Clean energy fund ignites student innovation

From off-grid solar installations on the Navajo Nation to lab-built nuclear cooling simulators, Fort Lewis College students are advancing clean energy solutions across the Four Corners—thanks to the FLC Foundation’s Clean Energy Fund. 

Funded through generous partners like AES, Marathon Petroleum, King Energy, Moniker Foundation, and several individual donors, the fund provides paid, mentored research and fieldwork experiences that equip undergraduates to solve urgent environmental challenges and be career-ready upon graduation. 

This past year, students installed solar systems on five homes in Shonto, Arizona, bringing first-time access to refrigeration, lighting, and internet. Part of the Village Aid Project Solar Initiative and co-led by Engineering Professor Laurie Williams, Ph.D., and Camille Keith (Engineering ’22), a Diné engineer and the inaugural Marathon Petroleum Solar Fellow, the work is conducted in partnership with Tribal leaders and blends technical training with deep community collaboration. 

After participating as a student, Keith returned to her hometown to help lead the project and expand its impact. 

“We’re building trust, leadership, and opportunity with every install,” said Keith, who also mentors AES Fellows. 

Environmental engineering junior Ozzy Shirley, also Diné, is one of those AES Fellows. To support food access in Tribal communities, Shirley is researching agrivoltaics—solar arrays that enhance food production. He hopes to follow in Keith’s footsteps by bringing energy solutions to Navajo Nation communities. 

This summer, FLC engineering labs were busy with students researching clean energy. In the Thermal Hydraulics Lab, senior Anna Tucker and Kamden Frye built a sodium loop to simulate next-generation nuclear reactors—work typically reserved for graduate students. In a nearby lab, senior Max Franklin and his partner, Sienna Mullin, ran experiments inside a pressure vessel to create sodium hydroxide, a precursor to carbon-negative cement. 

While some of this work is funded through a U.S. Department of Energy research grant in collaboration with large research universities, the Clean Energy Fund is key in positioning FLC faculty to secure these competitive awards. 

Every student role supported by the fund is paid and professionally mentored. Students develop technical skills, connect with industry partners, and graduate prepared for national labs, advanced degree programs, or careers in the clean energy sector. 

“These projects are made possible because our students are already doing advanced, hands-on research,” said Billy Nollet, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Physics & Engineering, who oversees the Clean Energy Fund. “We’re giving undergraduates access to experiences they’d normally have to wait for in graduate school. They’re designing systems, managing safety protocols, analyzing data, and communicating with partners. That level of ownership builds confidence—and careers.”