ARCTIC.

 

Annalise Klein poses in front of Kotzebue High School during one of her trips to the village of Kotzebue back in March. Photo by Kate Robb.