Natalie Griffiths is analyzing the effects of local climate variability and dynamic reservoir operations on greenhouse gas emissions from hydropower reservoirs. The findings could shed light on potential mitigation efforts and enable greater adoption of hydropower for a more resilient national power grid.
Tell us about your research and its impacts on hydropower.
My research is focused on improving the understanding of greenhouse gas emissions from hydropower reservoirs. All water bodies—things like lakes, streams, rivers, and reservoirs—emit greenhouse gases, and this includes carbon dioxide as well as methane. But these emissions are very variable, so it's really hard to measure those emissions using field-based approaches. As the U.S. transitions to renewable energy technologies, we need to better understand and capture the carbon footprint of those different energy sources. And so, an important step towards doing that is quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from hydropower reservoirs.
What keeps you motivated?
As a scientist what keeps me motivated is that every day is different. One day I can be analyzing data on my computer. The next day I can be out in the field collecting water samples being on a boat. So, every day is different and unique and that's what keeps things interesting.
What does it mean to you to be a woman in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)?
As a woman and also as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I think representation in STEM is really important. It's really important to see yourself in the community at large to have a sense of belonging. It's really important also to increase our opportunities to have underrepresented groups engage in STEM through various internship programs like we have at Oak Ridge.
What would you tell a female student considering a career in water power research and development?
So, I think two really important components of having a successful career in science is mentorship and also collaboration. I've been really lucky to have a lot of amazing mentors throughout my career. They provided really valuable feedback at different stages and advice, and I really appreciated having that community. Also, collaboration's really key for the interdisciplinary work that we do as environmental scientists, especially at the intersection of environmental science and waterpower. It's hard to do this science alone. Having a really great group of collaborators is critical in this type of field.
This research is supported by the Water Power Technologies Office in the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.