Energy Systems Management MS at USF - Growth of Sustainable Energy Expertise 
My name is Jessica Penrod, and we are at Natel Energy. This is a low-head hydropower company, and I am a project developer. 
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I was actually on my way to a conference in a carpool with the director of the Energy Systems Management program, and we started to talk about what she does and what I do and recognized that there was an opportunity maybe to further my understanding of the energy industry. 
So grad school had not actually been on my mind. I had been working in the industry for two years without a substantial background in the energy sector. 
The key innovations here are on the leading edge of this blade. It makes it safe for fish to pass through the turbine. 
The interdisciplinary aspect of this program makes it applicable for students coming from all different backgrounds and also who want to enter into all different fields. The Energy Systems Management program allows for students to grow in all of those areas and to focus in on where they want to go, and maybe that direction actually changes as you start to learn and explore the other side of the program. 
I'd say on a daily basis there's some way to apply program learning to what I actually do in my job. As a project developer, I have to run financial models. So all of our economics and finance classes have been really helpful. I'm regularly looking at and interacting with our engineering team to do project design, so the actual engineering classes have been really helpful to have that background and to be able to understand more of what they're talking about. 
I think everybody's been able to apply what they're learning at school to the job, and so it's a benefit all across the board. 
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