https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2023/04/21/exxon-engineer-who-moved-to-clean-energy-offers-career-advice-take-a-leap/
Nathan Lee switched from a carbon energy giant to a clean energy startup, but kept original goal — to make a difference.
As the world moves away from fossil fuels, we spoke with local folks who’ve made the jump in recent years from working in oil and gas to working for clean energy companies in Southern California. This is one story in that four-part series.
When your passion is energy, Nathan Lee said the rule has long been that “all roads lead to Houston.” That’s how Lee ended up spending nearly seven years at one of the largest oil companies in the world before landing in 2021 at a Pasadena-based solar energy startup.
As an engineering student at University of Colorado Boulder, Lee said there was a strong emphasis on using your degree to make a difference. So when he got a job offer from ExxonMobil right after graduation, in 2014, he said he jumped at the opportunity to be somewhere with major capital and talent that he viewed as critical to delivering affordable energy.
Lee, 31, said he learned a ton during his time at ExxonMobil. Sure, he was aware of the outside perception of oil and gas as a “dirty industry.” But from the inside, he said, he saw passionate people doing their jobs and working together to solve problems.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, though, Lee said it prompted him to think about how the world was changing. While he was working on a powerful refinery unit in the Gulf Coast, it was built during World War II. And he was eager to start using all he’d learned to make more of a difference while working with newer technologies that could make the world a better place for his two kids.
Lee said he recognizes that traditional fossil fuel consumption once helped raise living standards for a lot of people, “but now we understand that it’s very, very important to stop emitting CO2 into the atmosphere.”
“I want to be part of the new solutions.”
In August 2020, Lee resigned from ExxonMobil and moved his family to California. At the time he didn’t have any real plan beyond knowing he wanted to work in renewable energy. Several months later, thanks to a recommendation that popped up on his LinkedIn page, Lee started as a test facilities engineer, helping to run Heliogen’s concentrated solar power plant in Lancaster. Today, he lives in the San Fernando Valley and works as senior systems engineer. And his employer recently won a slew of grant money and contracts to help clean up emissions-heavy industries, such as cement, using the power of the sun.
When he took the gig, Lee said, he knew next to nothing about concentrated solar. But he studied some books and slide decks, and asked lots of questions of current employees, who he said were eager to have more people on their team. And Lee said his skills transferred well, with day-to-day work that “feels a lot the same” as what he did before.
One big change is the pace, which Lee called “refreshing.” He said they can come up with ideas, launch experiments and deploy new technologies in rapid timeframes that just wouldn’t be possible at larger companies.
As an engineer, what’s more exciting than getting to work more problems?”
Seeing the flood of federal and state money now being directed to such technologies is “vindicating,” he said. And he offers three key words of advice for to others who’ve asked about jumping from oil and gas to renewable energy:
“Take a leap.”
Brooke Staggs | Reporter
Brooke Staggs covers the environment for Southern California News Group’s chain of 11 newspapers. Her work has triggered FBI investigations, landed her appearances on national TV and radio outlets, and helped her win some of the top journalism awards in the western United States. The Big Bear native got her start teaching high school English and journalism in Riverside County but left in 2006 to be a student again herself, earning a masters degree in journalism from New York University. She’s written for dozens of newspapers and magazines across the country, with projects that have taken her from a zero gravity flight over Queens to a fishing village in Ghana. Brooke joined the Orange County Register in January 2013, covering local communities, ca--abis and politics before starting on the environment beat for SCNG in July 2022. She also occasionally teaches community college and writes nonfiction, with her co-authored book “Stealing from the World’s Best Schools” available now wherever books are sold. Brooke lives in the Inland Empire with her husband and their much-loved pets. Her freetime is filled with traveling, hiking, reading, crafting and scheming about new ways to make the world a more informed, just and joyful place.