January 14, 2014

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Women in STEM – we need all hands on deck to tackle climate change

Carter Wall is a biochemist in Massachusettes who manages the clean energy division of Broadway Electrical Company, one of the largest solar developers in the Northeast.When Wall was in junior high, she went to the library in search of biographies on female scientists.

By Melissa C. Lott

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Carter Wall is a biochemist in Massachusettes who manages the clean energy division of Broadway Electrical Company, one of the largest solar developers in the Northeast. When Wall was in junior high, she went to the library in search of biographies on female scientists. She was looking to discover female role models, but in the end discovered just one book for inspiration - a biography on Marie Curie, a famous European scientist and pioneer in radioactivity research.

But, this didn't stop Wall, who went on to study biochemistry in college. She now mentors young women and girls who are interested in the energy field. Today, Wall was highlighted in the United States Department of Energy (DOE) brand new "Women in STEM" video series. DOE hopes is that these videos will not only highlight women working in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, but also inspire a new generation of STEM leaders.

In today's video, Wall shares her excitement for and appreciation of the clean energy field. She also sums up her best piece of career advice, saying "there is no substitute for passion. You can learn any kinds of facts. You can learn any kind of technical stuff. But you can't learn passion. You gotta find something that you want to do and the rest of it is easy."

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