Sean's Journey to Green Energy

Sean Ryan, our Senior Project Coordinator, describes what led him to a career in the renewable energy sector.

Since the age of 16, I’ve known what I wanted to do when I “grew up”. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to help move the planet forward. I wanted to eliminate carbon emissions. I realized this relatively early in life, in my AP Environmental Science class. Seven years on,  I am doing exactly what I wanted to. 

Science was my favorite subject in school; in particular “Living Environment” , Earth Science and Environmental Science and I was lucky to have excellent teachers. I can pinpoint pretty closely when my passion was sparked. We were learning about renewables vs non-renewables, carbon free vs carbon emitting, how fossil fuels are made etc. I was captivated. And the catalyst was a field trip to (the recently shutdown) Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, in Buchannan, NY. 

Nuclear power already fascinated me; I had spent plenty of hours reading Wikipedia about  Chernobyl and Fukushima, and lived about 30 minutes from Indian Point. I would drive by every so often, mystified by the giant concrete reactors. But after the field trip, my interest in energy skyrocketed. The gigantic turbines, the tiny (fake) uranium pellets that had more energy density than thousands of pounds of coal, thousands of feet of piping. It was so complex. I wish I could understand every inch of the plant. But being a nuclear physicist wasn't really in the cards for me. For as much as I loved science, I equally loathed math, and even though it may be sustainable, nuclear power is still non-renewable. 

Solar, wind, and hydro are renewable. And that is what drew me toward them and away from other forms of energy. It’s a simple yet important fact. The sun will rise. The wind will blow. Water will obey the laws of gravity. Turning sunlight into energy is a process that is millions of years old. But these technologies felt (and still feel) so futuristic to me. Solar panels belong in a sci-fi flick from the 80s imagining how advanced, like, 2005 will be. Flying Cars, Robot Maids, thin layers of glass that can generate electricity out of thin air. And there it was. I knew what part of the energy sector I wanted to work in.

I decided to apply to the SUNY college of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF). My cousin had attended ESF a few years before I did, and I had made multiple visits up to catch a few Syracuse basketball games.  Luckily for me, right as I was applying to colleges, ESF created a new program “Sustainable Energy Management” (SEM). It was a perfect fit. I knew where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do a month into my senior year of high school.  And my experience confirmed and exponentially grew my passion for sustainability. 

There are a lot of different paths leading into the renewable energy field. On the Eden US team alone, most of us have wildly different backgrounds. Marketing, Education, Biology, Finance are all represented. I found my niche.  And I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.